10 Bass Preamps for Recording & In Ear Monitoring

[@bassbonedo2158]

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[@fbhistoriador]

NUX really impressed me! Cab. sim. makes a huge difference and that sound good in every clip (like the expensive Darkglass)

[@guil_juliao]

From this shootout NUX has the best cab simulator sound in my opinion. They all sounded pretty close to each other without the cab sim engaged. For the money and overall quality I would choose NUX.

[@johngerardmusic7761]

Wow! Such a good comparison/demo! I’m real impressed with the sound of the Two Notes here. The features on the DSM Simplifier Bass station are insane!

[@squishy949]

A great comparison thanks, but an important note: On the Le Bass Clean channel the bass and treble are boost only so flat is both knobs all the way counter clockwise, and the setting pictured on the clean tones here is a really hefty bass and treble boost, much more than on any of the other pedals. You can get much more subtley enhanced sounds out of it if you reign in the eQ a bit.

[@kevmac1230]

I own 12 preamps at present including a few shown here.The 2 Notes is one I'll be keeping.

[@thewetterbass]

Wow what a great shootout! Thanks for the effort!!! It’s surprising how some cab sims emphasize too much the lows thus ending up having a sound perceivably less present… I think the Tech21 VT is the obvious “all in one stand alone” choice: reasonably affordable, small, easy to use and good sounding (too bad no comp). However the real surprise for me is the Nux. It sounds surprisingly good especially at high gain!

[@jcburn1973]

I agree. I wiiiiiiish the VT DI 1\4 cab SIM was only present on the DI out. I really like the tones you can pull from this. It definitely needs a cab SIM straight to a desk, but if you are also using it to a stage rig it ends up being too boomy. The NUX sounded great.

[@glueball9511]

@@jcburn1973 yeah if you have the cab sim on while sending it to the stage your getting a sort of like doubling affect

[@marcinszymski6192]

Thanks for the comparison. I have a question - playing these preamps who had the greatest dynamics? which was the most responsive for you, gave you the most fun playing?

[@JVMC_ZR1]

That Nux is clearly the Dark Horse 🐴 in this race! I really liked the Markbass and the Orange one too, those were some of the best. I knew the Darkglass Vintage is good before hand, because I have it.

[@wuwliwonka]

This is such an awesome video. But you’re the kinda player that makes anything sound good 😄

[@stefangolubek8219]

Nux is the best, in every aspects, not to mention the price. It's just better than every other snob's choises!

[@isaacphillips8724]

Hey What Bass & pickups are you using they sound great on the clean passes!!!!

[@rvs79jack]

Aguilar TH?

[@Alexmayor007]

es el mejor video de preamps que he visto

[@alexskibicki2262]

Awesome demo and comparison. 😎🤘🏻🎸 between all these preamps, my personal favorites are the nux Melvin lee Davis preamp, the ebs micro bass 3, and the darkglass vinrage deluxe the most. Especially since I’ve been thinking about purchasing one of these preamp pedals. Either those or an ehx battalion.

[@garrydhintz8017]

My top 3 are the NuX, ebs, and then markbass. Not surprised ebs sounds great but definitely surprised at the NuX hanging right there with them.

[@Garrett-on-Guitar]

Just ordered the Two Notes to replace my Sans Amp Bass Driver DI

[@Projamusic]

Great video man! what is your sweet spot recording level? thanks

[@jkf9167]

Nice comparison. I'm not gonna concern myself with the cab sims too much because if they sound bad, you don't use them. Some of these preamps, I listen to them, and I can just hear myself disappearing into the mix. The Simplifier probably sounded best all-around, and had a good cab sim as well. Nux sounded great too. Very audible at all times. The high gain wasn't the best but it sounds like a great all-rounder. The other ones that sounded really good were Darkglass, and VT Bass. I liked the Markbass too, although it didn't have a ton of gain. I'd heard bad things about the way it sounded, but I've also tried a Little Mark Vintage amp, and I liked that too. The Fender sounded pretty generic most of the time, but the metal sound was raging. Same with the Bass Butler. The Nux and the Simplifier actually had cab sims that made them sound better.

[@erickvalencia2016]

I like distorted sounds best on the NUX, clean not so much but those sweet distorted sound are pure ear candy

[@adrianobassbro]

Wowwww! Cab Sim: NUX Melvin Lee Clean preamp: VT Bass, MarkBass and Fender. Overdrive: VT Bass, MarkBass and Orange Distortion: VT Bass, MarkBass and Fender or Orange

[@thejoetandy]

I would have selected a different impulse response for the Darkglass pedal; from the suite. The one selected was a little too cavernous/boomy for the comparison. It was interesting to hear how the Orange preamp sounded much better later on; but lacked earlier in the demo's.

[@__tay__6074]

Problem with the darkglass unit is that it sucks low end. That's the main reason i got rid of mine. I treasure my low end haha

The NUX Ssounds pretty good to me. Biggest disappointment was the Two Notes.

[@Funkbass85]

To be fair, this video doesn’t really offer a fair comparison. Every single pedal has varying options, and noticed early that almost all the pedals had different settings applied. A better comparison would’ve been to have them all have the same exact EQ settings, so we can hear their tonal differences. The video gives a very basic idea of what these pedals can do, but could’ve been better.

