Nobelium - tube bass preamp project

[bhcarpenter]

I'll buy one at 3 conditions:

1. Must cost at least a grand.
2. The waiting list must be X years.
3. No discernible effect when turned on.

Like the real thing

FWIW the build quality on my Noble preamp is really great, and Jack was super nice via email. I did wait a long time for it, but honestly I think it was worth it.

Still looking forward to building my own

 

[Silver Blues]

Just ordered mine - very excited to receive it Not so excited about the exchange rate...

 

[andare]

FWIW the build quality on my Noble preamp is really great, and Jack was super nice via email. I did wait a long time for it, but honestly I think it was worth it.

Still looking forward to building my own

Just joking. I know it's top notch and it's a one-man operation. I still can't tell what it does in the demos though

 

[matmonster58]

Here's one of my favorite demos with the Noble.

I've listened to the blind shootout several times, several months apart so that I forget the order. I've preferred the Noble every time.

To me it sounds just like a normal radial di, but 5% better. "3d" sounding is the best I can describe it as.

 

[peccary]

Here's one of my favorite demos with the Noble.

I've listened to the blind shootout several times, several months apart so that I forget the order. I've preferred the Noble every time.

To me it sounds just like a normal radial di, but 5% better. "3d" sounding is the best I can describe it as.

That was pretty good. With my cheap Apple Earbuds I picked the Noble and Zod as my favorites. The Reddi sounded the worst to me overall.

 

[Harry Klippton]

I keep thinking I'm interested in this (pending successful builds from others) but I already built a tube DI with a Jensen transformer. It just doesn't have bass and treble controls

 

[vigilante398]

That was pretty good. With my cheap Apple Earbuds I picked the Noble and Zod as my favorites. The Reddi sounded the worst to me overall.

Having owned several nice tube D.I. units (for...reasons...) REDDI was actually one of my favorites. Noble is fine, definitely very well built, but very subtle. The big thing with REDDI for me was the feel.

/* begin nerd section
Instead of connecting the primary of the D.I. transformer between a tube's coupling capacitor and ground, like everyone (myself included), REDDI uses the primary of the transformer as the plate load. Since the impedance of the coil varies depending on frequency, it has a neat reactive response to playing that I haven't seen in any others.
end nerd section*/

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

I keep thinking I'm interested in this (pending successful builds from others) but I already built a tube DI with a Jensen transformer. It just doesn't have bass and treble controls

You probably don't need it but that doesn't in any way reduce the need to build it, naw meen?

Having owned several nice tube D.I. units (for...reasons...) REDDI was actually one of my favorites. Noble is fine, definitely very well built, but very subtle. The big thing with REDDI for me was the feel.

/* begin nerd section
Instead of connecting the primary of the D.I. transformer between a tube's coupling capacitor and ground, like everyone (myself included), REDDI uses the primary of the transformer as the plate load. Since the impedance of the coil varies depending on frequency, it has a neat reactive response to playing that I haven't seen in any others.
end nerd section*/

So, when will the sushibox "READY" pcb hit the store?

 

[peccary]

Having owned several nice tube D.I. units (for...reasons...) REDDI was actually one of my favorites. Noble is fine, definitely very well built, but very subtle. The big thing with REDDI for me was the feel.

/* begin nerd section
Instead of connecting the primary of the D.I. transformer between a tube's coupling capacitor and ground, like everyone (myself included), REDDI uses the primary of the transformer as the plate load. Since the impedance of the coil varies depending on frequency, it has a neat reactive response to playing that I haven't seen in any others.
end nerd section*/

That's pretty cool to learn, thanks.

There was a color to it that I heard and didn't like, mainly in the top end. I know I'll sound silly saying it, but it had this "the fretboard is made form a mold injected plastic chair leg" kind of sound to it that really turned me off.

I also hated the Colour Box which surprised me because I've listened to multiple samples of that which I really liked, but I just don't think I agree with how much grit he dialed in.

 

[KR Sound]

Did I miss it, or do I just not see it?

Edit: never mind, looked at the wrong site.

 

[vigilante398]

So, when will the sushibox "READY" pcb hit the store?

