Biggest Bass D.I. Shootout Ever (Noble/REDDI/JHS/Origin)

This was an undertaking unlike any other gear video I've attempted to put together. The immense support I received from everyone involved can never be talked about enough. I hope you get a chance to go and try all these wonderful pieces of gear in-person, and leave this video feeling a little more informed about what a DI can do for you and your sound than when you arrived.
Thanks to Jad Freer, A Designs, Jule Amps, Perfect Circuit, Sushi Box, JHS, Origin Effects, Trickfish, Ampeg, and MXR for coming through last-minute with pieces to feature in the video.
Thanks to John Davis, Sean Hurley, Juan Pablo Alcaro, and Ian Martin Allison for their generosity with their time in speaking with me on the phone for the video, and to Reggie Hamilton for making time for me to hang on to the REDDI during filming.
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To all the builders whose gear I have played for many years now, like Caveman, Teletronix, and especially to Jack Roan at Noble for hooking me up with a single digit serial number prototype all those years ago, it's people like you all that make it way more fun to do what I do.
My interview with Jack Roan, Founder of Noble: • From Side-Hustle to Ma...
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0:00 Intro
3:00 DI Shootout with Band
3:07 MXR Bass Preamp
4:01 Teletronix TDI
4:55 Tech 21 VT Bass DI
5:46 Radial JDI
6:39 Sushi Box Finally V2
7:32 Walrus Audio Badwater
8:24 Aguilar Tone Hammer
9:17 Trickfish Minnow
10:09 Miura K3
11:03 Ampeg SGT-DI
11:55 JHS Colour Box
12:48 Darkglass Microtubes X Ultra
13:42 Jad Freer Capo
14:34 Origin Effects Bass Rig Super Vintage
15:27 Caveman Audio BP-1 Compact
16:20 A Designs REDDI
17:12 Caveman Audio BP-1
18:05 Jule Amps Simone
18:58 Noble
20:07 Short Clean DI Samples
24:05 John Davis
30:21 Ian Martin Allison
35:07 Juan Pablo Alcaro
38:17 Sean Hurley
45:05 Dialing Sounds
45:14 Darkglass Microtubes X Ultra
48:11 Tech 21 VT Bass DI
49:47 Walrus Audio Badwater
51:11 Jule Amps Simone
52:38 Jad Freer Capo
54:33 Aguilar Tone Hammer
55:35 Miura K3
56:57 Origin Effects Bas Rig Super Vintage
58:48 Ampeg SGT-DI
59:56 MXR Bass Preamp
1:01:04 Trickfish Minnow
1:03:48 And The Winner Is...

[@janekgwizdala]

Important Notes About This Video: I talk about not being able to turn off the cabsim with the Origin Effects BassRig. That's not entirely accurate, and I should have clarified what I meant. You can turn off the cab sim, but only when the pedal is bypassed. So it's possible to get a completely clean DI signal (something I failed to do in the "clean" portion of the video) by switching the toggle to "FX" and bypassing the pedal. My basic point still stands though: It would be even more of a killer pedal if you could use the EQ and the rest of the pedal without the cabsim on. People have commented that you can turn it off on the 1/4 inch output, but then we're not talking about it being a DI. I'm sure this list of corrections will grow... I'll update as and when things come up.

[@bassturbant]

not gonna lie: came for the pedals, stayed for the music. man what a choice and execution! thanks you!!

[@IanMartinAllison]

The Gwiz doing the LORDS WORK. I loved this vid and learned a lot.

[@cienciegos]

This confirms that the tone is in your hands, your technique. All sounded great in your hands! It is hard to perceive through KZbin all the nuances of each one. I love my Aguilar Tonehammer and my Caveman BP1-C and for pure DIs you can’t go wrong with the Rupert Neve DI (RNDI) and the Khan VTDI (tube DI). Would love to try the Sushi Box and perhaps the Noble - but it’s hard to justify the price and waiting time. Loved the interviews! Thank you Janek!

