Can YOU hear the difference? Blind Bass Direct Box Shootout

[@davidwlucas]

I wish all blind tests were done this well.

[@shugemery]

#1 for my ears. Straight up bass. Real. Love that P bass sound.

[@hazybrain7]

Fun video. For me no 1 - the Radial was the clear standout, I was kinda shocked that everyone picked the other boxes over it. But I guess I just dig that pure full tone, and tracking for me is the most important, where I can saturate and distort and eq in the mix as needed. My order is in for the Radial - cheers for the shootout !

[@tvtime1505]

1 was the real deal. 3d sounding.

[@thebirdwatchingbloke3991]

Could be a headphone thing. Headphones have their own unique frequency response and distortion profile. I was wearing massdrop Sennheiser 58X. Those guys were something entirely different, so maybe I would also choose differently if I wore there headphones. I liked 1, 2, 5, 7. I definitely did not feel 5 was significantly better than the other three. Even after going back and listening several times my choice didn’t change. My rating was probably 7, then 1, but after the prices were revealed, I would probably choose 1 over 7.

[@ZachariahConnor]

I think what I took away from this was that you can get a great sound from the Radial, and add saturation later or in parallel

[@Bionictotquewrench]

It’s also worth adding that Radial has a larger selection of DI boxes than any other manufacturer I know. At least a couple of dozen. Some of these reviewers said “But the Radial DI is passive, so that might not work for you.” Well, then Radial has several active DI boxes! They also have preamp DI boxes with EQ. So they’re really worth looking at for anyone who wants to spend $250 rather than $1200, and wants a DI box now, and not in 12 months time.

[@danibee535]

Genuinely my picks were 1, 5, and 7; listening back in detail I can tell the difference between 1 and 5 but it’s not a lot. Considering value for money (and flexibility!), that Radial JDI is the most impressive to me.

[@shapa-47]

I also liked the 1 and 5 diboxes, I had Nobleamps, an excellent preamp, by the way, Nobleamps has a Jensen transformer, as well as Radial JDI!

[@simongrant1015]

For me, 7 and 1 were very similar, and 5 was just slightly below. I prefer clean tones, though. Solo I think I preferred 5 a little, but not as much in the mix.

[@iananderson1935]

I thought 2 and 5 were the best in the mix, but listening solo, I preferred 1 and 7; I think any of those are great tools but agree that the Radial is a way better value, particularly in a tracking situation

[@rome8180]

Nice. I picked the exact same ones. And I was able to guess that #5 was the Noble. I've heard it in a lot of videos. I'm impressed with myself because I normally do poorly in blind tests. #6 was far and away my least favorite. It didn't have any low end.

[@GuarocuyaBK]

Same here. Those were my top choices and, given the price, the Radial seems like the gigging choice.

[@learnmusic488]

Oh, how the Radial JDI surprised me! Going out to pick one up now because of this video

[@boomerbutler7569]

Best quote: "Your DI doesn't matter, but it does matter." As someone who plays small gigs and is also an audio engineer, I call tell the difference bettwen a Noble and an Ampeg on the video, but your friend is spot on in that the average person listening to a band wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a REDDI and the one off amazon. I'm not able to afford a Noble, but I use a sans amp for coloration (not clean) and I think the application is what matters most when buying a DI. For gigs the REDDI doesn't make sense because it's huge, but the best plug and play option for clean to me is the Noble. If you show up and only bring a Noble, your tone will be amazing and have enough headroom to fit great into the mix. Also, if you have any other pedals, the noble can supply power to them. I really appreciate the depth of the vidoe and as an audio engineer in Oklahoma, I loved the blind sound test. Can you do more sound tests with different pedals like compressors and overdrives?

[@shapa-47]

Yes, the difference in timbre is big between Nobleamps, Radial JDI and Ampeg and Pyle, 3,4 and 6 diboxes sound dirty, and Nobleamps and Radial JDI sound clean and pleasant, I say this as a bass player and sound engineer with experience, I had Nobleamps and dibox from Radial Pro 48, excellent devices!

[@michaelb.42112]

I read a quote on Talkbass that I will NEVER forget : "The average listener can't tell the difference between Victor Wooten and the worst bass player on the planet."

[@rome8180]

I liked 1, 5, 7, with #5 being my favorite. I was happy to see that my guess for which one was the Pyle was correct. It clearly had the least low end. I also correctly guessed which one was the Noble. It was the most "balanced" to me -- warm, punchy, full, etc. I was surprised to see that the Reddi didn't make the cut for me though. There was nothing wrong with it. It just didn't stand out. Lastly, I'll say it was easy to guess the "color boxes." The sound just wasn't to my taste. I like a cleaner starting tone.

[@smason14]

This was phenomenal. Thank you for making this video!

[@philipconradmusic]

Thanks for watching ⚡️

[@treed873]

In the blind taste test (I didn't cheat)I liked the Noble, then the jdi, then the Ampeg. As a bass player, I could definitely pick out the $22 Pyle, and hated it. I personally use a Sansamp bass driver di which I love. Nice job!

