LukeFRC

normally the other half hears random bass video or music sounds coming out of the laptop and rolls her eyes... but she liked that last one

14 minutes ago, Kev said:

I think the whole bass synth thing is interesting.  Remember, the Deep Impact, the former holy grail, ended up being a discontinued bargain bin buy because literally no-one was buying them.  

 

Interest is clearly higher now, but I'm sure a lot of it is hype, and without big/influential names using it (Chris Wolstenholm for the DI, Ian for the MXR) they're just not going to take off.

That’s the dilemma - everyone wants a really really well equipped synth with every feature known to man… but they also want quick easy presets so they don’t need to learn how to use every feature known to man. 
I don’t envy panda or source audio!! 
 

@Kiwi would FI4 midi out let you drive any arpeggiator you want? Or depending how it works could the midi out from pitch detector go to arpegiator and then as midi back into fi? 

From my outside view… 

it feels like the FI1 was a reissue of the DI with more things a synth geek would want - that then gets added too and more and more functionality. Which is cool and you end up with a pretty awesome bass synth … that requires a bit of knowledge to program and tweak…

but a lot of people want a microkorg, with a big knob that they can select “trance patch 1” and not tweak. I think with the DX7 stuff that might be even more of a thing as I’ve messed around with Dexed and it kinda made my head explode a bit! 

Does it have to be rack mount?
looked at Sushibox effects? something like the underground accelerator is a orange/fender style preamp and can be driven, or he has Ampeg type or fender bossman - all running at proper plate voltages. 
Or the Two notes revolt https://www.two-notes.com/en/revolt-bass/ or older Le Bass will have tubes and overdrive in (though can't promise how the tube is used in the circuits) 

1 hour ago, knicknack said:

@LukeFRC I can't believe i didn't think to do the Bassrig without the cab sim on actually.. that would've been interesting! I definitely prefer it in the mix to solo'd, and it is making me rethink passing it on. RE: Alix... yes, i usually use it for my Upright and realised I'd never plugged the Electric in. Not sure why I'm surprised, but i liked the results! 

 

The mystery box is UK-built by one individual, and costs sub £45. Always surprises me in shootouts with the big boys, and I have 4 of them! 

Oh I have a mystery box too. They are very good  

2 minutes ago, ezbass said:

It has to be said that the straight into the i/face sounds damn good.

exactly.

My thoughts

Audio interface: Nice. A good bass and a good player
Noble (flat) great, finally just get why this is a standard in the music industry, just works
Mantle (flat) would like to compare to my Colourbox v2 - similar but think Mantle would be fatter (I'm basing that on size of transformers!) but EQ on colourbox v good
Caveman BP1c - not my thing, scoopy
Jad Freer LUCE - ok, I liked it on the other video shared, but to be honest is it much better than turning the bass up a bit after the audio interface?
 Mystery DI - preferred to the LUCE. Based on what's been said I'm imaging some standard transformer based DI... JDI? (which if it is would be the same transformer as noble)  
Grace Designs Alix (flat) - I've tried a Grace preamp before and this sounds like that memory, lovely detail but probably better for acoustic instruments than a fender style bass, IMO, very very nice  
Jad Freer Sisma - not for me. Sounds cheap and nasty compared to the Alix.
Origin Effects Bassrig Fifteen (to taste) - sounds amazing. It's obviously doing something completely different to all the clean DI here and does it very well - I'm guessing the cab sim is on from the bottom end roll off? But in the mix - great.
Noble (Slight Bass and Treble boost) - still great.
Mantle (Slight Bass and Treble boost) - not really changed my opinion compared to above
Jad Freer LUCE & Barber Linden EQ - sounds good - nice combo
Jad Freer LUCE & Origin Effects DCX Bass - slightly different and prefer to the Linden/Luce combo, not sure why
Mystery DI & Barber Linden EQ  prefer to Luce
Mystery DI & Origin Effects DCX Bass - this sounds really great, the DI really shows off a lovely pedal, makes me want to try one
Grace Designs Alix (Slight bass and treble boost) - my ears have gone fluffy from listening to too many clips, sounds like it did before maybe? its good
Jad Freer Sisma (EQ to taste, DEEP switch in) - my ears are fluffy but I still don't like this. 

