That’s just the clean di you run at the start of the chain and the mantle at the end.
You know proper TB style, with all
the latest buzzword pedals
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Walrus Audio Mantle
- Thread starter gtirard
- Start date
You know proper TB style, with all
the latest buzzword pedals
He found a way to make a living with the bass, so I can’t fault him for that. He’s certainly a proficient and professional player, so I can’t knock him there. But I agree that he’s a hype man and falls into a category of infotainment that makes it hard for me to separate the information from the advertisement.
$750 for this isn’t necessarily insane. The Noble shows that there is a market for high end preamps with a minimal interface. I bought a Noble to try it, though it didn’t stay in my collection long. I also had a Monique, so I’m clearly willing to drop coin on boutique preamp items. Currently, I’m holding an Edison, a Sol Invictus, a Starlifter and a BDDI v2 which gets most of my playing time. I think I’m at a point where utility, convenience, and DAW plugins get me what I need for my level of amateur nonsense. But if I see/hear a few demos that catch my ear I might consider this box. I do still consider units like a REDDI and U5 because I want to know what they’re all about, and easily flipped. If this hits the streets and holds a decent flip value, I might kick the tires.
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Sounds great and nifty features, but I'm honestly baffled by the price.
At this price point, they are trying to compete with the highest end of bass preamp pedals (Origin Effects, Jad Freer, Noble, etc.), or knocking at the door of 2nd hand price of actual studio outboard gear (REDDI, Avalon U5, UA solo, etc.), and Walrus Audio doesn't have the brand name (for bass guitar at least) in either domain to justify such a price, at least in my view.
Maybe it's that Ian Martin Allison leaves me cold (nothing against him, he seems to be a fine bassist, but at the end of the day he's known for having a large youtube channel where he sells lessons and gear, not for having recorded any great/impactful music..
I wish them luck, it does look like a nice thoughtfully designed product, but I wouldn't pay over 450€ for something like this TBH.
At this price point, they are trying to compete with the highest end of bass preamp pedals (Origin Effects, Jad Freer, Noble, etc.), or knocking at the door of 2nd hand price of actual studio outboard gear (REDDI, Avalon U5, UA solo, etc.), and Walrus Audio doesn't have the brand name (for bass guitar at least) in either domain to justify such a price, at least in my view.
Maybe it's that Ian Martin Allison leaves me cold (nothing against him, he seems to be a fine bassist, but at the end of the day he's known for having a large youtube channel where he sells lessons and gear, not for having recorded any great/impactful music..
I wish them luck, it does look like a nice thoughtfully designed product, but I wouldn't pay over 450€ for something like this TBH.
My favorite Ian Allison demoing still remains the sound samples he did for Lakland years ago.
Specifically the Decade with Darkstars. That was a major sit up and take notice moment.
Poor guy has been doing his excitable boy routine on YT all these years now and has no idea that nothing of his ever got my attention as much as a simple website text link with no video or bro-ho-hoing.
Specifically the Decade with Darkstars. That was a major sit up and take notice moment.
Poor guy has been doing his excitable boy routine on YT all these years now and has no idea that nothing of his ever got my attention as much as a simple website text link with no video or bro-ho-hoing.
I'll likely get one. I like the design and sound.
It’s funny, while I really dislike Scott’s Bass Lessons content their signature gear is often really good. I am a huge fan of Ians signature labellas and his new synth pedal by mxr.
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It’s $750 - why would you look at that over an Origin Effects Bass Rig / B15 or JHS Colour Box v2?
What am I missing?
What am I missing?
Those were very well done. I listened to them many times while making some buying decisions.
The Colour Box is a reasonably direct comparison, though the Mantle isn't explicitly trying to be just another 1073-in-a-pedal type of devices. The OE B15, along with their other BassRig products, is aiming at an entirely different tone and feature set to the Mantle, so that feels apples and orange to me. All of these choices, along with any other high end preamp DI are likely going to all be different flavors of great though, so it's probably very difficult to go wrong.
