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The Great Bass Preamp/DI Comparison
- Thread starter chadhargis
- Start date
Ok...so here's something interesting.
I played around a bit more with the Sonicake Boom Ave. tonight focusing only on the preamp itself. To level the playing field I split the signal from my board and sent one signal to the SLO and the other to the Sonicake.
Both preamps had the benefit of my compressor and HPF, which is all that was in the signal chain. Both DI's were run to my A&H Zedi10 mixer on separate channels and recorded simultaneously into GarageBand with no effects or EQ running in the DAW.
Here's the breakdown of the clip. The bass on the track was cut steeply at 250hz as to minimize any bleed through of the original bass player.
See if ya'll can tell a difference in the mix:
0 to 10 seconds: Preamp 1
10 to 28 seconds: Preamp 2
20 to 42 seconds: Preamp 1
42 to End: Preamp 2
Which is which?
$79 vs $440
Solid State vs Tube
Go!
Dropbox - SLO vs Sonicake .wav - Simplify your life
And needless to say....use high quality headphones. I'm wearing Sennheiser HD650 300ohm through a Little Labs Monotor amp fed from the main outs of the board.
I played around a bit more with the Sonicake Boom Ave. tonight focusing only on the preamp itself. To level the playing field I split the signal from my board and sent one signal to the SLO and the other to the Sonicake.
Both preamps had the benefit of my compressor and HPF, which is all that was in the signal chain. Both DI's were run to my A&H Zedi10 mixer on separate channels and recorded simultaneously into GarageBand with no effects or EQ running in the DAW.
Here's the breakdown of the clip. The bass on the track was cut steeply at 250hz as to minimize any bleed through of the original bass player.
See if ya'll can tell a difference in the mix:
0 to 10 seconds: Preamp 1
10 to 28 seconds: Preamp 2
20 to 42 seconds: Preamp 1
42 to End: Preamp 2
Which is which?
$79 vs $440
Solid State vs Tube
Go!
Dropbox - SLO vs Sonicake .wav - Simplify your life
And needless to say....use high quality headphones. I'm wearing Sennheiser HD650 300ohm through a Little Labs Monotor amp fed from the main outs of the board.
The Effectrode LA-1A with parallel tube gain stage and tube compression stage. Here’s my review of it on my compressor reviews website. https://www.compressorpedalreviews.com/post/effectrode-la-1a-leveling-amplifier
I like the DE-CL too. Here's my review of that one.
https://www.compressorpedalreviews.com/post/fea-dual-engine-compressor-limiter-review
https://www.compressorpedalreviews.com/post/fea-dual-engine-compressor-limiter-review
Yes...I've read it...it cost me a lot of money. LOL!
But honestly, it's REALLY good. I like the Keeley WAY better than the MXR and the G-Lab was surprisingly good too. In fact, the G-Lab almost stayed on the board thanks to the multiple "channels" which I could set at different levels of compression. That was awesome!
Ok...so here's something interesting.
I played around a bit more with the Sonicake Boom Ave. tonight focusing only on the preamp itself. To level the playing field I split the signal from my board and sent one signal to the SLO and the other to the Sonicake.
Both preamps had the benefit of my compressor and HPF, which is all that was in the signal chain. Both DI's were run to my A&H Zedi10 mixer on separate channels and recorded simultaneously into GarageBand with no effects or EQ running in the DAW.
Here's the breakdown of the clip. The bass on the track was cut steeply at 250hz as to minimize any bleed through of the original bass player.
See if ya'll can tell a difference in the mix:
0 to 10 seconds: Preamp 1
10 to 28 seconds: Preamp 2
20 to 42 seconds: Preamp 1
42 to End: Preamp 2
Which is which?
$79 vs $440
Solid State vs Tube
Go!
Dropbox - SLO vs Sonicake .wav - Simplify your life
And needless to say....use high quality headphones. I'm wearing Sennheiser HD650 300ohm through a Little Labs Monotor amp fed from the main outs of the board.
ok which is which? at the something like 25sec and 50sec both grabbed my ear right away! Im hoping this is the SLO
ok which is which? at the something like 25sec and 50sec both grabbed my ear right away! Im hoping this is the SLO
Preamp 1 = Sonicake Boom Ave.
Preamp 2 = Shift Line Olympic
So 25 seconds in and 50 seconds in would both be the SLO.
Interesting.
If you just focus on the bass tone there is not a huge difference once in the mix, the SLO just sounds more rounded, less in your face.
I guess you really need to have some mixing experience to understand why it is better like this.
If you just focus on the bass tone there is not a huge difference once in the mix, the SLO just sounds more rounded, less in your face.
