I've been sitting on the fence about which preamp/di to get, and you've helped me greatly. After watching and listening to this video, I've finally made up my mind--I want them ALL! Each has its own flavor, and just when I think "that's the one," I hear the next, and my mind is completely changed. Based on affordability, I may have to try the Mesa Boogie first and go from there. It sounds fantastic, and I love the versatility. You're doing an excellent service for us, Ivan. Thanks again!

@IvanBassist

3 жыл бұрын

Happy to help! They’re all great and offer different features. Let me know what you think once you get the Subway :)

Great video! For me, they sound surprisingly close to each other, except for the Geddy, which sound a little thinner. The Mesa seems to have more pressure, if that makes sense, but I guess any of those are quite great. I‘m still very happy with my Olympic. Now is your turn to pick your favorite and let us know!😄

@IvanBassist

3 жыл бұрын

For a clean DI i’ve been using the Noble and taking the DI out of the Subway for tones with effects or EQ

The Noble and Olympic sounds very similar (and nice).

I think the one I liked least was the Geddy pre. The rest sounded about the same with just a small shift in the mid range.

@blankvrs

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah. The Geddy sounded the weakest of the bunch.

@IvanBassist

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed. The YYZ needs some drive to really shine :)

Hi Ivan, I like the sound from the Mesa more than the other, but all are great Preamps.

@IvanBassist

3 жыл бұрын

Good stuff 🤘🏽

@stefanherbst9980

3 жыл бұрын

Me too. Thats why i own one.

Most of all I liked the sound of Darkglass🤘🏻🔥

Personally, the Noble is like the Holy Grail of bass preamps, the sound is just where and how it needs to be, it offers a really complete range of frequencies with the benefit of that tube flavour, which makes the bass sound more "alive"; however, the Olympic is really close, it sounds fantastic too (maybe with little less pronounced low-mids and more pronounced high-mids?)

My favorite is the Noble, it probably adds a bit more distortion and compression than the others, which gives a slightly fuller sound. The Geddy mids/highs are kinda muffled on the flat setting.

@IvanBassist

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, the Geddy needs to have some drive to really shine.

I'm just here for the groove! I don't have the cash for a new preamp, my TC Electronic Spectra Drive whilst not boutique has served me well.

@IvanBassist

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! :)

@dm4728

2 жыл бұрын

@@IvanBassist thanks for the video Sir, even though I'm not in the market right now.. I really enjoyed this video. It was very well done. 👍

I have the same reaction when I record my Geddy Lee DI-2112 as I do with your YYZ (set flat), there's some harmonic content missing in the signal, it sounds muffled compared to the other DI's. I hear a lack of upper frequencies in the recording. Yes?

Que buen test!

@IvanBassist

3 жыл бұрын

Gracias 🙏🏽

Hi Ivan, can you give some tutorial/lesson/even a video playing with the octaver pedal correctly? If you dont mind, thanks brother!

@IvanBassist

3 жыл бұрын

I’ve got this vid so far: kzread.info/dash/bejne/nIisp6qooNu5ptY.html

Ivan makes them all sound quite good, but the Noble has a low end presence all the others lack. 2nd choice would be the Olympic.

Qué te parece el Mxr m81, he visto que pruebas muchos preamps pero este nunca lo has mencionado y personalmente creo que tiene un tono bastante limpio sin colorear y redondo, evidentemente no es valvular pero entre los precios moderados es uno a tener en cuenta .

I was really surprised!!! I Didn't care for the Tech 21 at all. Noble and Olympic sounded Super close (and the best) to my ears. Mesa and darkglass felt a little too boomy.

@IvanBassist

2 жыл бұрын

The Tech 21 works the best with drive, though 😁

The Nobel is the one but I can't justify the price when gigs are scarce at my age.The Olympic is one I'm keeping an eye on.I actually signed up on a waiting list.People are gouging the price on Reverb and eBay.I was told by a vendor some electronic parts are very hard to come by.

@IvanBassist

2 жыл бұрын

Several industries are suffering due to the dreaded 3 words: supply chain issues 🥲🥲🥲

What I want to accomplish is as follows: 1) Plug bass into bass preamp - pedal size or slightly larger preferred. 2) Plug BALANCED LINE LEVEL OUT of preamp directly into my Ad/Da converter to capture PROCESSED signal. TRS or XLR is fine. 3) Simultaneously I would like to take an INSTRUMENT LEVEL output from the preamp and plug it into the instrument level inputs on one of my mic pres with instrument input to capture the UNPROCESSED DI. Can you recommend a preamp pedal that meets these criteria? A nice OD section would be preferred, and cab sims would be nice but not necessary.