[@daskontrastprogramm]

Hats off to you, sir. Thank you for all the work.

[@BobReich]

Perfect timing for me! Thank you!

[@jameschrzanowski4891]

Excellent job and thank you for your hard work!!

[@glenndelicious_ph]

Your effort is well appreciated!!! Awesome job!

[@tombowman9463]

Wow! This is the most useful video on the topic out there! Thanks.

[@alextinsley9117]

A super educational and useful episode! Thanks to you and all the others who contributed to this! Cheers!

[@tplank216]

Great shit as always man. Janek does the hard work for the bass community on this one.

[@chrischilton8455]

Wonderful video Janek. Truly appreciate the effort, skill and sound samples. ❤

[@justinfedenyszen7049]

Thank you for this Janek. Been with you for years and happy to see you almost at 90k!

[@bartlomiejciolkowski4716]

Thanks, man. You have put a lot of effort for this, I appreciate it. Was looking into DIs and preamps for some time now, this is extremely helpful. Great idea to have input of other professionals, gives a good view on what is needed where and why, really great job you have made.

[@mahdisharegh7220]

Fantastic video. The video quality, the sound, the absolutely fantastic playing, and everything. Bravo 👏

[@valeras115]

Thanks for the hard work! Epic!

[@drazen_musik]

Thank you for all the work that went into making this video Janek! It was a plasure to watch.

[@alicevandenboogaard4278]

Thank you Janek! Very educatioal. I liked the Sushi Box and the MXR was a real surprice.

[@mrebear9758]

Radial JDI consistently sounds among the best to me.

[@besimkocak4050]

I agree. Fast and beautiful tone.

[@RussellRodgers]

Great Video!! Thanks!! I am having a lot of fun with Trickfish Trilobite along with their drive, compression, & signal filter pedals. Thanks again for all your great info!!

[@thewetterbass]

Awesome video, especially the part where we got to hear what pros like you expect from a DI and how they use it. Loved it. Fantastic job!!!

[@Yaksonator]

just goes to show that there is virtually no discernable difference within a mixed context. great video. a radial jdi can do what needs to be done.

[@sub-jec-tiv]

I could hear a lot of difference in a mix. 🤷‍♂️

[@loonman555]

A lot of his tones with the band were incredibly bland (the Tech 21 in the beginning for example, he didn't even have any blend to let the tube sound come through). I guess thats fine if you clicked on the vid to see exclusively a DI box and nothing more, but the demos in the band context its like he purposefully just showed how they sounded without letting any of the DI's character come through.

[@biskitbass]

Amazing video Janek. Incredible quality, presentation, sound, video quality... Just...nrggghhhh. You rock. Love you dialled in IMA for his opinion too. 2 bass MONSTERS right now!! THANKYOU

[@VibhasPatil]

Janek, I've just opened the video and will watch this soon. I'm really happy to see the success you're enjoying. It's almost 15 years since I dropped a message to you on Facebook and that's how I got hooked on to your music. I remember being blown away listening to 'Live at the 55 Bar' and 'Mystery to Me.' Cheers Janek! Love the content and lessons as usual!

[@svenleeuwen]

Happy to see the MXR coming out favourable!

[@brentheathersimons7042]

HUGE piece of work Janek! I think you saved many players some serious cash! Best wishes-Brent, VT

[@KimHogeling]

Thank you and these incredible engineers for sharing your experiences.

[@BassStevie]

Janek does the work! I’ve been using the Bass Rig for the past year - but might just have to get me some sushi! Thanks Janek!

[@stubrakon9683]

Epic work! Thanks Janek 🤘 I listened to this driving home so couldn't see the pedals. I totally agree with you that they all sound great, you cannot go wrong. I liked the sansamp distorted tone the most so would go with that for me🤘😃👍😎

[@HectorGonzalez-qx9nk]

Really love that the whole point of this is letting the preamp/DI be what you want. Want a clean, transparent signal? Go with MXR or Radial. Want the saturation or characteristics of something? Go with the Noble or Colorbox

[@SBarbati]

What an awesome video!! Thank you for taking the time to do this mate 🙏🏽. How come I have never heard of Sushi Box Finaly” before?! 😮 Reddi and Noble sounds great.

