I hown the red version of this bass. The sound is a bit dark compared to other basses. And yes the volume jump from passive to active is big. But you can always use the preamp in negative to prevent that.
The preamp is not very powerful, I expected something better from MarkBass.
It's an interesting bass, it sounds a bit vintage. I like it.
But it has a lot of neck dive, which make it difficult to play, specially sitting.
I'm planning to change the bridge and the tuners to get it balanced, but I'm not sure if it worth it, as spending 200 euros on a 300 euros bass seems a bit disproportionate...
Overall, I'm a bit disappointed, as I own a Cort GB 75, which is really an excellent bass. I thought this one would have the same quality/price ratio, but no.