Obviously all my preferences are subjective

So the lesson is - if I could play as well as @knicknack I could play through anything and still sound good?! 

21 hours ago, Marvin said:

I thought my Peavey Minimax, which died recently, wasn't worth fixing. By chance someone Mrs Marvin works with repairs amps. He diagnosed the problem, said how much it would cost and I said go for it. Here's the hitch. The parts aren't available in the UK, they had to ordered from the States. And here's another hitch. Those parts have been held up in US customs because they're suspicious that someone ordering 2 capacitors for a couple $s might be assembling drones for Russia 🤔🫣🤪

at work we were 12 months into a product development and the power supply the product relied on was embargoed because the company in china making them was also selling them to Iran to build Russian drones - right set back that was

15 hours ago, DF Shortscale said:

Adam Neely just posted a brilliant video about this stuff today.

https://youtu.be/U8dcFhF0Dlk

I’m not well today so not working and watched that between dosing in bed - it was really good 

Beautiful 

4 minutes ago, DF Shortscale said:

 

Yes, I remember that too, and it was part of the process for some people (including me - I was on housing benefit for just over a year after graduating). But I also remember that it was fairly common for people who were good at what they did to succeed enough to be able to afford a home and a decent quality of life directly from their creative output. The difference is that you worked part time or went on the dole BUT channelled your energy into focussing on your creative goals, and - if you were good at what you did - you could relatively quickly move on from that and make a living from your creative work. Which is what me and my 4 flatmates, and countless other gen x people did. It wasn't great by any means, but the opportunities were there if you were driven enough.

 

I studied a creative subject and graduated in 97. There were 35 people in my year group. Out of those 35, 33 ended up working in the creative industry, and did well enough to be able to buy homes, have kids, eat, go on holidays etc. The remaining 2 were crap and not interested anyway. Compare that with current numbers - out of a group of 35 talented and driven graduates from a high profile university, maybe 3 will get properly paid work in their chosen field, another 12 will do it for pocket money while doing a 'real job', and the rest will go into minimum wage retail jobs and at best, treat the subject they studied as an expensive hobby. (Source: I work at a high profile creative university). And in the last couple of years, with AI creeping in, even those numbers are looking optimistic.

 

Ultimately it comes down to money - if you can make money from creative work, you will invest in tools to help you do it. If you can't, then the people making those tools won't have a customer base any more. Not just NI, but also Adobe and all the other big creative software players.

I don’t actually think we are disagreeing- but if in your era hard work, drive and sacrifice would lead to success and being able to do something as a career in a creative field. 
In my post 2008 crash era and more so now hard work, drive and sacrifice would look like working the crap job to give you flexibility to pour time into your creative field, hustle to try and monitise what you do, and chasing the algorithm to market yourself. 

On 30/01/2026 at 15:34, DF Shortscale said:

 

 

Ok, show me some examples of current young practitioners whose business model is to post on online platforms either within music or art, who are genuinely innovating and pushing boundaries (not just pandering to algorithms), and are generating enough of an income from that to buy homes and feed families. Not people with side jobs, not people who are surviving off pre-social media fame and success - genuine newcomers who are making work with creative integrity.

 

Reaching an audience is not the same as getting paid. If you're on TikTok, you can have an audience of 400K if you fart into a phone. Engagement and success are not the same thing, and engagement without the support that comes with it is just attention without value. I don't know of many young people in the Gen Z range genuinely innovating and making art making an actual living purely from posting stuff online right now, and that's when we're still in the early days of AI. The current functional model is either to post clickbait, or to have a day job and do creative work on the side for pocket money. But feel free to show examples of current creative young innovators who are really pushing boundaries and paying off mortgages and feeding families from the online distribution model of their own creative output. To me it seems like wishful thinking, and it's only going to get worse as AI content grows, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong. I see lots of talent and artistic vision out there, but I don't see any of those people surviving without jumping through hoops right now, let alone when AI content corrupts things even further. And those are the people who would need to be investing in products by NI to keep the company going. Ageing boomers nearing the end of their creative careers - and even Gen X artists - are not going to sustain these software companies for much longer.