[@little-alien]

I recently had the chance to record through a Neve console. The tone I was hearing was exactly what I was looking for. So I went straight out and bought a Colourbox. I now have something that is close to that tone in pedal form. I keep the gain real low so it doesn’t add fuzz but it does add a nice tape like squishiness. I couldn’t be happier. Thanks for taking the time to do this, I loved hearing the differences!

[@philipconradmusic]

Thanks for watching Simon! ⚡️

[@audibletapehiss3764]

I found the Colourbox to be quite pleasing in the mix. Now you've explained why that is. It was my co-favorite in this video, along with the Noble, which shined equally when soloed.

[@ShemariahOverman]

1, 5 and 7. 7 was my favorite on the first listen. It seemed to have better warm low end. 1 was transparent and clear. 5 was a nice blend of warmth and clarity. Thanks that was fun.

[@jaybirdgoody]

I think the Pyle is usable for a tone like a more funky lofi kinda thing. I think the radial is the universal winner with size and price & tone but I would love to hear the ampeg clean

[@shapa-47]

Yes, Radial JDI is the best option!

[@stevehurleydesign]

My favorite video you've done by far! I picked out #1, #5, and #7.

[@nickd.6365]

Yeah same here too

[@cgraugaard]

Same

[@granthill2769]

Same

[@DanceMix3]

Same!

[@palinkasp91]

Exactly the same here 😀

[@Rick-pi9zn]

man, Its just soo cool you do these videos in that quality and thought through!

[@philipconradmusic]

Thanks Rick! Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment ⚡️

[@sharnoldpapa7339]

Fantastic video. Great job! This is the kind of conversations I like to hear about gear.

[@gear_vintage]

Awesome review, and there is so much into how you attack the strings, or your method of playing, and just what type music you play, and what you're going to use it for. Great information. I just ordered the Pyle PDC21, because, I'm a musician that don't have much to spend on a DI I won't use that much, and they are $10 on Amazon right now (with that, I bought two of them). Thanks for this Philip!

[@philipconradmusic]

Thanks so much for watching! ⚡️

[@mostyles328]

So much equipment snobbery in the music industry... I would buy a JDI, hands down and I usually use a Neve and API in the studio. No one would notice in the full mix. All the character, grit and EQ can be added in post. Loved this video!

[@conorlarkin1111]

Loved the video! I’ve been thinking about a Noble. And now I’m thinking even harder about one…

[@simonbowkett124]

1 - 5 - 7 for me. When I saw Theo Katzman, Joe Dart’s pedalboard was a tuner and a Noble!

[@13vansman]

Same for me, 1, 5, 7. 5 was slightly better than 1, and 7 was third. I could go with any of the three. 5 was definitely not $1000 better than 1.

[@johnosmon6483]

Really helpful comparison video. I am a Noble owner and user, and am so used the sound I have been getting format, it's kind of nice to have a reminder with a comparison like this, to see what I have been taking for granted. I also own and have used in the past a few radial DI boxes, especially in live situations. Those things are great as well.

[@mysterj1]

I LOVE this content. As soon as I saw what you'd proposed, I grabbed a beverage and put on headphones so as to best absorb your work. For a clean tone, the Radial just made my jaw drop...I am hooked. But...for the absolute sweetness tone, I almost was sold on the REDDI...and then I heard the Noble. Oh. My. I love love love the blind comparison test with outside ears, Phillip. I would love to hear some (bass) overdrive pedals in a shootout comparison!

[@swoooner4304]

I liked 7 the most, but the radial was my second choice. I would definitely be interested in a colorbox video! Also I think you found something Rhett hates more than a tube screamer lol

[@SuperDuce74]

What a fun video. Thank you. It was really interesting to hear the difference between isolated and mixed versions.

[@miltontorres04]

Amazing video! I owned a Noble for a while and loved it. One day at a rehearsal the tubes went out and it wasn’t usable. I knew then that I didn’t want to go the tube route ever again for live use. I now use a JDI and it is fantastic. It sounds great and really is a bombproof, reliable piece of gear. When it’s time to upgrade I will most likely be going for a color box.

[@HLinc.]

Oh man. It’s super easy to replace those tubes on the Noble. What a bummer.

[@miltontorres04]

@@HLinc. You are right! I did end up ordering a new set from Jack at Noble and installing them. However I just didn’t want to have that hassle going forward and the possibility of them going out again.

[@crocholiday]

I'm almost at the end of my 33 week wait for my noble. I wouldn't have thought about what to do if the tubes go out. I'll make sure I keep a backup DI on hand. I did order an extra set of tubes. I may order a few more since they typically come from the country we just revived our cold war with...

[@HLinc.]

@@miltontorres04 gotcha. It is a little unnerving wondering when the day will come. Haha I’ve had mine for over 7 years now and it’s still kicking ass and sounding amazing.

[@HLinc.]