@IvanBassist

2 жыл бұрын

Mesa Subway DI for a clean DI. Preamp with Drive: Darkglass B7k, Darkglass Vintage Deluxe or Alpha Omega.

@cmvb

2 жыл бұрын

Aguilar Tone Hammer?

@Berney

8 ай бұрын

DSM & Humboldt Bass Simplifier? It has 2 DI outs.

OMG they all sound the same! Only the Geddy Lee is softer... no big differnce at all!! I have the VT Bass DI and is for me the best one

@IvanBassist

3 жыл бұрын

I have to disagree about them sounding the same. I hear very clear differences, but I agree about the VT DI. That one is pretty good!

In your other video on the Olympic you said mid down cuts yet here you have the flat signal with mid at 12 o'clock cut...?

@IvanBassist

2 жыл бұрын

It’s just the stock picture from their website. Not the actual settings

Muy buen video. Una pregunta, yo siempre toco conectado al ordenador conectado a una Scarlett Solo, crees que merecería la pena que me comprara un preamp? Notaría una gran diferencia? Podría tener problemas conectando un preamp a la interfaz de audio directamente? O mejor invertir directamente en vst? Soy novato en esto. Muchas gracias

@IvanBassist

3 жыл бұрын

Hola Carlos! Muchas gracias por ver el video. Si valdria la pena invertir en un DI Box como la Neve RNDI o Radial JDI o un preamp que te de un poco de EQ como estos del video. Creo que si vas a notar una gran diferencia

I'm sorry, I fail to see how a comparison can be made, each of the preamps appear to have different EQ, gain, drive and routing settings. The only constant, I can see, is the bassline. Although, I like the concept.

That mesa if fat sounding. Noble has the cleanest tone. For none tube microtubes x is great!

@IvanBassist

3 жыл бұрын

Love the tube tone 🔥

@karloabapo1305

3 жыл бұрын

@@IvanBassist I am not sure why mesa isn't as popular as the others. I have an ebs microbass 3. I also like the ebs valvedrive. I think I will get the mesa too!

How does the Ampeg SCR compare with Mesa Subway?

@IvanBassist

3 жыл бұрын

I’ve no experience with that one. I’ll see what i can do to feature it on the channel

😋 those 2 tube preamps... 🍽

@IvanBassist

3 жыл бұрын

YES!

@thewetterbass

3 жыл бұрын

@@IvanBassist btw, were the settings on the Subway as shown on the video or set to noon like the other pedals? If so, any particular reason?

@IvanBassist

3 жыл бұрын

The settings were not like the pics on any pedal. I just boosted some treble and bass on all preamps :)

@thewetterbass

3 жыл бұрын

@@IvanBassist seasoned to taste then 👍🏻. The Subway sounds warm! Thanks!

@matthiasbenda8253

3 жыл бұрын

@@IvanBassist Important info, thank you! Maybe you can state that in the description and take pics of the actual settings in future videos.

I LOVE my Darkglass pedals. I think I own three. I was SO disappointed with the Geddy Lee Sansamp. I wanted to love it.

@IvanBassist

3 жыл бұрын

Bear in mind that I used the YYZ with a “clean” setting. It really kicks ass with drive: kzread.info/dash/bejne/dX6kzNqTYdjIpMo.html

Got rid of the rndi?

@IvanBassist

2 жыл бұрын

Nope. But the RNDI is not a preamp. It’s a pure DI and I lent it to a friend, too :)

@mikesanders80

2 жыл бұрын

@@IvanBassist if you could only choose one between the subway and rndi for old school 60s tones which one would you pick?

@IvanBassist

2 жыл бұрын

That’s not really a good comparison. The RNDI doesn’t do “anything” other than take what you feed into it (your playing) and convert it into a solid wide frequency signal for recording or front of house. It doesn’t add any “style” of tone to the sound. If you need a piece of gear that applies EQ or shapes your signal to fit into a particular style of music, then you need a preamp/amp. In that case the Subway would be the better option if you want to shape your sound

@mikesanders80

2 жыл бұрын

@@IvanBassist I undertand that, but does the quality of sound of the RNDI outweigh the flexibility of the Subway for recording? Eg. EQing in the box rather than before the preamp. Wont be using live. Also have you tried the MXR M81 for a clean di preamp? Seems like it could be an alternative to the Mesa Subway for much cheaper...

@IvanBassist

2 жыл бұрын

@@mikesanders80 I'd pick the RNDI if I were you. If you're only going to be recording, the RNDI is really hard to beat.

Noble>Mesa>Dark glass>Olympic>Tech21

@IvanBassist

3 жыл бұрын

💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽

The tone just sounds like a bass into a DI, no colour or character being introduced by the pedals. I’d rather see each pedal set to achieve its most radical sound,this video tells me nothing except how they sound set to a neutral tone.