 

 

 

 

I’m a bit young to know if it’s true, but I’m sure when I was younger I remember lots of bands, and visual artists living on the dole while they went after their artistic vision. 
since that’s not an option does it matter if their full time job makes their art possible? 
 

the reality is most the money has gone out of music for the producers - unless you chase the algorithm- the fact that people are still doing their thing and making things happen as a side hustle is a good thing- not a negative.
 

7 minutes ago, Balu said:

small board, big sound! 

Bit too much colour on that Jam pedal though...

2 hours ago, Kiwi said:

Do you think he gets out of bed in the mornings looking like that?  Asking for a friend.

Maybe that is his pjs?

1 hour ago, Bagman said:

anyone here some experience with Moog Minifooger MF Flanger? ta. 

@sifi2112 maybe? I think? 

19 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

Here’s a video demo of some of the forthcoming v4.5 features:

25 Years History of Bass Guitar Synths:
From the Past to the Future Impact V4.5

That looks excellent!!

having owned a L1000 and played L2000 ... I would use the L1000 passive bass treble and OMG wiring for it - it's' great. 

obv this is off topic!

On 20/01/2026 at 07:21, walshy said:

£360 ish for the V1 and £520 for the Jensen DI V2 plus a bit of duty. It’s an epic pedal, I think the circuit comes from C2C Electronics and they build a full pedal too about $450 plus duty if I remember. The Rev adds a little spin to stuff and it’s spectacular. If you’re close to me you’re welcome to come and try. 

C2C is the diy arm of the same guy who does Sushibox effects. If you fancy getting the soldering iron out Klaus at Musikding can help

1 hour ago, matybigfro said:

What does Boss need to do to stake a place in the flagship market.

A 21st century style user interface woild help 

9 hours ago, rwillett said:

?

He is based in Yorkshire and we have spoken before about both coming up!

9 minutes ago, Kev said:

 

Nice!  Haven't checked for spoilers but the 4th is comfortably my favourite, really nice with the flats and rounds, a real rubbery tone.

 

Least favourite is 3, seems a bit odd and unbalanced in the mids and woolly by comparison.  1 & 2 are very nice, 1 probably edges it, but 4 is a bit special.

snap!

Interesting!

Without giving anything away. 

No.3 which I disliked I kinda guessed right what that would be. It just sounded like there's a mid scooped to it to my ears. I personally would not want this one. 

No. 1 - When it started and when from 1st to 2nd on the P bass my first thought was "sound like 1 has higher input impedance than 2" which I think it does -  I enjoyed it on the Sandberg, and less so on the P. This was ok.
Number 2: Big sounding, colourful mids. This is a nice sounding preamp/DI. But I like this style of thing. I'ld use one. 
Number 4: was not expecting to like this one. It's clean, with 1 seemed to have the widest freq range- has that balanced warm unhyped sound that is good unless you're going to go for a colour. Enjoyed it on the P bass, less so on the jazz - which is possibly the higher freq of the rounds. 

(for reference, my dream sound is the old Warwick hellebore preamp, and the last 2-3 years the v2 Colourbox has been at the end of my pedalboard, so I like things with transformers in!)

Posted without seeing the reveal

Set 1:
Number 1 - meh, brittle
Number 2 - Rounder, middy, fatter I like this

Number 3- sounds scooped, hyped bottom
Number 4- sounds the widest and biggest

 

Set 2:
Number 1 - clean
Number 2 - richer than No1

Number 3- still sounds scooped
Number 4- warm and nice

 

Set 3:
Number 1 - sounds ok, nice bottom here
Number 2 -mids give as bit of colour

Number 3- still scooped
Number 4- yeah good.

 

Set 4:
Number 1 - sounds ok
Number 2 -sounds better

Number 3- I don't like the tone
Number 4- still good

So from that... I'd say I like Number 4 best of them, then Number 2, then Number 1 and Number 3

Purely subjective obviously - I would enjoy owning 4 or 2. Can't wait to see what they are!!

@jimbobothy ...