I guess you really need to have some mixing experience to understand why it is better like this.
This has been such good read and comparisons. I too started with tonehammer, then added duncan compressor. Then switched between mxr bass di and Tonehammer in an a/b switcher(with comp before). Then added h9 for eq, it is such a great pedal for eq and slight compression. No noise and super clean.
Now I use the hx stomp for all preamp/dirt/compression, plus some other things.
Kept h9 for craziness, oc-3(sub) and el’capistan(delay).
For simplicity I could still be perfectly fine with just the h9 into the tonehammer.
Now I use the hx stomp for all preamp/dirt/compression, plus some other things.
Kept h9 for craziness, oc-3(sub) and el’capistan(delay).
For simplicity I could still be perfectly fine with just the h9 into the tonehammer.
I had an H9 for a bit. It was super overkill and basically was a $500 tuner. I just don’t use effects that much.
I loved my Noble and Shaw, but the SLO is 90% as good with more features, lighter weight, and a smaller footprint.
If I were doing studio work I’d have kept the Noble or Shaw. But for live performance I like the lighter weight and the tone is great.
I’m really wanting to build an ultra portable rig for backup use or small stages. That’s why I have been looking at all in one units lately. But none of the all in ones have a compressor worth a crap and if they do there is no onboard tuner.
I want to try the Fender Downtown Express which is designed by Aguilar.
I loved my Noble and Shaw, but the SLO is 90% as good with more features, lighter weight, and a smaller footprint.
If I were doing studio work I’d have kept the Noble or Shaw. But for live performance I like the lighter weight and the tone is great.
I’m really wanting to build an ultra portable rig for backup use or small stages. That’s why I have been looking at all in one units lately. But none of the all in ones have a compressor worth a crap and if they do there is no onboard tuner.
I want to try the Fender Downtown Express which is designed by Aguilar.
The SLO sounds a bit deeper. They are both extremely usable though and therein lies my dilemma with the SLO. Cost (vs. competitors) and its true impact in a mix (vs. competitors). To me, the selling point of the SLO isn't the "tube tones" but more so the added on-board features (practice amp, IR loading, effects loop) and smaller footprint (comparatively).
Great tones by the way! Great song too!
I was lucky enough to snag one of the new production P15’s on Christmas day. I used to have a SLO but sold it because my combination of Broughton Super Stack and Aggy Tone Hammer was all I needed. I’ll let you know what I think once I get the P15 and put it through it’s paces.
My Tone Hammer DI showed up today. TH straight into my Straight Ahead power amp is more than I could have hoped for. Night Owl Industries Edison shows up tomorrow. I'm hoping that that into the TH gets me something similar to what I imagine your Super Stack into the TH got you.
jacoby75
Supporting Member
- Mar 11, 2010
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- Endorsing Artist: Mike Lull Custom Guitars, DR Strings
There's something magical about adding a tube pre before the rest of your chain (especially if you aren't using a tube amp already). At least in my case, running a Bug Drive into my Southampton Ictineo (among other pedals), really warms it up and adds a 3D quality to sound that I miss terribly when it's switched off. I was hoping to run across a Broughton Super Stack, but wound up with the Bug Drive instead, and it's been nothing but good times.
Well this happened today. I bought a Meridian Trinity Preamp and a Marleaux Tonwerk Preamp.
Guess my thoughts will be forthcoming.
Guess my thoughts will be forthcoming.
I haven’t seen anyone mention Meatsmoke pre in this thread... I really like mine; two footswitchable channels each with very different voicing gives me lot of tone options. Having a complete EQ section per channel (plus switchable hi/lo eq points) is awesome. I don’t think there’s another tube pre that has this flexibility (Le Bass has separate EQ but not low/mid/hi for both channels).
Had to switch one of the tubes to a lower gain 12at7 to keep gain on the lead channel manageable.
I don’t have the SLO or Noble to compare against, but I prefer the MS over my Alembic f2b, Summit ba221, and several other rack pres.
MS is huge so I just use at home and in the studio. When I want to sound my best that’s what I reach for.
Had to switch one of the tubes to a lower gain 12at7 to keep gain on the lead channel manageable.
I don’t have the SLO or Noble to compare against, but I prefer the MS over my Alembic f2b, Summit ba221, and several other rack pres.
MS is huge so I just use at home and in the studio. When I want to sound my best that’s what I reach for.
I have a feeling that will get you in the same realm, even though I’ve never used one of those. Even the tone hammer run into an SLO set flat was just as fat as with my super stack. There is beginning to be a good amount of options for tube goodness in a pedalboard-friendly package these days.
