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The Great Bass Preamp/DI Comparison

I'm slowly becoming OK with not having a built in DI on preamp pedals... because I like how the RNDI sounds so well. Yeah it is one more device to have to have around but it sounds real good. Of course I doubt anybody out in the audience could tell a difference... but still.
 
I'm slowly becoming OK with not having a built in DI on preamp pedals... because I like how the RNDI sounds so well. Yeah it is one more device to have to have around but it sounds real good. Of course I doubt anybody out in the audience could tell a difference... but still.
Yes, this. I tend to shy away from things with built-in DI's, because more often than not I'm going to want something after whatever the pedal is that has the DI built into it, and will have to add another DI anyway. With the exception of the OCSD Deluxe I used to have. Ain't nothing coming after the cab sim, so that made sense to have the DI built in. And I have yet to find an "all in one" unit with a DI built in that would result in me not needing anything else and being satisfied with just bringing that and plugging it in.
 
+1^ Except for the SLO which has pretty much everything you could ever want or need in one box including cab sims.
I still want one of those some day. Might be worth selling my pedalboard to by it. But even if I did, I'd probably still want my Broughton HPF/LPF after it as well as any chorus/delay, etc. But maybe that's just being nitpicky and they would sound fine going into the SLO. It's a moot point because I'll likely never have a SLO unless someone dies and leaves me one in their will. Which, lets be honest, is probably a long shot.
 
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I'd probably still want my Broughton HPF/LPF after it as well as any chorus/delay, etc.

I always thought that what effects loops were for. I may be wrong, but doesn't the effects loop come post EQ and tube stage on the SLO? The diagram from Shift-Line makes it appear as if it does. You could put your HPF and chorus/delay in the loop.

Olympic_MkIIIS_Scheme_1080.jpg
 
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.I'd probably still want my Broughton HPF/LPF after it
So this is where I continue to get flustered, as in my confused mind I think that the DI, which in most cases is housed in the pre, should be last.

Which means either the HPF/LPF is embedded in the pre (best case), or, if comes before the pre then the pre could add back some of what the LPF/HPF cut, or if the LPF/HPF comes after the pre, the DI does not get the benefit of the HPF/LPF. Unless there is a dedicated DI after all this like a Radial or REDDI, etc. ....

Sorry to be such a noob but I guess this is the best place to ask.

EDIT: I was composing this just as Chad posted the above response.
 
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I always thought that what effects loops were for. I may be wrong, but doesn't the effects loop come post EQ and tube stage on the SLO? The diagram from Shift-Line makes it appear as if it does. You could put your HPF and chorus/delay in the loop.

View attachment 3657282
Touche. That could be a solution. I've never used the effects loop of anything in the past. Probably out of ignorance of its function more than anything. If there WAS an effects loop, and it was after the EQ, then in theory the HPF/LPF would/could still filter out the boom and the SLO wouldn't add any more boom, methinks. Unless the cabsim of the SLO, which presumably would come after the effects loop, adds the boom. But the cab sim is essentially just another/fancier HPF/LPF among other things. I wouldn't think that it would add any unwanted boom or clank that was otherwise dialed out with a filter in the effects loop. Then the effects that would go before the preamp could still go before it (compression, OD, etc), and anything you wanted afterwards could come after (modulation, LPF, etc). Very cool.

But I'm still broke. So . . .
 
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SLO wouldn't add any more boom

My HPF is right BEFORE my SLO and I have no "boom". The SLO won't produce what isn't there. My microThumpinator cuts everything below 30hz so the signal that his my SLO doesn't have all the mud in it. I have a loop pedal on my board which allows me to bypass my entire pedal chain and go straight to the SLO in the event there is some issue, cable short...whatever. And I can tell you that the Thumpinator makes a tremendous difference. It allows the preamp to deal only with sonic content...not all the subsonic junk that is prone to cause distortion.

The Thumpinator is the last stop before the SLO on the road to tone bliss. :)

CDBF4F72-7761-421E-B5D8-033991CD388E.jpeg
 
My HPF is right BEFORE my SLO and I have no "boom". The SLO won't produce what isn't there. My microThumpinator cuts everything below 30hz so the signal that his my SLO doesn't have all the mud in it. I have a loop pedal on my board which allows me to bypass my entire pedal chain and go straight to the SLO in the event there is some issue, cable short...whatever. And I can tell you that the Thumpinator makes a tremendous difference. It allows the preamp to deal only with sonic content...not all the subsonic junk that is prone to cause distortion.