@@crocholiday you’d be good having one spare set on hand. You can order a set through Jack as well. So no need to stock up on a bunch. He always has them on hand and is good about shipping them right out to you asap. Like I wrote above, I’ve been rockin” my Noble for over 7 years now and the tubes are still perfect. I myself, just keep a spare set on hand just incase.

[@henrychinaski2890]

One of your best videos, loved this format. Thank you for the great, useful content.

[@jrpipik]

Any decent engineer us going to have "four of those in the other room" that he likes to use for the recording he does, so bringing your own is probably unnecessary. For gigs, Rhett is right that in the context of the room the subtleties of which DI you use are not going to be audible. So if you're the kind of player who plays better if he THINKS he sounds better with more expensive equipment, go for it; otherwise, you can probably use the line out on your amp. Most of the time you just won't need one, so my advice is to get a modest DI just in case you're dealing with the kind of engineer or sound mixer who doesn't come prepared -- don't spend a small fortune.

[@Jerrythill]

I'm with you with 95% or maybe higher. But with silent stage and no amp, dude, us bass players need all the help we can get. With in budget of course. That JDI is the best bang but it's passive. The Noble is pretty great...

[@boimesa8190]

🙌

[@MrBrokentowels]

I don’t know man. That Noble sounds great. It’s very warm. I can hear the difference in the mix.

[@IvanBassist]

I liked 1,5 & 7 the most. The other ones added some saturation/breakup, which might or might not be what one is looking for in a DI depending on your setup. Woudn't trade my Noble for anything, though :D

[@blasperez7764]

Same

[@boimesa8190]

Wondering; why would passive be a problem on the radial?

[@chriscuthbertson]

I guess this all depends on what you want from the DI, do you want the DI form part of your 'tone' or do you already have your 'tone' and just need a 'transparent' way of getting it to a balanced signal. Purely from an engineering point of view it would be interesting to compare the signal going into the box to what comes out and see how much they change. If this is a DI test then the cleanest would win, if this is a 'preamp' test then that is something different.

[@traviswilliams5466]

Agreed. If you just need a solid transparent tone the JDI is great but if you need flexible tones one of the pre amp plus DI is the ticket.

[@philipconradmusic]

Yep, exactly. This is what I was hoping people would get out of the video. It’s hard to say which is best when it all depends on how we are using these tools. Thanks for sharing! ⚡️

[@traviswilliams5466]

Philip there is so much knowledge dropped in this video. I watched it twice. The 1st time I was focused on the tones the 2nd time I really picked up on some gold nuggets of knowledge.

[@jebomey]

Great video! Also great promo for noble haha. I liked the JDI a lot more than I thought I would. Re: Rhett’s comments on the noble’s power supply - this is the one “downside” of the noble. It is not isolated. All 6 outputs share 900Ma though so it’s a lot of current to work with.. more than enough for simple analog pedals. I have a noble & I usually use a separate isolated power supply but I sometimes use the noble’s power outlets instead. Having that flexibility is def convenient.

[@JoshTurnerGuitar]

I like 1, 4 and 7, each for slightly different reasons. 1 is probably best all-purpose. The drive on 4 could be great for cutting in some mixes. I like how pokey and ropey 7 is.

[@philipconradmusic]

Great insight! Thanks for watching Josh; so glad to have you here. Subscribed! ⚡️

[@4headgaming448]

Phil, this was an amazing video. Thank you for what you do! Edit: walked into the video with bias towards the JDI and the Noble, and surprisingly I picked both in the blind test!

[@justtheotherdave]

Great video, very informative. For me, on my home 5.1 surround system, I can barely discern the difference. I would have lumped all the DI's into maybe 3 groups - ones that sound clean, ones that sound like a bit more drive/gain was added (starting to clip or distort slightly, and the Pyle stands out as slightly different. And honestly, my first time watching this, I thought all the boxes were hot / too much gain, except the Pyle. Yes, the Pyle was my favorite. My reference for hot vs. clean is an Acoustic Control Corporation model 370 amp from the 1970's, EQ flat, volume set to 2 (it's in the living room), driving an Acoustic 301 (1x18") and an Amped SVT410HLF (4x10" with horn) in parallel. There's a lot more "buzz" (produced by the DI boxes? or my 5.1 system?) than my bass rig - I can easily knock things off the shelves on the other side of the room if I turn up my rig and still not come close to the distortion I hear in the video. That being said, in the interest of science, I would like to see this test repeated with the same loop, but with more DI's in the $200-400 range, with the Radial and/or Noble thrown in as a baseline to compare against this video. Specifically, after doing a bunch of A/B listening, I'm looking at a Laney Digbeth DB-PRE, a Red Eye "Fire Eye" (acoustic pre), and a Bassrig Super Vintage. You should probably also throw in a Sansamp because "everyone" says they are the industry standard (granted, I have a lean towards live audio and don't give a hoot about editing my sound after the fact, but I still want to sound good on a recording). Would also be nice if we could hear a "clean" shootout vs. a "driven" shootout (attempting to make them all sound equally driven in the latter to compare the coloration of the sound).

