The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

[GR7G5TER]

The paradox of nothing ever being enough for us with GAS.

True that!

 

[bassbrad]

Since Ivan's review of the Finally v3 was posted here, it makes sense to post his comparison of Finally V3 to the Noble.

I'm not sure I hear what he hears - the Noble sounds louder and bassier to me and that always skews impressions - but you be the judge.

I'll say Finally sounds great, the variable HPF is very useful, it's way smaller and cheaper, and different tubes can be installed for grit and overdrive.

It would be a more fair comparison using the Nobelium or Neptunium over an intentionally much simpler circuit design of the Finally. Of course the Noble sounds better and it should for many times the price and stellar reputation.

 

[andare]

It would be a more fair comparison using the Nobelium or Neptunium over an intentionally much simpler circuit design of the Finally. Of course the Nobel sounds better and it should for many times the price and stellar reputation.

View attachment 7285941

They're two tube DIs. It's fair to compare them since they accomplish similar tasks. Comparisons don't have to be limited to units with the same circuits. This is especially useful since the two units have starkly different prices, size and availability.

Philip Conrad has a blind comparison video between a dozen DIs. Pretty useful to hear how little the Noble adds to a Radial JDI, for example.

Both are valid videos IMO.

 

[bassbrad]

They're two tube DIs. It's fair to compare them since they accomplish similar tasks. Comparisons don't have to be limited to units with the same circuits. This is especially useful since the two units have starkly different prices, size and availability.

Philip Conrad has a blind comparison video between a dozen DIs. Pretty useful to hear how little the Noble adds to a Radial JDI, for example.

Both are valid videos IMO.

To make an analogy with cars for instance. Comparing my Subaru Forester Sport to a Range Rover Sport would be pretty ridiculous, don't you think? One is a car and the other costs 4x + more, even more than my house, aka groovy hippie pad.

 

[meisi]

To make an analogy with cars for instance. Comparing my Subaru Forester Sport to a Range Rover Sport would be pretty ridiculous, don't you think? One is a car and the other costs 4x + more, even more than my house, aka groovy hippie pad.

Depends on the metric.

I bet the Subaru, even with their oil drinking engine, does circles around the Range Rover w.r.t. reliability.

The one that still works is the one that will be used.

Etc etc etc

 

[bassbrad]

Depends on the metric.

I bet the Subaru, even with their oil drinking engine, does circles around the Range Rover w.r.t. reliability.

The one that still works is the one that will be used.

Etc etc etc

FWIW the increased oil usage report for Subaru models is generally for older 2011-2018 models, high mileage 100k+ and often cars that have a less than optimal service history. We are talking cars with over 100k mileage that have been driven hard and put up wet as is said and most other cars rarely make it over the 100k still running much less without any issues.

AI Overview

Subaru and engine oil consumption
Subaru has experienced a notable issue with oil consumption in some of their engines, particularly the FB and FA series engines found in models like the Forester, Legacy, Outback, Impreza, Crosstrek, and WRX from the years 2011-2018. In fact, four Subaru models were among the top 30 vehicles for oil consumption in a Consumer Reports survey, with many others not far behind.

 

[meisi]

FWIW the increased oil usage report for Subaru models is generally for older 2011-2018 models, high mileage 100k+ and often cars that have a less than optimal service history. We are talking cars with over 100k mileage that have been driven hard and put up wet as is said and most other cars rarely make it over the 100k still running much less without any issues.

AI Overview

Subaru and engine oil consumption
Subaru has experienced a notable issue with oil consumption in some of their engines, particularly the FB and FA series engines found in models like the Forester, Legacy, Outback, Impreza, Crosstrek, and WRX from the years 2011-2018. In fact, four Subaru models were among the top 30 vehicles for oil consumption in a Consumer Reports survey, with many others not far behind.

So it scores even better against its more expensive off-road brother!

To be fair, my antidotal knowledge is a handful of friends with that problem era Impreza and 4 of them have new motors, only one is still on the original motor but regularly drinking oil every gas tank.

