Walrus Mantle - The newest IMA gizmo.

[LukeFRC]

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!!

[LukeFRC]

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!)

[Kev]

40 minutes ago, knicknack said:

I know there's some eager to hear, so here's a quick late night comparison. 4 different clips, recorded through 4 DIs (In no particular order, Mantle, Noble, Luce, Caveman)... First two are P with flats, 3 & 4 are Sandberg TT4 with rounds. 

 

I'll put the order below under a spoiler warning for those who wish to let their ears do the work. Interested to hear your pre-spoiled thoughts! Tried to keep things as consistent and simple as possible. Something bigger and more in-depth coming soon! Recorded straight into a UA Apollo, gain level shown. 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

A. Noble Preamp (19db, slight bass and treble boost)

B. Walrus Audio Mantle (12db, Bass 8, Treble 7, gain centre)

C. Caveman BP1 Compact (10db, Gain 11 o'clock, level 10 o'clock)

D. Jad Freer Luce (28db)

 

I definitely have thoughts... mainly that i'd be pretty much happy with any of these if it was all I had. I set each one to taste rather than trying to really match them up. The gain on the Mantle has a big effect on the voicing, much to learn there. Important to remember the Luce is NOT a preamp, just a DI, although it certainly has colour. 

 

 

 

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.

[LukeFRC]

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!

[markorbit]

Pre-spoiler I prefer the order of 2,1,4,3. On the first demo I didn't gel with 3 at all.

Now I will have a look what they are.

[thumbo]

11 hours ago, knicknack said:

I know there's some eager to hear, so here's a quick late night comparison. 4 different clips, recorded through 4 DIs (In no particular order, Mantle, Noble, Luce, Caveman)... First two are P with flats, 3 & 4 are Sandberg TT4 with rounds. 

 

I'll put the order below under a spoiler warning for those who wish to let their ears do the work. Interested to hear your pre-spoiled thoughts! Tried to keep things as consistent and simple as possible. Something bigger and more in-depth coming soon! Recorded straight into a UA Apollo, gain level shown. 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

A. Noble Preamp (19db, slight bass and treble boost)

B. Walrus Audio Mantle (12db, Bass 8, Treble 7, gain centre)

C. Caveman BP1 Compact (10db, Gain 11 o'clock, level 10 o'clock)

D. Jad Freer Luce (28db)

 

I definitely have thoughts... mainly that i'd be pretty much happy with any of these if it was all I had. I set each one to taste rather than trying to really match them up. The gain on the Mantle has a big effect on the voicing, much to learn there. Important to remember the Luce is NOT a preamp, just a DI, although it certainly has colour. 

 

 

Thank you for doing this, very insightful with the blind taste test! 

 

For the P with flats it was very close for me between the Noble and Luce, I think they sound remarkably similar in the first round through my Audio Technica headphones. Both have a well-rounded sound that appeals. 

 

In round 3, the Mantle stood out to me for little more with that sparkle in the highs. 

So overall, not a clear cut one for me at all, they all sound nice and ultimately I feel like I'm splitting hairs. However, I am very impressed by the Luce. I will probably pull the trigger on one of these at some point because I can imagine it being an absolute gem when paired with other preamps that are taking a tone-shaping role. Intrigued to hear what it would be like adding some warmth to the harshness of my Rusty Box, or some valve goodness after a DCX Bass. 
 

Edited January 28 by thumbo
spelling

[knicknack]

@thumbo I've recorded some Luce X DCX clips... will put them up in the next few days. I think that's going to be a popular combo!

Edited January 28 by knicknack

[Chadu25]

11 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

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!!

I liked number 4 the most too! I've checked in the reveal what it is, and it's something I've been GASsing lately which I'm glad I did. Can't commit to getting one at the moment though but would defo want to try it maybe later this year. Will see!

[Chadu25]

39 minutes ago, knicknack said:

@thumbo I've recorded some Luce X DCX clips... will put them up in the next few days. I think that's going to be a popular combo!

If I were to build another compact/nano board, I'd get a DCX and Luce too!

[thumbo]

7 hours ago, knicknack said:

@thumbo I've recorded some Luce X DCX clips... will put them up in the next few days. I think that's going to be a popular combo!

Appreciated! Interested to hear your impressions of how they sound together too. 

[knicknack]

I know it's not really the done thing to advertise here, but i feel in this case I might be helping someone out. Will be returning the Mantle if only because I'll never sell the Noble, but I'd be delighted with either. As I got it for a small discount, and it's readily available, I have put it in the classified today only in case somebody would like to save a little/jump the queue. 

[knicknack]

 

Mantle vs the rest of the world... for anyone who may find it useful! 

 

[krispn]

I hope the mystery box is a cheap £21 temp purchase. I liked the Bassrig as it has none of the low mid weight of some of the others but something a little more pleasing high end which might just become more prominent in a mix. 

[knicknack]

@krispn Not £21, but very affordable and something I have a bunch of and use regularly! 

[ezbass]

For my tastes and questionable hearing, the Bassrig 15 was the winner. The Linden into the Luce was pretty good too. Like krispn, I’m intrigued as to the mystery box, as it sounds pretty good too.

[knicknack]

Anyone who can message me the titles of the three songs I used in the video gets to know what the mystery box is…

[LukeFRC]

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

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, LukeFRC said:

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

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

[MartinB]

That's the "trouble" with flatwounds - you don't really need to do anything to make them sound good. Rounds, on the other hand...

[knicknack]

2 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

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

 

You'll make me blush...

[LukeFRC]

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

[knicknack]

@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! 

Edited 1 hour ago by knicknack