[@justtheotherdave]

Also, here's my notes from listening via a pair of Shure SE215's ("industry standard" live sound in-ear monitors): 1 - clean channel, tone knob zero (zero = max bass, minimum treble, referencing my Fender Precision bass) 2 - clean, tone knob 2 3 - more drive added, tone knob 4 4 - "very drive", tone knob 5 (middle tone knob setting) 5 - clean, tone knob 4 6 - clean, tone "high", maybe 8 (most treble in video, less than what I hear from my amp with my bass tone set to 10) 7 - clean, tone knob 5 As compared to my 5.1 theatre system, all the DI's sound "clean"-er (less distortion) via the Shure SE215's, how ever compared to my amp with flat EQ, bass guitar knobs "dimed out" (max output from the pickups, no filtering of treble) all the DI's sound like they have the treble cut, which is probably why I prefer 6 (the Pyle). Maybe your bass has less treble than mine? Or your tone knob was turned down? This should also be an indication of how much gear matters when the audience is the casual listener (non musician, low end earbuds or car stereo) - not at all. They might hear a difference in EQ between 1 and 6 but the rest probably sound the same (or 4 is the same plus effects pedal).

[@bones2532]

This was an interesting one! I actually was thinking about getting a decent DI-box with a 'good sounding' transformer in it to improve my tone. My favorite ones were No. 1 (Radial JDI) and No. 7 (ZOD). So I obviously prefer clarity and clean reproduction over 'colouring', when it comes to DI boxes. Most of my preamps/preamp pedals have a built in DI, but they all don't have a decent transformer, I think. I have an old Ampeg SVP-CL 19" preamp that really sounds amazing: nice tube saturation (not overdrive, it's not what most people have in mind when they think of that classic 'Ampeg'-tone), very clean, transparent tone with much definition and clarity paired with a little bit of tube compression. I think this paired with the Radial JDI could be a perfect match for me. On the other hand the Ampeg preamp itself has a 'usable' DI-out, that does the job. I have no idea, what transformer is built in, but I'm pretty sure, noone will hear the difference in a mix. The Noble is a very powerful tool that can make everything sound better, I think. It does everything from crystal clean to rich colored overdriven tones and provides superior tone- and build quality. But the price and wait list are real bummers for me. Plus the power supplies are not isolated and don't supply the 18V I like to use for my compressor. Bottom line for me: it's not the DI-box that makes your tone work in the mix. It does make a difference, but - as Rhett said it - it only makes a difference of about two percent.

[@Songtitles4u]

Great video! I personally use a quad cortex as DI. It allows me to create a dry bass track (with a reddi or noble capture) and an amp track (+cab sim) and send them to FOH. Either 2x XLR or mixed together. If I want cabs on stage I use a power amp so I have my QC sound on stage aswell. The biggest win is the parametric EQ. So on smaller stages you can control your cab’s low-end.

[@maartenarnou]

I liked 5 and 7 best. Though it's always hard to hear differences when the bass is played muted, and in a mix... Last year, I compard cheap to expensive jazz basses, and with their TONE knob rolled off, it was equally hard to hear differences between price ranges. But... if you'd do this comparison with tone full open, played 'open' instead of muted, and solo'd, you'd hear the differences much more. Oh, and what a great ear do these listeners have!

[@LouisL1963]

5 & 7 for me as well.

[@BlugubriousMusic]

Wasn't listening to like, listened to see what I would hope to have... I only guessed 4 and 6 right... and I am glad because I use that Pyle for guitar and bass and I was literally thinking, it sounds super untouched 'like mine'.... I like to do have a clean signal and tweak to taste in mixing. Love the straightforward approach to this. Thank you (and your pals) for taking the time to do it.

[@stevemoss6926]

Awesome video! I picked the Zod and preferred it by a fairly large margin. The fat low mids are bold, but so nice. Would like to see how a RNDI stacks up against these. The Noble sounds great as well. #6 hurt me. Glad it was the cheapie.

[@tomislavsekerija1957TN]

I got Tonehammer some time ago, then I sold it (needed money), and stayed with only Radial Stagebug SB2. With decent PA we as a band got (I researched and pushed for decision to invest a bit more then planned), I don't even use amp in bar gigs. For the bigger gigs I can allways use that HK 15" active box we have. For the sound, I get compliments and questions by my amigo guitar player "how can't my bass player have that sound, what do you use?". I just smile and show him - no amp, just a phantom powered DI to PA. We allways forget that we are gonna be IN THE MIX, and all it matters is how does it fit into the band mix in the room. No label can help you in that, just a sound engeneer and those subtle nuances will not be heard.

[@tkukulich]

My picks were 1 & 5. I've owned a JDI for a long time, so maybe my ear was somewhat accustomed to that tone. I gave the edge to the Noble over the JDI, but by a surprisingly thin margin.

[@philipconradmusic]

JDI surprised me as well. Thanks for watching ⚡️

[@deplinenoise]

Great job on this. For recording I’d go clean clean clean. And then add saturation, amp sounds and effects on the side to end up with a nice blended mix. Live that Noble was really nice.