Actually I called my prototype "STEDDI, GO" because I think I'm hilarious at 2AM. It works, it's not bad, but they use a custom wound transformer that's a lot bigger and more expensive than a typical D.I. transformer, so it doesn't work quite the same with a Jensen or LBA. You get the general idea of it being similar, but it's not as good.

 

[Feral Feline]

Here's one of my favorite demos with the Noble.

I've listened to the blind shootout several times, several months apart so that I forget the order. I've preferred the Noble every time.

To me it sounds just like a normal radial di, but 5% better. "3d" sounding is the best I can describe it as.

It's been a while since I watched this. So, like you I didn't remember what the order was.
After rewatching it, and bouncing back and forth between my finalists, I chose 1, 5 and 7.

1 — felt like it was solid and good base-line, but no "je ne sais quoi"*; not "sterile", just no extra pizazz.​

5 — just sounded great. Very well balanced and had that "je ne sais quoi"*.​

7 — Today, this was the winner for me, chosen for its extra bit of oomph to the bass freqs, while 5 was more balanced.​

Last time I did the listening test, I remember choosing the Noble as my winner. Don't remember where the others placed.

What I wish had been done is for the Colourbox to have been set closer to the others in terms of saturation — the shootout wasn't fair to the Colourbox, and I wonder if it would've done better given different settings. Rematch!


Disclosure
I've got a Radial PZed-Pre, which would be closest to the passive JDI in the shootout though a Radial rep once told me the PZed-Pre's DI is durned close to the active J48. Apart from the stupid power requirement (15v) of my Radial, I like it and am biased towards Radial gear.
However, my last year or so of gigging was done with the fDeck HPF-Pre on its own (and a Turbo-tuner). Bare-bones when hauling the upright around HKG.

Never ever liked the bloody Reddi: Not its size, not its colour, not its fanboys/girls, and most importantly not its sound.​

I got to check out a Nobel in person, albeit with someone else's rig and gig, and ever since then I've been interested — so I ordered the Nobelium right away when it dropped. So...


WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS:
WHICH TRANSFORMER WILL YOU FOLKS CHOOSE & WHY?



PS: POWER, what PSU?
I like Cioks, have a DC10, 'cause other than the GigRig dealio ($$$) it was the only thing that did 15v for my Radial. Now the DC10's going to see lots of Sushibox/C2CE duty. Still might have to expand my Cioks collection and I see Nathan mentioned it's what he uses for his multi-Tubed pedalboard.


*EDIT: "je ne c'est quoi" to "Je ne sais quoi" parce que je devrais savoir mieux.

 

[vigilante398]

WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS:
WHICH TRANSFORMER WILL YOU FOLKS CHOOSE & WHY?


PS: POWER, what PSU?
I like Cioks, have a DC10, 'cause other than the GigRig dealio ($$$) it was the only thing that did 15v for my Radial. Now the DC10's going to see lots of Sushibox/C2CE duty. Still might have to expand my Cioks collection and I see Nathan mentioned it's what he uses for his multi-Tubed pedalboard.

I like both the Jensen and the Lightning Boy, they're both excellent. They're fairly comparably priced, but Lightning Boy is easier to order, and not only are they hand-made in New York, Mike (the owner) is a super nice dude. I'm not technically affiliated, but I've given him a lot of money over the past few years.

When I was auditioning transformers for my first tube D.I. I built a board with both and put a switch between the two, and in a blind test I kept choosing the Lightning Boy, but I can't really explain why. Another of those je-ne-sais-quoi things.

Cioks is solid for power, OneSpot is still a great one as well. Probably others out there, but those are the two I have direct experience with.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

It's been a while since I watched this. So, like you I didn't remember what the order was.
After rewatching it, and bouncing back and forth between my finalists, I chose 1, 5 and 7.

1 — felt like it was solid and good base-line, but no "je ne c'est quoi"; not "sterile", just no extra pizazz.​

5 — just sounded great. Very well balanced and had that "je ne c'est quoi".​

7 — Today, this was the winner for me, chosen for its extra bit of oomph to the bass freqs, while 5 was more balanced.​

Last time I did the listening test, I remember choosing the Noble as my winner. Don't remember where the others placed.

What I wish had been done is for the Colourbox to have been set closer to the others in terms of saturation — the shootout wasn't fair to the Colourbox, and I wonder if it would've done better given different settings. Rematch!