[@JM_2019]

I think there is more value in trying to dial the best possible tone for a certain taste than comparing neutral settings because of the multiple options.

[@naturalrestingface1884]

Melvin for me. Nice shoot-out!

[@Bassbernd99]

Super Vergleich, vielen Dank! Ich bin sehr vom NUX positiv überrascht. Vor allem der growlige Sound mit Cabsim hat richtig Charakter. Welche Cabsim ist das? Die standardmäßig dabei ist oder eine extra IR?

[@LowFrequencySounds]

Hi, das ist der Standard, der ab Werk dabei ist.

[@Bassbernd99]

Danke für die schnelle Antwort 👍

[@jonathanchevallier7046]

Very nice comparison ! I appreciate the simplicity and the sound of the NUX one. But the other one should be more versatile, maybe. Thank you for this tests ;-)

[@miladbgn]

MarkBass for me, I wish there was a Mesa Boogie Subway pre... Thanks a lot.

[@himadrishil5085]

Confused among nux, ebs and dark glass vd preamp..

[@CldGtt]

It's always dangerous to watch these videos when you already bought one... This time it went well. I'm happy with my EBS microbass 3. Don't feel the need for cab simulation. I have to say I did not like the simplifier as much as I expected

[@edwinhernandez6627]

Great video!!! Great shootout!!!! Does anyone have recommendations for the best clean tone out of these ?🤔 Thank you "

[@KeroDean]

Very nice, what bass did you use to record?

[@LowFrequencySounds]

A 70s Fender Jazz Bass

[@TheMoodKings]

The Sans Amp really holds up and I still use it to this day for live performances. No effects, but a good travel bass tone that I can easily pack up and go and matches nicely to my Stingray. However, in the recording studio, I run thru a Tube pedal from Speakeasy Vintage Music, acting as a preamp and LOVE LOVE LOVE it ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤. It adds a lot of warmth to my Stingray. Used that pedal for the first time on our latest song and pulled it out again in the studio recently for work on our next record.

[@joshualacey8828]

NUX

[@zulu5157]

Nux is somehow the winner - regarding soundquality and price.

[@tomhansen59]

Excellent shoot-out I now know where to look and not to look the MarkBass was the biggest surprise for me.

[@maximmashkin341]

Where are Shift Line preamps?

[@gerbyzachycamzydator1719]

Where's the GK Plex? That's a good contender

[@gilangnzoom]

Hartke & ampeg too

[@s.terlouw814]

I love my ashdown orgin DI pedal,

[@matthewlunsford4351]

Thanks!

[@ginatokina2614]

Great great video review thank you!

[@carlosvillegas8775]

Nux and simplifier station

[@ThomasHope73]

Hmm, sorry but… the settings were all over the place from one pedal to the next, so the examples are practically random excerpts of each product’s spectrum; kinda the antithesis of objectivity, no? Although not a perfect solution, at least setting the knobs to 12 o’clock would give some kind of perspective. Or you could run test tones through each amp, and volume match each nob if you wanted to be more precise about matching the basic settings, thus allowing the nuances of each product to come to the fore.

[@trunks828]

Sans amp all the way.

[@NatsukiHiranoMusic]

Thanks, it helps me alot!

[@feliscatos4435]

Thank you :)

[@gilangnzoom]

NUX 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@JH-vo9ut]

0:50 1:29 6:52 7:21 9:20 9:52

[@arielaraya8325]

el darkglass gana, el simplifier le sigue con el nux...precio calidad impresionante

[@МаксимКротов-у2п]

Thanks Bass Bonedo, this is right way in gear compare.

[@FerSpada]

NUX 2 M3

[@arimanggala9851]

What is cab sim?

[@OttosTheName]

Mostly just rolls off the higher frequencies and often boosts some low-end. It's kind of like the difference between a bass-cabinet (or speaker in a combo) and a very clean and neutral speaker. In a lot of these pre-amps it's basically just an equalizer that you can either turn on with a button or gradually add with a pot.

[@OttosTheName]

Oh and in some (like the Nux) you can load different models by hooking it up to a PC. But it's all or nothing. In the SansAmp it's just the 1 model, but you can blend it in with a pot. Others might have similar or different approaches, these are just the 2 examples I know.

[@EMB75]

1. LeBass 2. Buttler 3. Simplifier / Markbass

[@christianscott6963]

Really vibing the EBS... And the MarkBass... About the same $$ They're pricey, but have a lot of tone. For being analog, I thought the EBS sounds really rich next to MARKBASS with the 12ax7 tube...

[@arielaraya8325]

como se la banca el nux

[@kevmac1230]

Good demo but it doesn't do justice to the Bass Butler.You must hear it live to appreciate it's Bi Amp like abilities.

[@fuzzylogickben]

After a year after you still using the bass butler? How do you use it in venues where the FOH only went one bass send, do you pre-mix and send that to them?

[@pCeLobster]

Markbass.

[@PangedoLudwiki]

On Clean mode EBS Nux Markbass Fender Darkglass On Drive mode Darkglass Radial Sansamp VT

[@ztopalusic]

uuuu EBS for me...

[@oneDonly]

They all sound like my phone

[@sparknado]

I laugh every time I see the simplifier. Nothing about that thing looks simple

[@rexradar9297]

SIMulated amPLIFIRE. Great product. But yeah I find it funny too when looking at it.

[@bigmixmax]

Thanks!