[@Rwellsii94]

I woke up to this and man I’m so excited to get into this. One of the coolest ideas come to life and what we all really want. Thank you Janek.

[@Rwellsii94]

Wow! I’m shocked about the pick but love the surprise. My money was the CAPO that pedal sounds so good but thank you so much I’m going to be coming back to this video so much. Interesting the takes from bass players compared to engineers. Such an awesome video.

[@little-alien]

Nice! It was wonderful to hear all the differences, thank you so much for doing this. I too have landed on the colourbox as the output of my pedalboard. I love that the transformer in it takes you a decent way towards the neve sound.

[@surpriseguise]

Thank you, Janek!! ❤

[@Belman5]

I like how you emphasize that there is no winner or looser. Absolutely spot on, all great stiuff and different flavors for different folks. Love your incredible work..

[@zvenx]

Wow.. A Million thanks for doing this.. what a gargantuan effort....rsp

[@_B_E_A_D_G_C]

So excited for this!

[@jmv4717]

A masterful addition to the foundational archives. Not reamping a single cut through each pedal and actively responding to each DI individually speaks to your dedication. I recently watched Conrad's DI shootout and I think his higer gain settings on the Colourbox did a disservice. Finding a similar character profile in each DI is fair competition. Well done Janek.

[@CHillTheBassist]

Janek… holy guacamole!!!! Thank you so much for this video! I know this video wasn’t specifically for me but I feel like every question that I asked in your previous video was answered and more! I’ve listened to each pedal through my headphones and through my car speakers (multiple times haha). Crazy enough, I still LOVE the Jule Simone’s handling of the tone/frequencies the most! I honestly thought my mind would change or that I would like a different DI preamp better. Buuuut that didn’t happen. I have to get one now! Hopefully I’ll save the monies for it sooner than later! Three of the other pedals that I really like: Miura K3, A Design REDDI and Caveman Audio BP1! To me these pedals sounded similar to the Jule Simone; thick and full low/low-mids with pronounced and present high-mids without being too clanky in the highs (or that is how I would attempt to explain what I heard). The phone interviews/conversations were AMAZING!!!! Very informative and super cool to hear the perspective of other super seasoned pros! This truly was more than I hoped for when I posted the questions that I did! It makes me happy that I was able to grab a new Radial JDI recently. Again, I know others asked similar (if not the same) questions but I must say thank you for covering what you did in those phone calls! Lastly, this video is truly a gift! It is so hard (for me, at least) to find guitar stores that carries a wide range of pedals. It is pretty awesome to be able to hear these pedals before investing into them. Your video and audio quality makes this experience that much better! It was also awesome that you included more affordable pedals! This video is truly THE BIGGEST (AND BEST in my opinion) DI shootout video and what a joy it was watching this video from start to finish!

[@patdelaney]

There's so much good gear out there at the moment. These all sound great to my ears! I would lean towards the cleaner ones myself. Nice video, great job - thanks Janek 👍

[@M.Holland]

The DI that stood out for me was the JHS Color box. It had a certain character that just was different in the mix. Maybe it was because you were most happy with it tho. Owning the Classic Sansamp, the Aguilar and a radial DI. Love them for different reasons! :) Anyway, thanks for the shootout. Helped a lot. :)

[@sub-jec-tiv]

I bought the Colour Box v2 a year ago because it’s an amazing shaper for any sound, not just bass. I love it. I’m glad i invested in it, i put it on keyboards, guitar, anything. I’m not surprised that most members of Beck’s touring band have one.

