The Nux is incredibly good for the price. It sounds great. I am enjoying mine and have been playing through it more than my Noble if that says anything. It has a ton of desirable features too.
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The Great Bass Preamp/DI Comparison
- Thread starter chadhargis
- Start date
The Nux is incredibly good for the price. It sounds great. I am enjoying mine and have been playing through it more than my Noble if that says anything. It has a ton of desirable features too.
Wow man you've had some not so subtle jabs at the Noble with quite a few of your posts.
D
Well the Nux really does sound reasonably good and it is feature laden especially for the cost.
Well, the Noble is twice the price of most of the other tube preamps, plus the hype behind its name, features... etc... so...
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The Noble is a great device which I've said before. However, I believe I am allowed to find other devices preferable.
I've never taken anything he's said as a dig against the Noble.
If anything, I've thought that his choosing the Noble as a benchmark to measure things against says a lot about it's quality (and also about the general perception about it as a "holy grail" type device.
But that's just how I've interpreted this and I don't mean to be putting words into anyone's mouth.
With me preferring smooth, clean and punch I don't have high hopes of the Noble being the best fit for me. We will see though as I will give it a good go. I'm hoping it does though.
@scubaduba I'm not sure what you mean with a "phase thing". In my understanding phase is only relevant when you have two signals. Nothing should happen if you flip the phase on one signal, it's exactly the same. Or did I get it wrong?
Fully agree. It's all about old school for me and all the guys you listed are my guys. I tried the Darkglass VMT based on reviews touting it as warm tube style break up in search of B15 esque holy grail of break up/warmth/slightly blown speaker sound and it found it to be quite terrible. It was brittle and artificial sounding. Well built but not at all what I was hoping for.
Tim Lefev recommended I picked up the Amptweaker Bass Tight Fuzz and man if that thing isn't bang on for what I was after. Tons of usable settings. Does the light and warm break up AMAZINGLY and the Dry Low knob and Tight controls are fantastic. Thick fat tone and puts a little hair on it or can go into heavy fuzz territory.
Based on the list of bassists you listed and similar tonal goals I'll be very curious to see how you get along with the Oracle. If you're liking it so far I'm guessing it's getting you into that Muscle Shoals territory!? I'm pretty sold on it being the right tube pre for me and hoping to add one this year at some point.
jacoby75
Supporting Member
- Mar 11, 2010
- 5,661
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Playing through it more because it sounds better, or because it's more fun and feature-laden?
I figured out the problem with the Effectrode. Bad tube. After replacing all is well.
Here's a file of the Noble into the Effectrode LA-1A and Cali76 CB. Played with a Sadowsky NYC JJ into Noble into respective compressor into Xenex Q802 into Garageband. Sadowsky is flat with VTC about 50%. Just a simple riff to give you an idea of the tone.
Segment one: Bass into Noble DI with Noble EQ all the way counterclockwise.
Segment two: Bass into Noble DI with Noble EQ Bass dial about 10:30.
Segment three: Bass into Noble DI with Noble EQ Bass dial about 10:30 and Treble about 9:00.
Segment four: Bass into Effectrode LA-1A with Peak Reduction at 10:00 into Noble DI with Noble EQ Bass dial about 10:30 and Treble about 9:00.
Segment five: Bass into Cali765 CB with Blend at noon and Ratio dial at 10:00 into Noble DI with Noble EQ Bass dial about 10:30 and Treble about 9:00.
Segment six: Bass into Noble DI with Noble EQ Bass dial about 10:30 and Treble about 9:00.
Here's a file of the Noble into the Effectrode LA-1A and Cali76 CB. Played with a Sadowsky NYC JJ into Noble into respective compressor into Xenex Q802 into Garageband. Sadowsky is flat with VTC about 50%. Just a simple riff to give you an idea of the tone.
Segment one: Bass into Noble DI with Noble EQ all the way counterclockwise.
