Tube Preamp/DI Sound Samples — Noble, Oracle, P-15, Super Stack, REDDI, Tonecraft, Jule...

[MYLOWFREQ]

Nice Job!

Ok, so I only listened to the "flat" sample of each pre using a pair of Sennheizer HD 650. I wrote a few things about each, and rated them after listening to them all.

I'm posting this without voting/reading the whole thing first to be as objective as possible I'm curious to see the results and read what you guys think. Here's what I think:

Nobel Pre: Sounds tight and balanced. Nice low and end w/ out being muddy. It sound fast too, as if notes develop faster which I like. After listening to all, I voted this the best.

*Arkaham Oracle: I like the sound, but it sounds too noisy that I'm not even rating this.* edited below


Broughton P-15: sounds nice with good low mids. 2nd best.

Broughton Superstack: Sounds like the P-15, w/ more low end and less low mids. Could be the 3rd favoirte.

Sushi Box: no good, very muddy. Worst of all.

Retrospect: sounds "hollow" in a bad way. Also not clean. 2nd worst.

Edit: After listening to the "Revised Oracle" sample, I wanted to do it justice and revise my rating.

Arkham Oracle: Sounds very nice and I don't know if this or the Noble pre is #1 now Noble sounds richer in midrange frequencies which I like, but I'm guessing the Oracle could be adjusted to sound similar.. Can't go wrong with either.

Still, I don't like that fact that the Oracle is more susceptible to noise when it's close to other gear though.

 

[Low Down Brown]

First off, thank you sir for taking the time to record and post clips

Listened to these a few times already and I plan on listening to them a few more times, but I have to say I am quite surprised by the Particle Accelerator. The Oracle, Squeezebox, and the P-15 sounded fantastic, of course...but the Particle Accelerator just had a certain OOMPH to it that I was not expecting. I really like what I've heard so far. Also, I have to agree with what has been mentioned several times already - a good compressor really makes a difference.

 

[HoochfromP]

Nice tube pre comparison ! Weird the Oracle has what seems being noise issues, it's dead-quiet, even with master and gain dimed.

I fully understand you cannot apply every EQ curves that comes to mind. But the 'mid bump' shape is something many James/Bax EQ users get into. It thickens things in a punchy way a Fender tonestack cannot delivers, while Fender ones will provide more easily fatness and clear-highs, using bass and treble knobs. In your soundclips we get this for Fender-based pres, but we (*i) don't for James/Bax ones. I guess if there was a bass & treble at 10, gain past noon soundclip for these pres, we'd have this covered.

Got to reckon what i do like in this setting is its gentle breakup too, with a gain at 2PM, compression adding its own thickening effect. Not sure it's what you're looking for in a 'tube-clean' comparison, but to me it's one of the nice things using a James/Bax based pre imparts.

 

[SnoozeButtonBen]

I honest to god can't tell the difference. The individual instrument would make 1000x more difference to my ears.

 

[Roxbororob]

Very tough, subjective call. So close Ill have to listen again through my McIntosh pre. But why? I dont think there is a clear winner, I would be happy with any one of them. I suppose price point would be a big factor for me.

Having said all that I think my top three are Noble, P-15 and Oracle.

Excellent comparison BTW, thank you!

 

[Lammchop93]

It's very close between the Arkham and Broughton

 

[spantini]

This beats the hell out of a YouTube shootout. As it happens, I was just whining about not finding good comparison tests for tube PreAmps. Then this..!

My preference is the Broughton P-15. To my ears, it dug a bit deeper into the low end and offered a nice growl.

I really appreciate the detailed posting - just what we need.

 

[B-Lo]

Nice Job!

Ok, so I only listened to the "flat" sample of each pre using a pair of Sennheizer HD 650. I wrote a few things about each, and rated them after listening to them all.

I'm posting this without voting/reading the whole thing first to be as objective as possible I'm curious to see the results and read what you guys think. Here's what I think:

Nobel Pre: Sounds tight and balanced. Nice low and end w/ out being muddy. It sound fast too, as if notes develop faster which I like. After listening to all, I voted this the best.