 

[WRM]

FWIW the increased oil usage report for Subaru models is generally for older 2011-2018 models, high mileage 100k+ and often cars that have a less than optimal service history. We are talking cars with over 100k mileage that have been driven hard and put up wet as is said and most other cars rarely make it over the 100k still running much less without any issues.

AI Overview

Subaru and engine oil consumption
Subaru has experienced a notable issue with oil consumption in some of their engines, particularly the FB and FA series engines found in models like the Forester, Legacy, Outback, Impreza, Crosstrek, and WRX from the years 2011-2018. In fact, four Subaru models were among the top 30 vehicles for oil consumption in a Consumer Reports survey, with many others not far behind.

I know that Ford considered 1 qt/500 miles acceptable for the (late 80s?) 5.0 Mustang (for warranty purposes). I'm still in the range between oil changes on my 2016 Focus ST.

Back OT, really loving what my PMLE adds!...

 

[bucephylus]

Q for Nathan @Sushi Box FX :

I happened upon a PMLE. Does that preamp invert the signal, similarly to the Venus Z? I know those two circuits are quite similar. Thanks!

 

[andare]

To make an analogy with cars for instance. Comparing my Subaru Forester Sport to a Range Rover Sport would be pretty ridiculous, don't you think? One is a car and the other costs 4x + more, even more than my house, aka groovy hippie pad.

I don't think drawing a parallel with cars makes sense here. Way too many things going on with cars.

We're talking about two circuits with one or two tubes, a 1/4" jack, a DI, a HPF and a couple of knobs. The Noble does one thing more than the Finally (it's also a power supply for pedals) but they're quite similar. However, their price and availability are starkly different. That's why the comparison makes sense to me.

What about the stickied DI comparison in this forum?

 

[GR7G5TER]

Of course the Noble sounds better and it should for many times the price and stellar reputation.

View attachment 7285941

I played through both a finally and Noble recently.

The finally sounds better. the Noble, as well as having a completely inadequate (for my needs) DC power delivery, boost only Treb and bass that's not gonna work for me, it's bloody massive and to my ears is massively over hyped and even more so over priced! But i totally get that for many this will be their holy grail for their needs.

I've also played a squier, a Lakland and a Sandowsky Ps all new in the same shop.

the Squier was the best, I should bought it!

Different folks different strokes.

Better and best are irrelevant terms when it comes to subjective items.

Using the car ananolgy, if you asked most people what was better a Lambo or a Ford fiesta, they'd go for the Lambo.

But the Lambo would be a piece of crap where I live, it would bottom out all the time, wouldn't be able to pass cars coming the other way and wouldn't fit on my drive.

 

[GR7G5TER]

They're two tube DIs. It's fair to compare them since they accomplish similar tasks. Comparisons don't have to be limited to units with the same circuits. This is especially useful since the two units have starkly different prices, size and availability.

Philip Conrad has a blind comparison video between a dozen DIs. Pretty useful to hear how little the Noble adds to a Radial JDI, for example.

Both are valid videos IMO.

I'm not sure if this was the video I saw, but when I listend to a blind test and gave them scores, the Noble was quiet a way down my the list which surpried me. I was GASing for a Noble at the time and weighing yp whether to drop the cash on it. I'm glad i refrained as I would have been disapointed.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Q for Nathan @Sushi Box FX :

I happened upon a PMLE. Does that preamp invert the signal, similarly to the Venus Z? I know those two circuits are quite similar. Thanks!

PMLE inverts the signal just like Venus Z does; the preamp circuit is identical.

 

[bassbrad]

I know that Ford considered 1 qt/500 miles acceptable for the (late 80s?) 5.0 Mustang (for warranty purposes). I'm still in the range between oil changes on my 2016 Focus ST.

Back OT, really loving what my PMLE adds!...