[@marketheredge6008]

If you can find one, try the Shiftline Olympic MKIIIs. It is a tube preamp DI with cab sims built in. It sounds amazing, is about the size of a Sans amp and takes effects really well. It even has an effects loop, mp3 in and headphone out as well as the through and XLR outputs. Super versatile. They were around $440 when I bought mine.

[@traviswilliams5466]

Agreed. I snagged one and it hasn't left my pedal board since.

[@cellrdwellr]

same, I got one a few months ago, I love it. My tone is dialed in-so much so one of the guys playing guitar in my band commented on it. I like the Noble but at the price point it's a tough commitment.

[@talkingbasslessons]

Absolutely loved this. For me, the Ampeg and the Pyle were the most obvious first time round. They were the only boxes I was sure of on first listen. The REDDI and Noble were tied for my initial fave tones. As the video progressed I started to prefer the REDDI out of the two. I'm still undecided though. It would only take a slight change of the EQ on the Noble to sound exactly the same as the REDDI. So I suppose, the added versatility of the Noble sways me. But that's only with hindsight and repeated listens. Does it justify the extra price over the REDDI? I dunno.

[@philipconradmusic]

Great insights! And you have a cool channel. Thanks for watching!

[@mishterpreshident]

Pretty interesting comparison. I know you had limited DI access for this vid, but I would have loved to see the Countryman DI & also the Sans Amp Bass Driver DI in this context. I actively use the Sans Amp (v2) and am very happy with it. I just think it's interesting to hear how they sound next to each other. As mentioned in the vid, there is no bad, only how it sounds in the mix. Even #6 would sound good in certain musical contexts.

[@mysterj1]

Two really solid choices I’d have liked to hear, too. It would be interesting to hear the Countrymen compared to the Radial.

[@bassadelica]

Great video. Really one of the biggest missed opportunities of the last couple decades was that Ampeg didn’t step up with a B-15 preamp in a box 1st, the Noble is such a well realized piece. I designed a box very similar in about 2002 but, rackmounted because I saw the need, but slept on pursuing it.

[@adriengahery9471]

I could tell when the noble was the DI used, because it was the best to my ears & I couldn't stop hearing good things about it. It owns nice features along its DI capability. I understand it may have a drag on you since you now are a pedal boy ;) I would tend to consider the DI as the last part of my pedalboard, and play ampless should I use one. Hence I am considering buying the Two Notes CabM because it's featuring an amp simulation capability.

[@jcproductions7585]

I agree with the the Noble for all the reasons you cited. But, given that it is tube-based, I'd pack the Radial as a backup in case your rig gets abused during travel. I'm looking for mild saturation that sounds natural and warm. The Noble nails that!

[@jcproductions7585]

PS. Great video. I recently went with a Rupert Neve RNDI. It is very clean and full sounding. It gives me the most authentic translation of my P bass to my DAW. Compared to my Focusrite Clarett+ instrument inputs, (which are respectable) it sounds bigger. That said, it leaves me wanting saturation. The Noble delivers saturation character that stompboxes haven't (so far, I'm still looking).

[@jdjk7]

My favorites were 5 and 7, but I couldn't really come to that conclusion until hearing them soloed.

[@lockedowng]

I've been in the market for a di and this was great timing. Thank you!

[@mikewolfe9458]

I’m curious if you’ve ever demoed either of the origin effects bass rig units. I’d love to hear your thoughts on them or see them in a future demo. Thanks for the great content!

[@gcvrsa]

As a bassist and audio engineer, I will say that #1, the Radial JDI and #2, the REDDI were my favorites, with the Radial winning by a small margin just because it was more accurate. The REDDI introduced a slight soft coloration. Next on my list would be #7, the ZOD, which I've never heard of before, and then #5, the Nobel. I wouldn't use any of the others, at all, ever. Now, for *my* reveal, the two DI boxes I use are first and foremost the Countryman Type 85, which I would pick over and above all the ones in this video, because like the Radial JDI, it's super accurate, reasonably priced (MSRP $238.65, street price $152.15 at Sweetwater as I write this), and bombproof, but it's an active DI rather than passive. The Countryman Type 85 has been a live sound and recording studio standard for decades. There is not a gig in the world where you will be turned away for showing up with a Countryman Type 85. It is, in my opinion, hands down the best DI box on the market, in terms of a traditional DI box. Obviously, something like the REDDI is a different beast, and while it sounds great as far as it goes, it's not my beast. The REDDI doesn't sound like a DI box, it sounds like what it actually is, essentially the front end of an Ampeg B-15 Portaflex, so if that's the sound you are looking for, that's the box to get. I don't ever go anywhere without a Countryman Type 85, whether the job its live or recording, whether I'm engineering or playing. It is an absolute must and a life saver. Although Radial also makes the highly regarded J48 active direct box, IMO the Countryman Type 85 is better due to its much higher input impedance (10M ohms). The Type 85 can even be used on an amplifier output, as it will safely handle up to 300 V input. Frankly, I don't even know how anyone can have a conversation about DI boxes while leaving out Countryman. The second type of DI box I use is really more of a preamp or amp simulator that happen to also offer DI output, and for that I have the DSM & Humboldt Electronics Simplifier Bass Station. I have others on my list of "would like to buy/try", including the Fishman Platinum Pro EQ/DI and the Tech21NYC SansAmp series (BDDIv2, VTDI, PDDIv2, Q\Strip, any or all of the above).

