The Great Bass Preamp/DI Comparison

[chadhargis]

Sonicake Boom Avenue
Got the Sonicake Boom Ave. in today and put it through it's paces. For those of you with a short attention span or who subscribe to TLDR (too long didn't read)...this sucker is clearly a SansAmp clone. I mean, it sounds dead up like a SansAmp which I've never really gotten along well with. The compressor is not my cup of tea, but if I turned the dial fully counterclockwise (which should be off) it worked okay. I could tell a big difference when I switched it off and on.

The fuzz is...well...a fuzz. If you are into that sort of thing, it'll do the job.

The preamp EQ section is the familiar SansAmp type. I did my best to get a tone I liked, but just like every SansAmp pedal I've ever used it has this mid scoopy hollow sounding thing going on that I just don't care for and I can't dial it out. I'm a huge fan of big fat round warm bottom and low mids. This thing just won't give me that. Some folks love that mid scoop tone and this thing would be a slappers delight.

The octave works fairly well...the two below (Oct2) is fairly worthless. Just mud. It tracks pretty good until the note falls off. It was no match for my 3 Leaf Audio Octabvre Mini...but my octave pedal cost more than the Sonicake.

The unit is very quiet. I ran it off of a Pedaltrain Volto battery to keep out any dirty power since I didn't have any extra capacity on my PowerMax and didn't feel like unwiring something else.

So, my synopsis....if you like the SansAmp tone...you absolutely can't go wrong with this $80 preamp. It's built like a tank in an all metal housing. The switches are high quality "clickless" switches and all the jacks are solid. Very impressive build quality for the money.

Here's a sound clip I made.

1. First part is just the compressor and Preamp
2. Second part is the Fuzz, preamp, and compressor.
   
3. Third part is the preamp, compressor, and octave

Here's the settings:

For comparison sake, here's a clip of my pedal board. Signal chain is FEA Labs DE-CL compressor, 3 Leaf Audio Octabvre Mini, FEA Labs Photon Fuzz II, [sfx]microThumpinator, and Shift Line Olympic MkIIIs. It's currently set to my "goldilocks" tone. I love the way it sounds. Total value of all those pedals is in the $1200 range not including the cables and power supply. So it's not a fair fight against an $80 preamp. If you like the SansAmp tone, you may thing the Sonicake sounds better.

Pedal Board Clip:

 

[scubaduba]

Yeah. No comparison.

 

[TonyRo]

Yeah that's a blowout. So I wonder how that works exactly - is Sansamp having there FlyRigs built in China and they're just ripping them off? I used to work for the Lighting Division of General Electric during the initial LED boom and this was a tremendous problem for a lot of manufacturers - you have an idea and then bam, there's a Chinese knockoff, and they don't give a damn about your IP.

 

[chadhargis]

Yeah. No comparison.

Whew! I was afraid someone would say they like the $80 rig better. LOL!

Yeah that's a blowout. So I wonder how that works exactly - is Sansamp having there FlyRigs built in China and they're just ripping them off?

No idea how that all works. But I tried a FlyRig and it actually sounded really good. It and the Q/Strip are the only two Tech21 products I ever cared for.

I'm still completely blown away by the SLO, and part of that big fat round tone I get is due to the FEA Labs compressor. It's got some magic in that box. Even if I've not hitting the compression threshold and triggering the red light to blink, it changes the tone for the better. Great piece of kit that never gets turned off. Same with the Thumpinator...stripping all that mud out below 30hz makes the tone some clean and big. You would think it would thin it out, but it does just the opposite.

 

[Bassworship1]

Huge Difference.

 

[ThisYouCanTrust]

I used to work for the Lighting Division of General Electric during the initial LED boom and this was a tremendous problem for a lot of manufacturers - you have an idea and then bam, there's a Chinese knockoff, and they don't give a damn about your IP.

Live by the sword, die by the sword

 

[IronLung1986]

Live by the sword, die by the sword

Damn, savage.

 

[FaithNoMan]

That's not the sansamp tone I like @chadhargis . But I think you mean like the BDDI/SVT thing that is their typical tone.

 

[chadhargis]

That's not the sansamp tone I like @chadhargis . But I think you mean like the BDDI/SVT thing that is their typical tone.

Yes...the BDDI specifically. That's what I think of when I say SansAmp.

 

[FaithNoMan]

Yes...the BDDI specifically. That's what I think of when I say SansAmp.

I always s*** on Ampeg, but I don't hate the SVT - I actually like it's warmth and how deep it can sound.
As my name on here kinda denotes, I like a much more harmonically rich overdrive, and one that fuzzes out and clanks at the same time. A "brighter Orange"(or, an old Peavey). The SVT almost always sounds "waterlogged" to me, instead of "crunchy" when it gets pushed. My Mesa Bass 400 doesn't gradually sag like that with 6550's. It just goes from clean to explosive harmonics - very much an "electric" sound. Almost like it tries to be a SS amp.(but does it at insanely loud volumes). Think of Paul D'Amour's tone - like the bass is being electrocuted.

 

[ThisYouCanTrust]

I have been finding this tempting recently :
Link Removed

Pedal format exists, and assorted various interesting things (IMHO, and didn't try any yet so grain of salt etc).

 

[scubaduba]

Thoughts on the Walrus EB-10:

This thing is pretty cool. It would certainly work as an always on preamp and also as more of an EQ/boost pedal. Either application would be just fine.

Here's how it works.