Segment two: Bass into Noble DI with Noble EQ Bass dial about 10:30.
Segment three: Bass into Noble DI with Noble EQ Bass dial about 10:30 and Treble about 9:00.
Segment four: Bass into Effectrode LA-1A with Peak Reduction at 10:00 into Noble DI with Noble EQ Bass dial about 10:30 and Treble about 9:00.
Segment five: Bass into Cali765 CB with Blend at noon and Ratio dial at 10:00 into Noble DI with Noble EQ Bass dial about 10:30 and Treble about 9:00.
Segment six: Bass into Noble DI with Noble EQ Bass dial about 10:30 and Treble about 9:00.
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Here's the NUX Melvin Davis Preamp. Total opposite end of the spectrum in terms of price. Noble is over $1K, the NUX is $179.
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Again, played with a Sadowsky NYC JJ with VTC about 50%.
First segment is just the Sadowsky without the NUX engaged.
Second segment is NUX engaged with EQ at noon.
Next several segments are me playing with the EQ controls: increasing bass, increasing mids, reducing treble, adding cab sim, adding different levels of OD.... etc.
Final segment is Sadowsky without NUX engaged.
There's a whole lot more to play around with including other cab sims, more sweeps of the parametric mid control, more blending of OD and clean signal... but just to help give an idea of the thing, here you go.
Please listen to these clips with quality headphones to hear the nuances.
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Again, played with a Sadowsky NYC JJ with VTC about 50%.
First segment is just the Sadowsky without the NUX engaged.
Second segment is NUX engaged with EQ at noon.
Next several segments are me playing with the EQ controls: increasing bass, increasing mids, reducing treble, adding cab sim, adding different levels of OD.... etc.
Final segment is Sadowsky without NUX engaged.
There's a whole lot more to play around with including other cab sims, more sweeps of the parametric mid control, more blending of OD and clean signal... but just to help give an idea of the thing, here you go.
Please listen to these clips with quality headphones to hear the nuances.
This is good demo. To me the Effectrode sounded really good but I preferred the Cali myself. Also like the second with bass boosted around 10:30. Noble sounds really good.
jacoby75
Supporting Member
- Mar 11, 2010
- 5,661
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- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Mike Lull Custom Guitars, DR Strings
Scuba posting sound clips?! I truly hope this is a harbinger of great things to come.
And great googly moogly! What a bass tone! I think my favorite is spot 4.
Yes my idea of perfect tone would be the Noble with either compressor. Makes my itch for a Sadowsky 5JJ even greater though lol.
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What do u think? Lundahl transformer Di? Sounds interesting
Or this one...I was looking at ordering a lightning boy and still will because I can put it anywhere, but these lundahl transformer DIs look exciting.
https://www.amazon.ca/Cable-Factory-Passvie-Direct-Channel/dp/B07N8KFTHG/
What do u think? Lundahl transformer Di? Sounds interesting
Or this one...I was looking at ordering a lightning boy and still will because I can put it anywhere, but these lundahl transformer DIs look exciting.
https://www.amazon.ca/Cable-Factory-Passvie-Direct-Channel/dp/B07N8KFTHG/
Great clips Scuba, really interesting comparison between two ends of the price range (thank you)
The little NUX really does have a lot to offer for many of us not so well off doesn't it
The little NUX really does have a lot to offer for many of us not so well off doesn't it
Looks like the current buzz is about the Nux Melvin Davis, but I'm interested in another newcomer. Has anyone taken a gamble on the new MXR Thump rolled out back at Winter NAMM? A three-band EQ with sweepable mids based on the EP preamp circuit, all in a mini enclosure, caught my attention. No XLR out, a shame but not unexpected for the enclosure size (the larger M81 is an option for a standard shell with DI), and I have a ton of drive options on my board so I'm not really interested in another drive knob. Curious if anyone's tried one out; how does it compare both as an EP boost and as a 3-band tone shaper?