[@seanwoodburn2616]

Great comparison. I REALLY wish you had also included the Radial J48 for that P Bass. I have the JDI and the J48 and found that Radials recommendation of the J48 for passive basses and JDI for active has been spot on. I used to own a regional sound company and backline and have a lot of DIs and those two have been universally loved by everyone and as you noted, provide great bang for the buck. I do have some higher end gear such as Alembic F1 preamps and some custom units built by the late, great, Eric Hayes, but question their necessity for live venues. My perspective is that of a live sound engineer who has very little time in studios. Same thing as a bassist. Cheers!

[@charliewesley94]

I chose 2 and 5, and 5 was my favorite. I used to own the Ampeg SCR-DI, and I could tell immediately that #3 was that one. I own the Noble DI, and was surprised that I picked that one as my favorite. #7 was also solid.

[@CGlover113]

This was your best video to date! I don't play bass, I didn't know what a direct box was, or why it was important, I still don't care about direct boxes, but somehow, I was invested all the way until the end. I put on my headphones, took notes, got excited when others agreed with me, and surprised myself when i had some good thoughts. This was probably a lot of work, but good job.

[@alexo5861]

Another great video Phillip. All the DIs except the Pyle are usable, it was interesting to hear the differences. Maybe in a few months you could do this again but just with passive DI’s under $500, get a Countryman in there with some of the other easier to get options at GC, or Sweetwater.

[@RufusKSala]

I’d love to see a Radio JDI vs ProDI comparison

[@grmusica5400]

Exactly. Comparing a passive DI like a JDI to what are actually preamps that happen to have a DI out on them is kinda pointless. All it tells you is if you prefer an uncolored DI sound to a colored (with EQ, tube warmth, whatever) sound.

[@XChristianNoirX]

To anyone ASSUMING that the Nobel is going to replace their isolated power supply, THIS IS NOT THE CASE. The outputs share a ground and are NOT isolated. This is little or no different than using a daisy chain to connect your pedals, so it's not going to save you any money from not having to buy a fancy isolated power supply, GREATLY reducing the value proposition for the Noble. Well... I guess I won't be waiting around 10 months while pre-paying the full amount for it, because getting it, not only will it cost $1200, the cost of my pedal board would go up another $300. Now, if you're running a couple of fully analog pedals with it you might get away without having noise issues, but you're not getting the value of isolated power, and you'll almost definitely running any digital pedals off of its power. 10 months IS A LONG TIME to wait for and find out this unfortunate let down.

[@SorenLane33]

missed a lot of your videos over the summer, going back to watch and like them all.

[@dwaynedelario]

Man tough call, but 2, 5 and 7 have the most natural DI tone to me. Noble user here.

[@charliewesley94]

Noble user here and I picked those three as well. haha

[@jacoby75]

Really well done. I enjoyed the shootout. Thank you.

[@philipconradmusic]

Thanks for watching! ⚡️

[@jimleininger8963]

This was good for me as a hobby-level bass player/engineer. Peer reviewing my ears... I picked 7 and 5 tied, 1 in 3rd place. Also, I use an MXR bass pre as my DI. Its fine for me. I'd never get enough improvement to justify an upgrade to 7 or 5

[@philipconradmusic]

Well said! ⚡️

[@72Precision]

Definitely gravitated to the cleaner tones of 1, 2, 5, and 7. Factoring in price and size/weight on a pedalboard eliminates 2, 5, and 7 leaving the JDI as the one I'll likely put on my board. Great vid!

[@tenkolochev4138]

Reddi is a head and shoulders above the others! Pure, well balanced with the right amount of overtones. No drawbacks. The rest are too jumpy, even the most expensive

[@mymodel6]

Someone is suffering from a serious case of confirmation bias i think....

[@seanmarshallmusic]

Oddly enough , I liked all the odd #s (see what I did there). 4 was fine but not dialed in right IMO. All the comments at the end were spot on tho. In the end, the playing matters. You can make anything sound cool by playing well

[@seankent1807]

Great video Philip! I have owned 5 of those 7 myself. The REDDI was amazing, but I ultimately sold it & never looked back once I received my Noble. It is hands down the BEST gear purchase (outside of a bass guitar) that I have ever spent my money on. It always puts me right where I need to be in a mix, sound engineers always love it (and me for having it), and it does so many “extra” things that are so helpful. Jack Roan is a genius & I’m so thankful he used his knowledge to make & bless the world with the Noble Preamp/DI 👏👏👏

[@Theweeze100]

5, 1, and 7. This is a great shootout, very instructive. I don’t own any of these, but it gives me a lot to chew on. By the way, as a bass player who has been playing for almost 50 years, it was a lot of fun to listen to pro bass players musings concerning tone, and saturation. By the way, I just bought an SVT - CL that I don’t need (and might not be able to move) but love the sound of. Even the smell of the tubes getting hot, takes me back to being in a kid playing clubs. Thanks so much doing this video.