[@theadventofpanurge]

Thank you for the hard work, Janek

[@artofwar1776]

Initial impressions top three are 1) Noble, 2) BP-1, and 3) Bass Rig. Alright, after completing the video I agree, the Finally sounds great and the size/weight is a big deal. I would definitely say that is either 3 or 4 on my list. Thank you so much for doing this, Janek! This is much appreciated and I will reference this video for many years to come.

[@Eric1396]

The Origin effect, you can turn of the cab sim when the pedal is not engaged. It's de switch on the lower left corner. PLus if you use the signal from the "amp out" instead of the DI Out, there is no cab simulation applied to that one.

[@janekgwizdala]

I just pinned a comment addressing this at the top of the comments section. I should have been clearer in the video. My main issue was that you can't actually use the pedal's features without the cabsim engaged. And if you do use the 1/4 inch out, it's not an XLR/DI situation anymore, and isn't applicable for this video.

[@agostomortal]

Great video and comprehensive shootout, the addition to those phones calls adds real world perspective. I would have loved to see the Arkham Oracle tube pre amp / DI on this list

[@basstobasscookingbrentbabi5411]

Incredible video: I will be getting a sushi for tube DI. I had a radial and though nice, I tried the Palmer passive DI and have been playing it for years now- real clear and you hear your bass. Stay in place DI - Reddi

[@JonathanMahoneyDOP]

Initial impression : My fav: Color Box, Sushi Box, Noble then Ampeg. Idk why yet, excited to watch the rest of the video. Thank you for making this. I have the Electro Harmonix Batalion DI/Pre and I like it... but im not sure what else is out there, And that's how I got here. Thanks again!

[@SafeTea]

I was very surprised by the trackfish Minnow. I did a double blind ear test and by far preferred the Minnow and Noble. I CAN'T STAND HOW GOOD THE NOBLE IS AND HOW EVERYONE RECOMMENDS IT IM NOT GOING TO HUNT ONE DOWN. Great video Janet cheers my dude love ya

[@ethanlocke3604]

Been hyped for this!

[@bassnsax]

Thank you, Janek!!! A massive undertaking, but it was totally worth it! This video was BADASS. All of the DIs/Preamps sounded fantastic (some not quite my own preference, but I could still see cases where they would be awesome), and many of them sounded surprisingly better than I had expected! 59:34 I can't be the only one who had a huge grin on their face when they heard a P-Bass into a B15 (emulation, yeah yeah, not "the real thing") - just wonderful! Looks like your daughter won't have a college fund - she's going to have a REDDI fund!!!

[@laurenceblackadder3103]

Absolutely outstanding work Janek, to be honest nothing sounded below par. Based on your previous excellent video recommendations I’m currently using the Caveman BP1 Compact, a Miura M2, HX Stomp, a BugCrusher, MXR mini Octaver and a Gojira Tremolo pedal. I actually use a JHS buffer rather than the EP Booster only because it was a steal. I was impressed with DG Microtubes X I wasn’t expecting it to be so clean. I had a Capo but I couldn’t be bothered with all the knobs. Had a U5 which was great but a pain to move around. I would definitely use Phil Mann’s Sushi Box Finally love the warmth. I think the JHS Colour Box is an excellent choice like having a couple channel strips on a DI box that’s nice and small. Thanks for all the hard work brother

[@alfonsoalcala]

Great work as usual, thanks Janek! The JDI sounds amazing and one of his advantages is the superior isolation against active DIs. Passive and with an huge transformer. A truly trouble saver live. In fact, I use the jack output of the origin BassRig '64 (with the amazing hpf, lpf and tweeter control dedicated to that output) connected to a JDI. Best of both world, in my honest opinion.

[@chadniemeyer8103]

Initial impression: The Sushi Box, Walrus Audio, and actually the JDI stood out. Love the slight dirt on the Sushi Box. The warmness of the Walrus Audio. And I love the purity of the JDI.

[@ShaksBassChannel]

Great video - thanks for sharing this. I love the excerpt from ‘Ship To Shore’ that you chose to demo the pedals - ‘Night Watch’ is a fantastic album 👏🏼

[@RDog4484]

I just ordered myself a Venture amp head, I’m so excited for it!