Arkaham Oracle: I like the sound, but it sounds too noisy that I'm not even rating this.

Same here. I was REALLY excited to hear the Oracle based on all the positive comments I've been reading about it, but I couldn't believe how noisy it was in relation to the Noble which was pretty dead quiet.

I used V-MODA Crossfade M-100 headphones for the comparison by the way.

 

[Bassworship1]

Nice Job!



Nobel Pre: Sounds tight and balanced. Nice low and end w/ out being muddy. It sound fast too, as if notes develop faster which I like. After listening to all, I voted this the best.

.

That is my impressions of the Noble after using mine live for the last month and being in studio once with it. It has that Tube warmth while having clarity that allows it to cut through so smoothly. It is the quietest Preamp I've used by far especially with using the Cali76 which was a little noisy with other preamps I've tried.

 

[bucephylus]

I honest to god can't tell the difference. The individual instrument would make 1000x more difference to my ears.

It's not so much that I COULDN'T distinguish the differences; more that the differences were subtle enough that I found the playing and specific instrument more dominating. And, I mean that in a good way. Yes, there are some slight differences. Kind of like wine tasting with similar vintages.

I'm currently more interested in two aspects about preamp/DI's: A) How they compare through a power amp / backline cabinet vs DI to the board, and B) how these little pedal tube box's compare to the established rack pre's for both signal chains in A).

My impression is that the pedal board boxes do a fairly reasonable job as DI units, but they are not quite there vs the rack pres for driving a backline rig. But, I could be wrong. That's just my impression. The reason I bring it up is that it drives me somewhat nuts trying to field two distinctly different signal chains, depending on the gig, while trying to deliver the same outcome. But, that's where we currently seem to be.

Anyhow, kudos to @scubaduba for his superlative and gracious efforts. Well played!

 

[HoochfromP]

Same here. I was REALLY excited to hear the Oracle based on all the positive comments I've been reading about it, but I couldn't believe how noisy it was in relation to the Noble which was pretty dead quiet.

I used V-MODA Crossfade M-100 headphones for the comparison by the way.

Noise hasn't been reported as an issue on the Oracle. Mine's dead-quiet, no matter you set gain and master knobs. The only hiss gradually occurs when you use the high switch with the treble knob past 11AM. With this setting you get more than enough highs, and a dead-quiet pre, really.

 

[Bonafide]

Excellent work! That is a lot of effort! Thank you for the time!

I thought they all sounded 100% great, usable and functional. As a preamp/gear/tone geek, I love the idea of having as many preamp choices. That's a super collection you have of the pedal variety. The SUPER STACK was about 3 db lower in vol in the comparison which makes it sound a tad thinner.

My own experience tells me every one of them would sound different with a different bass, different player, different, technique, pickup combo etc. The results should be as subtle as they are IMO. Even with a critical listening environment this is the last 5% of the detail that musos geek about and where alot of us live in the gear conversation. That said, I do find any preamp I have with the classic Fender tone stack will tend to punch the hardest, though not always my first choice for tone. Great work again!

 

[scubaduba]

Regarding the background noise heard in the original Oracle clip, I learned something today. I started capturing the loop again and recording another session to try and figure out why the background noise was present. At one point during this process I picked the Oracle up and set it on top of the RNDI and all of a sudden I heard more hum — an obvious humming. After separating the RNDI and Oracle so they are not side-by-side I think the background noise goes away pretty much entirely. Conclusion: The Oracle does not like to be close to the RNDI. Too close together and you will get hum/hiss. Keep them a couple of inches a part and you are golden. Guessing that was the problem in the first recording.

Here's the same loop played through the Oracle and RNDI again with the same settings captured. This time the two devices are not side-by-side.