[@johnpindzia7922]

I thought it was interesting how Ian liked the Radial because it “just sounds like a bass,” without any coloration or character added, and Rhett disliked it for the exact same reason! Just goes to show how all of this is subjective. I’m gonna have to look into getting one of those Ampeg DI’s.

[@showland2727]

I really like the way you set up this blind test, very well done video, thank you for making it.

[@torinoheadford8688]

Adding the saturation to some ultimately unfairly sabotaged how they were perceived. (Listen to the reviewers comments) If your going to comparing things try getting identical sounds from each unit. If a unit has multi band EQ and can sing without distorting to be fair let it! It was a perhaps unintentional biased review?

[@traviswilliams5466]

Another one out of the park Philip. Great work!

[@philipconradmusic]

Thanks so much Travis!

[@ZeroTooL88]

That noble really does sound nice. And I recognized the ampeg scrambler circuit instantly lol. Very distinct.

[@Hogman666]

So glad I did this. I now know I love Valve DI Boxes the most I listened on all my monitors and went for the valve boxes. its just a shame they cost so much ha ha I will be building a few JFet boxes on my 27D Channel. I am super busy so it may be a while. Love the Channel as well!

[@audi0d00d]

I chose the Noble #5 for both blind tests, the tone is clear and present while still giving some great warmth and heft in the bottom. The Reddi sounds great in the mix, but IMO only maybe 5% better character vs the Radial. For the price I'd just use the cheaper one and call it a day. I also really liked the Zod in both tests, and if I were trying to save some money I would say it's a great choice over the Noble as well. If I was buying one for my studio I'd go for: Noble - Zod - Reddi(or Radial) in that order. Fun listening test! ;D

[@craigjohnson6867]

Would love to see a video like this but for preamp DI's when trying to emulate your amps sound for when you cant use your personal amp/amp head. Sansamp, Darkglass, Origin, Colourbox V2 (again), DSM Humboldt, Aguilar, MXR as examples.

[@kylesims8688]

Love this. Now I wish we could see a part 2 with the Bassrig, Aguilar, Badwater, Sans amp, and a few more.

[@MattStretz]

My personal favourite DI box is the Rupert Neve DI and I would love to hear how it stacks up against these

[@philipconradmusic]

Those are cool! Maybe a future video…

[@richardselby1711]

I have the same DI, the RNDI. It's a great DI. Another unit I've heard is very good is the Khan VTDI.

[@jackshittle]

This is how every shoot-out/comparison video between different pedals should be. Great job. Not on topic but one night at a show in Denver at the Skybox (I think that was the name - it was kind of behind left field at Coors Field) I played a show and after we were finished one of the sound guys asked me what bass amp I used. He said it was the best sounding bass he had ever heard. It was a Eden WT300 with a line out of the built in DI in the rear (I had a MM Sterling going straight into the amp). Later he told that that in his opinion the DI's that are built into amplifiers usually suck but he was impressed with the Eden. I never owned a stand alone DI back then but these days have a SansAmp Bass VT pedal w/ the 8x10 speaker simulation going straight into a SWR-SM400S & 2x12 cab (using a Modulus Vintage Jazz w/ active EMG's). Cheers!

[@philipconradmusic]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing ⚡️

[@jakaethesnake]

I enjoyed the video, so thank you so much for taking the time to compare, record, interview, edit-its a lot of work. I chose in order 5, 1, 7, 2. But I must say that if you put an Ag DB925 in front of the JDI that would have been the ultimate. I installed an OBP3 in a pedal enclosure and it through my Radial Stagebug passive is as good as it gets IMO. But to each their own, since our spirits are touched by tone in different ways, all being valid. Thanks, again!

[@philipconradmusic]

Thanks for watching Bruce! Glad to have you here.

[@StoryDrafting]

Wow, this was a great video. A perfect shootout with a nice short riff, in and out of mix, true blind test. My picks were 1, 7, and 5. Truly shocked me.

[@philipconradmusic]

Thanks for watching!

[@delusionwalker8852]

1,2,7, for me. They sound clean and without saturation and that's exactly what I am looking for

[@aaronl7669]

in the mix, i thought: 1 warm, round, good, a little wood 2 like 1 but a little sharper on edges, woodier 3 fuzzy sounding - bad - distorted 4 not bad but more like 3 5 like 2 i think, nice 6 kind of digital sounding 7 like 4 i think my ranking based on mix: 1 2/5 7 4 6 3 solo'd notes 1 - good 2/5 - good 7 - good 4 - distorted 6 - not good 3 - awful WOW! The Radial JDI is by FAR the best bang for the buck. AMAZING! What a great video! thanks. I like that Rhett is sipping a fine mixed drink out of a fancy glass! ha ha ha. I agree with you; the Radial sounds WAY better than the Ampeg. I'd like to hear the Ampeg clean vs the Radial, also the Radial active vs passive model on a passive/active bass!