[@fourortwelvestrings]

Yay Perfect Circuit! My kids got me an envelope filter from them for Christmas :) Thanks for this, it's very timely (from my perspective) and I learned a lot. Initial impressions? I liked the clean ones best for this. Like the Radial! My fave.

[@EirikGunBass]

I got the Noble and the Radial JDI. Different beasts but I love them both. Great video as always. :)

[@billyjay1]

What a great video🔥🔥

[@martinlima_music]

Amazing comparison! I sometimes use my aguilar tone hammer in the middle of a signal chain that goes to an amp, or even just as a pre and at the end of the chain a JDI. That leaves space for some pedals that can benefit from the extra punch of the pre, and some reverbs, choruses and other effects react differently if you hit them with bumps in the eq instead of eq-ing after the effect.

[@conorlarkin1111]

Thank you for doing this!

[@gorandelac]

Nice vid Janek, well JDI is always great, I love Capo's grind as Ian said, but I also love to give DI to P.A. and then other DI to color my bass in my inear... perfect way to color my sound in my inear without doing it on P.A.

[@attak1326]

Thank you for the great work

[@seantang89]

Great video and appreciate the effort gone into this video. I have the OE bassrig too and love it but also wish they had the amp sim as optional

[@jeremykay1696]

I love that the box all the engineers recommend (the JDI) is also among the simplest and cheapest. :) To me it always does surprisingly well in shootouts like this because it has great mid range clarity and doesn't hype anything. I also really like the character of the REDDI (FWIW I own a REDDI and used to have a JDI).

[@payamghasemi]

Thanks for this 🤩

[@gonzalotrejos3556]

Always de JDI will work, good transparent signal. On the preamp side, the Miura got me GAS :) One of the best podcasts ever.

[@briansong7137]

The MXR really is a great piece of engineering. I did some of my shootouts and it was actually very similar to the Sadowsky preamp. It has the exact same EQ points in the bass and treble, with the sweepable mids. It's very transparent and great for dialing in the sound as needed with all those features. It's perfect for my upright, and I use it tame the piezo pickup and give the extra output it needs. I often use both the XLR and 1/4" outs with great results.

[@AmilcarBaxo]

Estou assistindo o vídeo pela segunda vez, antes com fone de ouvido padrão de estúdio @kubaaudio e o segundo com o Samsung Earbuds pro. Senti uma a leve distorção no JHS, mas os demais já conheço boa parte como o JDI simples e direto, mas achei uma grande surpresa o Sushi box pelo formato simples e entregar um Di de tubo compacto e o som gordo e quente. Mais um belo trabalho JG movimentando e instruindo a comunidade do baixo elétrico 🤝

[@jamesgrant3343]

Awesome video! The Radial JDI sounded really good - goes to show, simple and good is simply good! I use the Origin Effects Bass Rig because I want the saturation/dirt/drive blended in - even for (especially for) mellow tunes and soul/disco, I don't use the DI out of it (not galvanically isolated so the ground lift doesn't really work as you'd expect from a proper DI box which you only find out on gigs where you really need it...), I run it into a Radial Stage Bug v2. I have gear lust for a Nobel, they look so flippin' cool. Thank you for the video, super interesting and helpful

[@tim0391]

As someone who has already purchased a BP1 compact (which has subsequently developed a buzz and I need to send to get checked out) - this video scares my ears!! Here we go

[@keziahj]

wow - thanks a lot!! 💛🖤💛

[@SpacemanIan]

Thanks for doing this!

[@indelebi]

Lovely!!

[@worshipbass9913]

It’s crazy how good the Jdi sounds

[@joeledsam3978]

To my ears the Reddi and JDI were the best sounding... Which suggests the bass itself (in your hands at least) is already awesome sounding!

[@carlkermode899]

I preferred the Tone Hammer. Coincidentally that's exactly what I use. Great video Janek, cheers.

