Noble Tube DI

[Mickyk]

Noble - Dual Vacuum Tube Preamp / DI,Anyone ever played through one of these they sound awesome.?

[Gwilym]

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/296744-noble-preamp-any-bc-owners/

[JPJ]

Personally, the Noble is totally out of my price range, but for a lot less money you can get the SushiBoxFX Finally “with bass in mind” valve driven DI. No EQ, but gain and level, switchable HPF, DI out with separate level control, and ground lift. Mine has become my ‘secret sauce’ box and it brings my passive fretless precision to a whole other level. 

[spyder]

I owned one about 6 months ago. Unfortunately I didn't like it. 

I much prefer the Sonic Farm 2di4. The Sonic Farm is super clean with a gentle eq, if required. The Noble sounded congested to my ears. 

[three]

I used one for around 12 months but found it was only really useful (for me) on passive basses - especially Fender types.  Again, for me, the Noble is sort of a one trick pony, though it's a good trick.  Kind of a nice 'produced' and quite glossy tone out of the box.  The eq was ok but I prefer greater control over mids.  The form factor is great and the unit is undeniably well-built and robust.  The Monique is much more versatile in the world of bass valve pres/DI and I find it much more useful for active basses (though again, I think it tends to work better with passives).  That said, my Monique is currently for sale and it's likely that I'll return to just using high-end SS pres.  For the OP, if you can find a Noble at a decent price, possibly worth a try, especially if you're looking for a solid vintage passive tone 

[Piers_Williamson]

I've owned one for several years and use it as my 'B15' vintage sound, usually with Fenders.  It's the DB's.  The tube DI is also very good and well received with sound engineers.  It also powers my (small) effects board.  They are very expensive to import though.

[Rollin Thunder]

Two notes le bass or revolt bass

 

real tube built in multi channels fraction of the cost from well known brand. Cannot recommend either enough if you want that real tube bass magic 

[itu]

The headline states DI, but this unit has adjustments. For me a DI is a Countryman Type 85. Preamp is another thing.

[Piers_Williamson]

3 hours ago, itu said:

The headline states DI, but this unit has adjustments. For me a DI is a Countryman Type 85. Preamp is another thing.

I think it does both.  I don't have mine with me at the minute, but I think the DI goes straight out and/or you can switch in your bass/treble settings.  The controls for instrument monitoring are relatively simple though: bass, more bass or bass with a top end.

[Chienmortbb]

$1350 shipped to the UK before duty VAT and the fee for customs clearance. It looks like a simple pre amp with some basic tone controls. Explain.

[Piers_Williamson]

8 minutes ago, Chienmortbb said:

$1350 shipped to the UK before duty VAT and the fee for customs clearance. It looks like a simple pre amp with some basic tone controls. Explain.

I bought mine some time ago, so it didn't cost nearly that much, but the tone is brilliant.  How much do people pay for old B15s?

[Chienmortbb]

Just now, Piers_Williamson said:

I bought mine some time ago, so it didn't cost nearly that much, but the tone is brilliant.  How much do people pay for old B15s?

Too much? Of course the value is something that only you can judge. To be fair, I cannot really comment as I have never used one.

[Reggaebass]

On 18/08/2024 at 17:33, Piers_Williamson said:

I think it does both.  I don't have mine with me at the minute, but I think the DI goes straight out and/or you can switch in your bass/treble settings.  The controls for instrument monitoring are relatively simple though: bass, more bass or bass with a top end.

I’ve always liked the noble and like hearing what people think of them, I haven’t got around to getting one yet, do you use yours through an amp piers, if so can I ask which one 

[Piers_Williamson]

To me the concept of a Noble is being able to carry around a relatively portable and robust equivalent of a B15 most places I rehearse or play, when I want a vintage sound.  I am not so convinced it sounds good with active basses.

 

To answer your question, I plug mine into a Mesa D800+ and I plug it in at the instrument in stage.  I set the parametric pretty neutral and use the Noble to adjust the sound.  I tend to favour the back pickup of a Jazz growl, which works really well.   I also use it in combination with an Origin Compressor.  I am sure purists here will tell me I shouldn't be doing that!