I wonder how a $750 preamp will sound through my band’s Behringer PA speakers.
I think it's more a direct competitor with the JHS given they are both takes at the "studio pre in a box" concept theoretically using a high-end analog signal path with transformers like the studio gear they are both inspired by. It seems like the Colour Box is much more colorful (go figure) and prone to grit/dirt while the Walrus seems to be going for a more clean and pristine thing with more limited levels of saturation on tap. The Origin Bassrig pedals are analog tube amplifier/cabinet amp simulators using transistors to model tubes- a pretty different vibe all around IMO. As @silky smoove says, they all seem to be pretty distinct flavors- the Mantle feature set isn't worth that price for me, but could well be for others. I said the same about the Bassrig pedals when they first came out though, and I now have both the Super Vintage and Fifteen and don't want to sell either!
To be fair, Scott Devine has the large YouTube channel (hence Scott's Bass Lessons), Ian is an employee, in the role of Chief Creative Content Officer; LOL, he's the CCCO... ;^p
Regardless, dude seems to have some solid bass guitar skills, actually uses what he endorses, and looks to be keeping busy playing music and running bass seminars...?
...and then I saw the price and fainted for about 5 minutes. The end.
Indeed, he's just a dude with solid skills that sells/promotes gear for a living, not really someone with any cultural impact to music IMO.
I was purely musing about Walrus Audio's marketing for this product; that neither the brand name nor the artist they chose to collab with to promote this product would push me into paying such a high price for this product, in comparison to other quite similar battle tested products from very well established brands. It just doesn't add up to me, no offense meant to Ian or Walrus Audio, as I said it does seem like a high quality preamp pedal with nice features.
"Kiss my grits!" will never get old in my mind. Thank you for this.Kinda interested.
IMA demos = instapass.
I’ll look/wait for other demos.
Mantle Analog Bass Preamp // D.I.
The Mantle is a premium preamp and DI for electric bass, created in close collaboration with Ian Martin Allison. Designed to give your instrument an impeccable sonic foundation, the Mantle brings studio-grade refinement to any environment - whether you're stepping onstage, tracking in the...www.walrusaudio.com
$750?
View attachment 7408982
Pretty cool. I think I'd be more interested in a simple DI box utilizing that Sapphire transformer though.
This is similar to what Noble is. It’s not really a pedal so much as it is a pedal compatible studio pre. These are just smaller versions of what the Reddi or the BAE desk top boxes. It’s in a different category of gear. Does it work better? not necessarily. Does it sound better? Not necessarily. Is it necessary? No, but if $500 bucks can get you 90%, getting into the small details is why there’s so many studio pres and you can get that extra 10% in another 200 bucks or 20,000 bucks.
Or it’s all and sham and you can do your thing
I can’t wait to give it a shot
Or it’s all and sham and you can do your thing
I can’t wait to give it a shot
I don’t know if Walrus has quite earned their spot in the $500+ bass preamp market yet.
But maybe the Badwater just left a bad taste in my mouth.
But maybe the Badwater just left a bad taste in my mouth.
IMA is a very busy working bassist in the session community with some decent, if not huge credits. The guy is a solid working bassist, and he seems like a good guy.
$750 is too much but it’s under $650 with the 15% off, so I took a chance. I liked how it sounded. It was less than my noble. I really like the feature set and am hoping it pairs nicely with my vhpf/vlpf and sushi box more. We’ll see. This is the price of tone chasing.
$750 is too much but it’s under $650 with the 15% off, so I took a chance. I liked how it sounded. It was less than my noble. I really like the feature set and am hoping it pairs nicely with my vhpf/vlpf and sushi box more. We’ll see. This is the price of tone chasing.
Yeah, I think IMA is getting unfairly labeled as someone that promotes the highest bidder. He even admitted to using the Capo and Noble and still praised those units today. He didn't say the Mantle was better or that those products suck. He just said this is different and caters to what he was looking for. He could have downplayed the other brands but he didn't.
My two cents.