[@admarhermans1]

The VT-Bass by Tech21 has the B-15 sound too. That’s what the character knob is all about: B-15 tot SVT. And..., you can turn the cab sim on and of too.

[@grzegorzkurek9604]

Underrated equipment.

[@CharlesRobitaille514]

I got a REDDI for local and studio work and a Radial JDI, and Radial J48 for a travel pedalboard.

[@patricksanders6597]

The Caveman is the first pre/DI that I’ve been really impressed with since I got a Noble. Really a beautiful sound. The Radial sounded great, too.

[@neoLover23]

Amazing! My brain is full

[@_B_E_A_D_G_C]

My picks - Higher price : Capo Noble Caveman Lower price : Sushi box WBIM TF Minnow

[@chadniemeyer8103]

Yayyyyyy. I've been waiting

[@rhrbcool]

Jule Amps Simone makes your guitar sings!

[@janekgwizdala]

100%!

[@Johnhwbaker]

Initial impression: Sushi Box Finally had the best tube sound, and I am partial to the Caveman, it's on my own board 😁

[@kaplanyx]

This is epic!

[@jbhopper2827]

Awesome vid

[@pascalmerschaudio]

great video

[@datsch_]

Fantastic stuff, thank you. Note that the Noble sounds great but its EQ did not seem to be set flat -- as it is boost-only, so I think you had it set at a mild bass bass and a fair dollop of treble boost?Which of course sounds great but is not the plain character of the DI by itself ...

[@gs-vh5do]

incredible

[@idolbass]

I like the Walrus Badwater, Colour Box and Big Rig for clean DI. The noble sounds like it glues the bass to the track and sits nicely.

[@philipmoody]

My favorite live DI for use with effects is the Khan VTDI. It has a little color, which is also in the 1/4" output. So, it's also useful to spice up meh backline amps.

[@stevennash4168]

I recorded a album in 2021 using a REDDI for clean and a mic’d Ashdown CTM30 that was absolutely cranked. Awesome result

[@charleshale8504]

I liked the punch of the Aguilar; the Teletronix sounded so fat in the mix; the Sushi Box Finally really delivers and the Colourbox really added some sparkle in the mix.

[@Astronometric]

Next it would be lovely to see a comparison between a an high-grade Pre/DI specifically designed for bass and high grade studio preamps like Neve, API, SSL, etc… that said, I enjoyed the Capo, Reddi, Noble and Teletronix the most. They sound all quite different, but they have their own thing. It’s hard to pick one. While there is a light difference in color, what I hear is mostly a difference in dynamics, with the volume balance between the high and low strings changing quite a bit with each pedal.

[@jmattmccormack]

Thanks for the video! Be careful with the colour box though. I can't seem to put big sub sounds through it without clipping it. Gotta keep the input really low.

[@peterstephen1562]

My small range of experience tells me that the input impedence is important. An input impedence of less than a megaohm takes away the air. I'm a luthier so I often get to test basses without the volume potentiometer in circuit. Without that 250kohm or 500kohm to ground the sound is always more open.

[@hypnophonic]

More variation clean than I thought I would hear, very fun to check out. Although the shootout is pedal-centric, I'd like some context/comparison with the U5 or 160A etc. Thanks, Janek!

[@rdmarc]

Great video and fantastic playing but I was really, really surprised there’s no Avalon U5 in the test. So many rare, exotic units made the cut while one of the most popular and wildly used DI boxes in the world, both in studio and on stage was not featured. That said, I really enjoyed the video and I really appreciate learning about and hearing some of the boxes I’ve never had a chance to try.

[@SisterAbdullahX]

I agree about the MXR. Probably the cheapest of the lot but just sounds so good! And, not found any mentions in the comments but I really liked the Trickfish as well.

[@krispykrunkdonut]

This reinforced my decision to buy the sushi box! It’s a top 3 box sonically and the price and size are just cherries on top