Disclosure
I've got a Radial PZed-Pre, which would be closest to the passive JDI in the shootout though a Radial rep once told me the PZed-Pre's DI is durned close to the active J48. Apart from the stupid power requirement (15v) of my Radial, I like it and am biased towards Radial gear.
However, my last year or so of gigging was done with the fDeck HPF-Pre on its own (and a Turbo-tuner). Bare-bones when hauling the upright around HKG.

Never ever liked the bloody Reddi: Not its size, not its colour, not its fanboys/girls, and most importantly not its sound.​

I got to check out a Nobel in person, albeit with someone else's rig and gig, and ever since then I've been interested — so I ordered the Nobelium right away when it dropped. So...


WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS:
WHICH TRANSFORMER WILL YOU FOLKS CHOOSE & WHY?



PS: POWER, what PSU?
I like Cioks, have a DC10, 'cause other than the GigRig dealio ($$$) it was the only thing that did 15v for my Radial. Now the DC10's going to see lots of Sushibox/C2CE duty. Still might have to expand my Cioks collection and I see Nathan mentioned it's what he uses for his multi-Tubed pedalboard.

I liked 1, 2, 5, and 7, but couldn’t really say which was best as they were all pretty similar with just subtle differences. #2 felt a bit fatter than #1 soloed, but not too different in the mix. Without hearing the four of them directly consecutive, I can’t say which is my favorite, but I’d lean towards 5 or 1 I think.

6 was thinner sounding and had an unpleasant distortion character to it. 4 sounded unnaturally distorted too, but had a fuller sound, and 3 had a decent amount of saturation to it that sounded nice in the mix.

 

[matmonster58]

I'm excited to try the noble on upright. Passive Radials don't work well on acoustics because the impedance isn't right for piezos.
I've been using a MXR m81 because it's super clean and easy to power but it just sounds okay. My upright really comes alive when I run it into my Sushibox deep dish compressor. The nobelium should give me whatever tube magic is happening with the deep dish and the cleanliness I like from the m81. The HPF is also really nice to have.

I also like a pretty neutral electric sound. I use really clean Genzler gear and let my tone come from different basses, strings, and technique. The noblium should fit my style well.

I'm probably going to go for the LBA transformer. Even if they sound exactly the same, the placebo/mojo of having a handmade, small production transformer is going to make the LBA sound better. Plus I already have a LBA 2020 transformer on my board.

 

[Silver Blues]

I'm going with the LBA too, for many of the same reasons Plus I like to support small independent businesses.

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

LBA all the way

 

[Guardians of the analog]

One thing I gotta ask...how is it with other pedals? I haven't really seen how others are using it in a board setup in any video. The sludgehammer (sansamp BDDI) is such a huge part of my sound. My worry is that if I built this then I would be underwhelmed because it's so subtle. Would it be a good substitute for the sansamp? Would I use it in tandem? Before or after it? I guess if it doesn't do it for me I could sell it and make some money on it. It's just not a cheap project to be on the fence about. It's not like it's a delay or flanger

 

[vigilante398]

One thing I gotta ask...how is it with other pedals? I haven't really seen how others are using it in a board setup in any video. The sludgehammer (sansamp BDDI) is such a huge part of my sound. My worry is that if I built this then I would be underwhelmed because it's so subtle. Would it be a good substitute for the sansamp? Would I use it in tandem? Before or after it? I guess if it doesn't do it for me I could sell it and make some money on it. It's just not a cheap project to be on the fence about. It's not like it's a delay or flanger

That's a solid question, I'm actually not sure. I know so many people that use Noble by itself, but not a lot of people that use it with other pedals.

 

[Feral Feline]

... I kept choosing the Lightning Boy, but I can't really explain why. Another of those je-ne-sais-quoi things.
...

Italic-bold emph mine!...


J'ai écrit: "Je ne c'est quoi."
Fixed my post. Quelle embarrassant!


Anywho... the guy with the Nobel that I got to try had a few pedals that he used before it, ie Nobel last in chain. I think he had dirt, compression and... I don't recall, maybe modulation and an octave.

Anyone curious about how it's used may want to check the bass forums, Talk Bass and Bass Chat for example.