The Thumpinator is the last stop before the SLO on the road to tone bliss. :)

View attachment 3657324
That's a sweet looking setup. Not to get off topic, but I couldn't believe what a difference the HPF/LPF made in my sound. At least through my headphones. The last thing before my DI is my Broughton HPF/LPF, and it filters out the low mud and the high clank, and focuses the tone in an amazing way. The thumpinator is awesome too. I wish more people knew about and/or experienced the difference a HPF can make.
 
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In other news, look what I just found! Go get one and post sound samples so I can live vicariously through you! (Though I will say it seems a bit odd that you HAVE to have a seperate DI for the dirty and clean channels and can't combine them, at least according to the video I watched, because they each have different cab sims baked in. And the 1/4" out is non-cab-sim, and not switchable to add cab sim.)

Bass Butler – Orange Amps
Bass-Butler-1-1030x1030.png
 
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That's a sweet looking setup. Not to get off topic, but I couldn't believe what a difference the HPF/LPF made in my sound. At least through my headphones. The last thing before my DI is my Broughton HPF/LPF, and it filters out the low mud and the high clank, and focuses the tone in an amazing way. The thumpinator is awesome too. I wish more people knew about and/or experienced the difference a HPF can make.

For sure!!

I use the treble control of the SLO to roll of much of the high end clank and zing. The Thumpinator is truly a magical device. Simple in design, but such a big impact on tone. It actually seems to give me MORE bass, since the preamp, amp, and speakers aren't having to deal with content that can be heard anyway.

I talked to the guy who typically runs sound for me and told him I am running a HPF on my board. He told me he always high passes basses. He told me that my low end was really big and asked me what frequency my HPF was set at. When I told him 30hz he said, "Ah...well then you're still sending a lot of bottom end".
 
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The Orange Bass Butler looks interesting but it appears you can only enjoy the bi-amp option output via XLR with two XLR cables. So you essentially are sending to signals via XLR to FOH. If you use the regular amp output via patch cable it looks like it takes the bi-amp signal.

And XLR out on the clean channel always has a cab sim applied. I definitely do not like that.
 
The Orange Bass Butler looks interesting but it appears you can only enjoy the bi-amp option output via XLR with two XLR cables. So you essentially are sending to signals via XLR to FOH. If you use the regular amp output via patch cable it looks like it takes the bi-amp signal.

And XLR out on the clean channel always has a cab sim applied. I definitely do not like that.
It has a lot of potential, but I feel like they missed the mark in a few key areas. Clearly they have not been reading these threads to get an idea of what we all want, lol. Orange needs to get a rep over here in a hurry so they can begin working on V2.
 
Quickie update to my own preamp posting - I sold my DiCosimo 360+ in a moment of weakness and immediately missed it, both the clean and fuzz sides. So I got in touch with Dominic himself and he was just finishing up a new batch - I bought the first one and am back in preamp happy land, PLUS the latest run takes regular 9V power, so no more 24V supply needed!
 
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My HPF is right BEFORE my SLO and I have no "boom". The SLO won't produce what isn't there. My microThumpinator cuts everything below 30hz so the signal that his my SLO doesn't have all the mud in it. I have a loop pedal on my board which allows me to bypass my entire pedal chain and go straight to the SLO in the event there is some issue, cable short...whatever. And I can tell you that the Thumpinator makes a tremendous difference. It allows the preamp to deal only with sonic content...not all the subsonic junk that is prone to cause distortion.

The Thumpinator is the last stop before the SLO on the road to tone bliss. :)

View attachment 3657324

That's a sweet looking setup. Not to get off topic, but I couldn't believe what a difference the HPF/LPF made in my sound. At least through my headphones. The last thing before my DI is my Broughton HPF/LPF, and it filters out the low mud and the high clank, and focuses the tone in an amazing way. The thumpinator is awesome too. I wish more people knew about and/or experienced the difference a HPF can make.

I don’t know why it took me so long but now I’m eagerly awaiting my Thumpinator.