Preamp

[SumOne]

After singing it's praises the Nux annoyed me by not connecting to Laptops (Mac or Windows 10) so I've returned it and replaced with a Laney Digbeth.

 

First impressions are it's bigger than I expected, looks good and seems well built, sounds good, lacks the IR and editing features of the Nux (which I guess is a plus point if things like Laptop connections, firmware updates etc. annoy you ) but gains an fx loop and more hardware controls. 

 

 

 

[stewblack]

34 minutes ago, SumOne said:

After singing it's praises the Nux annoyed me by not connecting to Laptops (Mac or Windows 10) so I've returned it and replaced with a Laney Digbeth.

 

First impressions are it's bigger than I expected, looks good and seems well built, sounds good, lacks the IR and editing features of the Nux (which I guess is a plus point if things like Laptop connections, firmware updates etc. annoy you ) but gains an fx loop and more hardware controls. 

 

 

 

Looks the dog's doesn't it? I have to say an FX loop should be standard. On any preamp pedal.

[stewblack]

I've ended up with the Fender Downtown Express.

Which I've used for a straight to pa rehearsal and it performed admirably. The OD isn't quite to my taste but all else is ace

[SloppyChops]

7 hours ago, SumOne said:

After singing it's praises the Nux annoyed me by not connecting to Laptops (Mac or Windows 10) so I've returned it and replaced with a Laney Digbeth.

 

First impressions are it's bigger than I expected, looks good and seems well built, sounds good, lacks the IR and editing features of the Nux (which I guess is a plus point if things like Laptop connections, firmware updates etc. annoy you ) but gains an fx loop and more hardware controls. 

 

 

Any thoughts on it? I'm about to pull the trigger on one but can't find much information about it at all.

 

[SumOne]

@SloppyChops I've only had it for a couple of days so perhaps I'll notice things that annoy me over time but so far so good, it holds it's own against any other Preamp/DI I've owned and seems pretty good value at £150. (Edit: Actually minor issues are that although the dials look cool they aren't that easy to read, separate headphone volume control could be useful if monitoring while also playing out via the outputs - rather than sharing the same volume control, and it's quite big). 

 

It's well built, good EQ options, a foot switchable tube type overdrive (that I like on mild settings), good connections: headphone , aux in, link, output, XLR pre/post with ground lift, and FX loop. No hissing or crackling or other build quality issues - it feels like it'll be reliable. 

 

I suppose the things it's missing that a lot of the preamp competition now has is amp/cab sim and IR loading - I'm not too fussed about that and could put something like a Mooer Radar in the FX loop if I become fussed about it. 

 

This video gives an idea of the sounds:

 

 

 

Edited September 22, 2021 by SumOne

[SloppyChops]

6 hours ago, SumOne said:

@SloppyChops I've only had it for a couple of days so perhaps I'll notice things that annoy me over time but so far so good, it holds it's own against any other Preamp/DI I've owned and seems pretty good value at £150. (Edit: Actually minor issues are that although the dials look cool they aren't that easy to read, separate headphone volume control could be useful if monitoring while also playing out via the outputs - rather than sharing the same volume control, and it's quite big). 

 

It's well built, good EQ options, a foot switchable tube type overdrive (that I like on mild settings), good connections: headphone , aux in, link, output, XLR pre/post with ground lift, and FX loop. No hissing or crackling or other build quality issues - it feels like it'll be reliable. 

 

I suppose the things it's missing that a lot of the preamp competition now has is amp/cab sim and IR loading - I'm not too fussed about that and could put something like a Mooer Radar in the FX loop if I become fussed about it. 

 

This video gives an idea of the sounds:

 

 

 

 

Appreciate it. I've watched that video like 5 times now as its the only one I've been able to find! 

I think it would suit my needs pretty well so I'll buy one on payday!

[SumOne]

14 hours ago, SloppyChops said:

 

Appreciate it. I've watched that video like 5 times now as its the only one I've been able to find! 

I think it would suit my needs pretty well so I'll buy one on payday!

 

I don't think you'll have any nasty surprises - it does everything as expected. I suppose the tone of the tube drive is a bit hard to know until you plug it in to your setup, it's been a few years since I owned one but it feels similar to the sansamp BDDI as a fairly dark/growly sort of overdrive that I just use on quite low settings. 

[Skybone]

That Digbeth pedal does look good.

[SumOne]

I owe the Nux an apology - I think I had been trying USB cables that don't transfer data.

 

There doesn't seem to be any way of distinguishing the difference by looking at the cables and I've amassed a big knotty pile of them but I tried to plug in a Zoom pedal that had worked before and it wouldn't connect - which is when the penny dropped and on the 3rd cable (one I hadn't tried with the Nux) it worked. 

[Doddy]

On 21/09/2021 at 11:32, stewblack said:

I've ended up with the Fender Downtown Express.

Which I've used for a straight to pa rehearsal and it performed admirably. The OD isn't quite to my taste but all else is ace

I've used a Downtown Express quite a bit, and it's always been great.  I quite like the overdrive in it, but I think the EQ is really good.

[stewblack]

1 hour ago, Doddy said:

I've used a Downtown Express quite a bit, and it's always been great.  I quite like the overdrive in it, but I think the EQ is really good.

Yeah the eq is seriously powerful. I am getting to grips with the OD , I think I was trying to use in in the wrong way, as a low gain always on effect. It's too ballsy for that 

How do you find the comp?

[Doddy]

56 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Yeah the eq is seriously powerful. I am getting to grips with the OD , I think I was trying to use in in the wrong way, as a low gain always on effect. It's too ballsy for that 

How do you find the comp?

It seems to work fine, but I never use compression.

[AxelF]

9 hours ago, SumOne said:

I owe the Nux an apology - I think I had been trying USB cables that don't transfer data.

 

There doesn't seem to be any way of distinguishing the difference by looking at the cables and I've amassed a big knotty pile of them but I tried to plug in a Zoom pedal that had worked before and it wouldn't connect - which is when the penny dropped and on the 3rd cable (one I hadn't tried with the Nux) it worked. 

Oh no, glad you've (hopefully!) worked out what it was though - the not knowing why is what really drives me mental!

 

Is it too late to give it another go, I think I read you've moved it on already? Have almost got my board rebuilt with the NUX - had to order a new tuner as I ran out of room for the Boss, and picked up a hub for my SA pedals too, but have to say I'm absolutely loving it so far.

[SumOne]

45 minutes ago, AxelF said:

Oh no, glad you've (hopefully!) worked out what it was though - the not knowing why is what really drives me mental!

 

Is it too late to give it another go, I think I read you've moved it on already? Have almost got my board rebuilt with the NUX - had to order a new tuner as I ran out of room for the Boss, and picked up a hub for my SA pedals too, but have to say I'm absolutely loving it so far.

Yeah I jumped the gun a bit and returned it to be replaced with a Laney Digbeth pedal which I like so I'm not too fussed, the Nux does seem good though.