We had a 2002 SVT Focus that was a tremendously fun car until we got past 150K then it became too problematic to keep reliably driving daily. We took several longish trips and went to driving schools and track events. My wife got into SCCA and AutoCross. FWIW we paid sticker price for it about 20K and sold it for 15K to a person that turned it into a Rally Car that as far as I know still going strong and he was still using the original engine and transmission but he did a full rebuild, blueprint and stripped out about 800 pounds of finery. I drove it shortly after his work and the car genuinely scared me, not easy to do. I grew up in the 70s with muscle cars having owned a 66 289 Mustang 2+2, my brother had a 67 Cougar

So it scores even better against its more expensive off-road brother!

To be fair, my antidotal knowledge is a handful of friends with that problem era Impreza and 4 of them have new motors, only one is still on the original motor but regularly drinking oil every gas tank.

Older and high mileage cars do tend to use more oil no matter the make or model, that is a simple fact unless you are willing to replace all the gaskets and seals. When I was doing my research I also discovered that many of the problem cars had been modified or raced, Impreza is a popular model for tuners. At our age we don't intend to drive the car too hard, just enough for a bit of fun, and we're sticklers for maintenance.

 

[meisi]

Older and high mileage cars do tend to use more oil no matter the make or model, that is a simple fact unless you are willing to replace all the gaskets and seals. When I was doing my research I also discovered that many of the problem cars had been modified or raced, Impreza is a popular model for tuners. At our age we don't intend to drive the car too hard, just enough for a bit of fun, and we're sticklers for maintenance.

this is so so a moot tangent but I fully disagree. My Toyotas do not drink an ounce of oil and never have. Well over 100k miles and at least for my Tacoma, plenty of skinny pedal fun - ownedit since new.

 

[andare]

I'm not sure if this was the video I saw, but when I listend to a blind test and gave them scores, the Noble was quiet a way down my the list which surpried me. I was GASing for a Noble at the time and weighing yp whether to drop the cash on it. I'm glad i refrained as I would have been disapointed.

This is the video. IIRC I picked the Noble as my favorite but the differences were so subtle in the mix and massive soloed. Very interesting.

 

[smeet]

I listened to Ivan’s video of Noble bs Finally v3, and they are close, but I did like the solidity of the lows on the Noble.

Has anyone compared the sound of the Noble, Neptunium, and Nobelium? How do these three compare to each other and to the Finally v3?

I’m mostly interested in a clean tubey sound.

 

[WRM]

I listened to Ivan’s video of Noble bs Finally v3, and they are close, but I did like the solidity of the lows on the Noble.

Has anyone compared the sound of the Noble, Neptunium, and Nobelium? How do these three compare to each other and to the Finally v3?

I’m mostly interested in a clean tubey sound.

I have trouble hearing the nuances between them, and there's also the "settings", which can be literally "infinite"?...

What I'd like to hear is a direct, side-by-side A/B comparison - left Channel is A, right is B, and since most headphones don't "reverse", and every body's ears are different, do half the time with w/Left Ch B/Rt A. Then we could make a true, real-time, A/B comparison.

Carry on.....

 

[SemiDriven]

Older and high mileage cars do tend to use more oil no matter the make or model, that is a simple fact unless you are willing to replace all the gaskets and seals....

In general -- yes.

this is so so a moot tangent but I fully disagree. My Toyotas do not drink an ounce of oil and never have. Well over 100k miles and at least for my Tacoma, plenty of skinny pedal fun - ownedit since new.

Agreed.

My Highlander with nearly 200,000 miles requires no additional oil between once-a-year oil changes.

 

[mikeswals]

Has anyone compared the sound of the Noble, Neptunium, and Nobelium? How do these three compare to each other and to the Finally v3?

I’m mostly interested in a clean tubey sound.

If you want just clean, then Neptunium is what you're after.

I own a Finally v1 loaded with a 12AU7, a More, and a Lab Rat. Finally is my fave.

I used to have a v2 Neptunium and it was just clean. I did an a/b/c shootout with Finally/More/Nep. Went: lots of character / bit of character / clean.