[@AdamEdwards415]

Do you think the JHS Colour Box could have better results if it were mixed differently? That seems to be the perk of that one specifically; the tone shaping is pretty versatile.

[@cemerson4813]

Ya I agree. I own the colourbox and it's really easy to get bad sounds out of it. I use it to more for a subtle boost with some eq tweaking. Anything more aggressive can get really gritty real fast.

[@liamwyatt-carter2567]

I was expecting to hear no difference between them, but they all sound completely different, so much variety! Reconsidering how much I need to invest in direct boxes now…. So cool! Great video!

[@karlshewchuk6463]

To add to the value of the noble, the customer support Jack Roan gives you is phenomenal. Anything I've ever needed, Jack has gone out of his way to make it happen.

[@antoinelablanquie3827]

1-5-7 are really useable ! 7 might be a little loose on the low end, so it could be too much in a tight mix but lovely

[@MikeGregos]

#1 was my favorite. I bought 2 of the Pyle DI and if you do the same, have your soldering iron ready to go. They are good for gigs where you expect your stuff to damaged or stolen. My $50 whirlwind sounds good enough to me.

[@LesVegasMusic]

Both soloed and in the mix my favorites were 1 and 7. I chose 6 as the cheap Pyle DI and I was right! It sounds paper thin. Some really good picks here! Three that I’ve always been interested in but never had the chance to try - the REDDI, Noble and ZOD. Could we add the Avalon U5, Rupert Neve Designs RNDI 1, ACME Audio Motown DI WB-3, ACME Audio MTP-66 Motown and Countryman Type 85 in a followup video? Thank you!

[@orkundemirayak]

3, 4, 6 --> I'd not even use it if they were free. This video proved how good Radial Engineering is to me and you probably sold me a Radial JDI box :)

[@RuneVSchmidt]

Great video, thanks for taking your time being this thorough. I have an input regarding the Ampeg. I’ve had one and I loved it, until I used it in the studio when I realized that it clips the signal. I was playing a passive bass, so it shouldn’t do that. I tried another one in the store, and it was the same thing. So please beware of it before you buy one.

[@domizidor]

Number 1 is winner for my ears. Very nice "3D" sounding bass tone. I liked 1,5 and 7.

[@JoseAngelSanchezj0n3]

It was pretty clear to me 5 has the best definition and richer sound without any distortion or noise, so I was not surprised to find out 5 was the Noble. Great video. Thank you!

[@rocket69218]

Very interesting. I picked 1-5-7 as my favourites and I couldn't really choose between them. I do wonder if that's just because they were the cleanest sound though and in a banging rock track I may have chosen differently.

[@HansJaussmann]

This was fantastic, thanks! I gig with the Radial and love it but my ears picked the Noble. Isolated it just had everything tone wise and it was clean. I use an API tranzformer Lx and a Tech 21 VT Bass for Compression, saturation, etc and go direct into the board.

[@aSuburbanNuthouse]

Love the video in order my top 3: #5 #4 #1. Now I seriously need the#5

[@MikeSingSing]

Really cool test. Ampeg all day for me. I've recently gone digital with the NUX Marvin Lee Davis Preamp that also has a cab sim, noise reduction and some other stuff. Great and cheapish tool for a DI sound. Was pretty impressed with it.

[@EshockT]

I love this blind test and Rhett’s analysis was spot on. Colourbox needed some more explanation because it provides such a wide range of tone with its settings. EQ is so vital and exploring the Noble vs Colourbox would be cool.

[@alombardo8194]

On the first comp my picks were 1 and 5,.. Funny cause I own and swear by the Noble.. Its really a piece of gear I can't live without... but very expensive.. It took me a while to justify the price.. I really enjoyed this !!

[@philipconradmusic]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@dannylashofficial1669]

Great and thorough video. Really opened my eyes on what to look for. I own an ART Tube MP Studio which is pretty good but I thought about upgrading. Maybe the money would be better spent on a new bass or pick-ups.

[@philipconradmusic]

Pickups are a great place to start! Thanks for watching ⚡️

[@RufusKSala]

I was surprised by how good the JDI was compared to the tube units when clean, especially the REDDI. I would have thought that they’d all add some more mojo. Not to knock on budget friendly gear, but clearly a high quality transformers is important to catch the low end.

[@philipconradmusic]

Well said! ⚡️

[@BOBBRADLEYCHANNEL]

Great video Phillip, I sniffed out the color box and the Pyle right away. I chose the Red DI And the noble just listening one time though.

[@philipconradmusic]

Thanks for watching!

[@mynameisgryphon1007]

Paused at 6:06 to comment.... 2 and 7 were my favorites, 2 is more punchy, 7 is a bit deeper sounding. I didn't really love any of the ones with saturation/drive, but that's just my two cents. Interested to see which ones they are

[@philipconradmusic]

Nice! Thanks for watching ⚡️