For each of the bands you have a toggle switch. When flipped up, you are telling the pedal to boost the frequency. When flipped down, you are telling the pedal to cut the frequency. Then you have a 5 position dial for each frequency that determines what decibel gain or cut (depending on how you have the toggle flipped) to apply. Simple as that.

Then you have a Boost switch that applies an overall 10db of mosfet boost to the overall signal path. It is post the EQ. The red LED will light up on the Boost button and the B LED will light up on the face of the pedal.

If you are more daring, open up the pedal and mess with the pots inside which allows you to adjust the mid band, specifically the Q of the mid band filter. Pretty cool.

The dial labeled GAS on the circuit board allows you to dial back the amount of gain added by the Boost switch.

In talking with the folks at Walrus they had this to say:

"The mid band is parametric so you are able to set the center frequency and bandwidth to taste for bass guitar. They ship with is set to a Q of about 1.5 at 800Hz. The low band operates down around 100Hz and the high band is up around 2-3k which can help bring clarity to bass guitars."

I found all EQ points to sound great and the most fun was in messing with the Mid Q.

I suspect many will really dig the ability to save presets. The EB-10 offers two operating modes, “Live” and “Preset”. In live mode, the pedal responds to current position of all the knobs and switches. Dial in a specific sound and turn the pedal on and off with the Bypass switch. In preset mode, the pedal offers preset slots to store three unique configurations When in preset mode, the pedal is locked on and the user can scroll through the presets by clicking the Bypass switch. The pedal will boot up in the last known operating mode and if that is preset mode, it loads preset one by default.

I find it pretty cool to have my default setting and then another setting that is slightly hotter (with the boost applied). Then flip between them as needed.

The EB-10 screen area is backlit with white LED's which is a nice touch.

It's really a nice package. Downsides would be it is a little noisy... not bad, but there is some inherent white noise. Of course more niticeable with the mosfet boost activated. It's got a robust sound to it. I guess I wish it had top mounted jacks which would save space on a tight pedalboard.

Price is pretty good and power requirements are easy. Seems well built, though surprisingly light weight.

• It's easy to use
• It's versatile
• It sounds good on bass and guitar
• Seems well built
• Maybe a little noisy, but not bad
• Wish input/output jacks were top mounted (not a deal breaker though)

Retail price: $229

WalrusAudio.com

 

[scubaduba]

But is it better than the SLO?

And on a side note, Mr. Duba, have you ever considered starting a dedicated preamp review thread/page, akin to you compressor one? I mean, I know there’s some of that vibe in this thread, but it’s not quite the same. I know I’d subscribe.

I'd love to. But then I think about time... and the cost. Oh my, the expense in all of this...

 

[scubaduba]

I recieved my Mozztronics BP-2 as well. I was iffy on very first run through, but quickly learnt to love it. It adds depth and attack and doesn't get muddy. Plenty of output without ultra low engaged, but i like the ultra low as it really adds that ampeg vibe. I still find its enough though. Andrew from Mozztronics said he is going to see if he can find a way to fit a DI out over Christmas. The BP-2 going through the power tube and cab sim on the Two notes is really nice.
View attachment 3607114

Confirmed, Andrew is working on a DI version of the Mozztronics bass preamp pedal. The High switch will be replaced with a DI ground switch. Fair trade off in my opinion. I'll probably get the DI version too.

 

[keatz]

Confirmed, Andrew is working on a DI version of the Mozztronics bass preamp pedal. The High switch will be replaced with a DI ground switch. Fair trade off in my opinion. I'll probably get the DI version too.

I might just get myself a radial jdi to put on my board instead of buy the DI version.
I ordered his BOD-1 today which will sit nice next to the preamp.

 

[chadhargis]

I'd love to. But then I think about time... and the cost. Oh my, the expense in all of this...

I feel ya on this one. I've bought dozens of preamps. Tried to buy most of them used so I didn't lose as much money when I sold them.

 

[scubaduba]

It's more the compressor pedal shootout plus a preamp shootout simultaneously.

 

[Turn Em Loose]

It's more the compressor pedal shootout plus a preamp shootout simultaneously.

Do it for the children. C'mon man, think of the children!

 

[scubaduba]

Anybody do a 180 and just go more simple? Like bass into something like a Spaceman Atlas, or original Submarine into DI? When using a bass with an onboard preamp, sometimes I think things get complicated in our signal paths and I often find bass into compressor into a simple signal booster into DI sounds just fine. Then use the onboard preamp to tweak tone.

Anybody into simple preamps these days? I.E. not a tone of dials and EQ manipulation. I realize pedals like the Atlas and Submarine aren't exactly "cheap" pedals, but they are more simple.

 

[MascisMan]

Anybody do a 180 and just go more simple? Like bass into something like a Spaceman Atlas, or original Submarine into DI? When using a bass with an onboard preamp, sometimes I think things get complicated in our signal paths and I often find bass into compressor into a simple signal booster into DI sounds just fine. Then use the onboard preamp to tweak tone.

Anybody into simple preamps these days? I.E. not a tone of dials and EQ manipulation. I realize pedals like the Atlas and Submarine aren't exactly "cheap" pedals, but they are more simple.

I think I might be doing something like this soon. I've been doing some home recording A/Bing stuff and Im finding a couple things. 1. My HxStomp on its own is just fine and 2. I can ditch the Stomp and run my Super Stack in to my Tone Hammer and be just fine. Running the Stomp into the Super Stack into the Tone Hammer is rather redundant.