 

[cosmicevan]

I preferred the Noble in these clips, it was the beefiest for me...but I also have the SuperStack and P-15 and on both, I dial the treble down, boost the bass, and on the superstack I have the mids dimed so the settings used for the demos weren't really how I like my EQ...everything sounded pretty bright and twangy to me...strings were newer than I like as well making it difficult to really tell what I'd like since most of the clips weren't what I look for when it comes to tone. While clips are helpful for comparison, one man's golden tone is another's unhappy face...as such, you should just go ahead an mail all of these to me so I can play with them for myself. I'll report back on which I like the best

 

[chadhargis]

Regarding the background noise heard in the original Oracle clip, I learned something today. I started capturing the loop again and recording another session to try and figure out why the background noise was present. At one point during this process I picked the Oracle up and set it on top of the RNDI and all of a sudden I heard more hum — an obvious humming. After separating the RNDI and Oracle so they are not side-by-side I think the background noise goes away pretty much entirely. Conclusion: The Oracle does not like to be close to the RNDI. Too close together and you will get hum/hiss. Keep them a couple of inches a part and you are golden. Guessing that was the problem in the first recording.

Here's the same loop played through the Oracle and RNDI again with the same settings captured. This time the two devices are not side-by-side.

Interesting. My Oracle sits directly on top of my RNDI and I have no noise. But it is 90 degrees to the Oracle.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

Regarding the background noise heard in the original Oracle clip, I learned something today. I started capturing the loop again and recording another session to try and figure out why the background noise was present. At one point during this process I picked the Oracle up and set it on top of the RNDI and all of a sudden I heard more hum — an obvious humming. After separating the RNDI and Oracle so they are not side-by-side I think the background noise goes away pretty much entirely. Conclusion: The Oracle does not like to be close to the RNDI. Too close together and you will get hum/hiss. Keep them a couple of inches a part and you are golden. Guessing that was the problem in the first recording.

Here's the same loop played through the Oracle and RNDI again with the same settings captured. This time the two devices are not side-by-side.

Thanks again, sounds pretty good! Edited my original post to do it justice

 

[RudyTardy]

Hey Scuba. Great comparison! Is it just me or are there some level differences going on here? When I jump between Noble and Oracle, there seems to be a jump up in level on the Oracle. Only ask as this can make a big difference in perception.

As of now, I am fond of the Noble (although I am biased since I am so used to that sound now). The Oracle in 2nd and the P15 in 3rd. The Noble just seems to retain that bloom of the note formation. All are stellar preamps!

Regarding noise on the Oracle: does it employ a toroidal transformer?

 

[scubaduba]

I preferred the Noble in these clips, it was the beefiest for me...but I also have the SuperStack and P-15 and on both, I dial the treble down, boost the bass, and on the superstack I have the mids dimed so the settings used for the demos weren't really how I like my EQ...everything sounded pretty bright and twangy to me...strings were newer than I like as well making it difficult to really tell what I'd like since most of the clips weren't what I look for when it comes to tone. While clips are helpful for comparison, one man's golden tone is another's unhappy face...as such, you should just go ahead an mail all of these to me so I can play with them for myself. I'll report back on which I like the best

Here's another sequence with the SuperStack recorded with the same riff but with Bass EQ trending higher.



Clip 1: Flat (Bass all the way counterclockwise; Treble all the way counterclockwise; Mids all the way clockwise — Fender/Alembic tone stack)
Clip 2: Bass noon; Treble 9:00; Mid flat
Clip 3: Bass 1:00; Treble 9:00; Mid flat
Clip 4: Bass 1:00; Treble 10:00; Mid flat
Clip 5: Bass 2:00; Treble 10:00; Mid flat
Clip 6: Bass 3:00; Treble 11:00; Mid flat
Clip 7: Bass: 3:00; Treble noon; Mid flat
Clip 8: Bass 2:00; Treble 10:00; Mid flat; Cali 76 CB ON
Clip 9: Bass 2:00; Treble 10:00; Mid flat; LA-1a ON

 

[scubaduba]

I'd love to add a Broughton SSDI to the mix.

 

[1983L2000]

I like P15 and Oracle/RNDI most (but how much do you think the RNDI contributes to the sound of the Oracle?) with the Noble close behind...

but the LA-1A is the clearer winner IMO.