IMO, for a gigging bass player who owns a HX/Helix product there is no need to bring a Noble to the gig, the model is close enough. In the studio things may be different.
I was hoping someone would do this comparison! I've always wanted to try the noble DI so when I saw it released in the latest helix native I was finally able to experience it and i'm now understanding the hype. For a digital emulation, I am very impressed and i'll definitely be using it for recording moving forward.
I completely agree with your opinion on this! But, that said, I think it would be difficult to pick out which is the real Noble and which is the Regal in a full mix. Thank you Ivan for the comparison video!!! I’m planning on getting an HX Stomp XL next year.
and...... just like that I saved my self thousands of dollars, thank you Ivan :) I was trying to build a versatile board but more economic board and you just showed me what I needed to see
Oh, you don’t need a DI box for going direct with the HX (stomp). Just use an 1/4“ to xlr adapter for the left (mono) output and make sure, there is no phantom power applied. Works just fine. I do this all the time
Common opinion here seems to be that the small difference will get lost in the mix. I’m not so sure it isn’t the opposite. The Noble has a more dynamic envelop to my ear which will help it punch through the mix. The Regal is a little flatter and less dynamic sounding. Rather than getting lost in the mix, those differences are likely to make the Noble stand out more in the mix than the Regal. I’m curious to hear if Ivan’s experience is similar. Great comparison! I know many people run things like the Helix into a tube DI to add that extra oomph so that IEM’s and the rest have that dynamic cut.
Ivan- Thanks for this comparison. On my studio monitors, it was very close. There was a bit more fullness with the real Noble preamp. As you mentioned, the in-room feel is the biggest difference.
I do already have an HX Stomp, so have obviously updated the firmware to include the ‘Regal’. The Noble is quite expensive, but to be honest, it’s the long waiting time, which puts me off buying one. Also, I have a Caveman Audio BP1 which, as far as I’m concerned, is fantastic. In conclusion, I probably won’t get the Noble or use the Regal.
Hi Ivan .... Great video ... Can you explain you signal chain inside the Software? Do you run the preamp isolated, or through speaker simulations? Kind regards Nils
Thanks for the back-to-back comparisons. With headphones, the differences are very slight. In the context of in the mix playing with a band, there will be no difference.
As always amazing video. Really cool release for the Stomp users, but I wouldn't buy a unit for this preset. Until now, with Kemper/QCortex/Stomp it's always 90% but I can't never find the fullness/presence of tubes/transformer, so not so impressed yet. For now, i'll keep playing with my PF50T and Reddi DI's. Still on the fence to buy a Noble due to price (with tax)+leadtime, and it's just my hobby. Always looking at cheaper alternative such as Arkham Oracle, Capo, Acme Motown, Origin Effects ect... Thanks again, it helps a lot :)
Hey thanks for your channel. Updated to 3.71, yep Regal in with the drives as a Bass DI. It is amazing that an update gives us something so close. I have a Cali76 eq'd into the Stomp on my board and can put the RNDI at the end to add a whole other thing with the Neve sound going to house. Great video!
NO one understands what you gear play when you on stage. People care about sound of song and not about black boxes of bass player on stage. Respect for Line 6 ,now its noble killer
Thanks for the video. I might be the only one, but I thought the Regal actually souonded better through my AKG headphones. Maybe I would change my mind listening through studio monitors. Hard to say. The Regal seems to be lacking some high end, but I have found that I have to bump up the treble in the global settings on my HX Stomp to make it sound like my pedal board when it i removed. THe HX Stomp seems to cut off some high frequencies. Good comparison, though.
I'm a guitarist with an HX Stomp, and was curious about the Nobels DI. I think your comparison and analysis was excellent, and enjoyable to listen to. Regarding "feel," I was watching a recent Leon Todd video where he was playing through some of the new Effects in a recent Fractal Update. Everything was sounding good, as normal, and then he started playing the new Tremolo Effect, and I immediately started hearing what I think is usually referred to as "feel." It made me wonder if feel is actually a form of volume modulation, and that adds "life" to the sound. Do you have any views on that? Thanks
@@IvanBassist The video is called "New Fractal TREM Modes Inspired by VINTAGE Amps | Axe-Fx III Firmware 23b" and you can also see the comment I posted there. I listened on Studio Monitoring Headphones. I'm very interested in what you think.
Gracias Ivan por la comparación, es muy útil !! Tengo una Hx Stomp, todavía no probé la emulación del Noble, tengo que hacerlo, está clarísimo escuchando acá con monitores que no van a lograr lo mismo con una emulación digital en un aparato de 500 dolares contra un aparato valvular de 2500 dolares, creo igual que con la emulación y un poco de ecualización se podría acercar bastante para aportar el caracter y color que le falta al Regal frente al aparato original, saludos!
I'm going to have to use some classic musician 'cork sniffing' adjectives to describe the difference. The Noble was more 'three dimensional' and 'present' and 'chewier' For 99 % of players getting the Noble would be a waste .... I'm tempted by the JAD Freer though ;)
Thanks for this comparison. Not a lot of bass demos for the new hx update. Always appreciated. 🤙
Thanks for watching!
IMO, for a gigging bass player who owns a HX/Helix product there is no need to bring a Noble to the gig, the model is close enough. In the studio things may be different.
I was hoping someone would do this comparison! I've always wanted to try the noble DI so when I saw it released in the latest helix native I was finally able to experience it and i'm now understanding the hype. For a digital emulation, I am very impressed and i'll definitely be using it for recording moving forward.
Happy to help!
I completely agree with your opinion on this! But, that said, I think it would be difficult to pick out which is the real Noble and which is the Regal in a full mix. Thank you Ivan for the comparison video!!! I’m planning on getting an HX Stomp XL next year.
and...... just like that I saved my self thousands of dollars, thank you Ivan :) I was trying to build a versatile board but more economic board and you just showed me what I needed to see
Happy to help!
Oh, you don’t need a DI box for going direct with the HX (stomp). Just use an 1/4“ to xlr adapter for the left (mono) output and make sure, there is no phantom power applied. Works just fine. I do this all the time
Hx stomp outputs are trs so you just need to set the hx to line level output and use trs to xlr cables
There is no ground lift in case you would need on hx stomp. So you would still need a DI in that case
Seems easier to just grab a DI box, you can get great cheap di boxes
Just get an HX stomp or any other helix product. You get 80-90% of a noble DI and a million more things for any possible situation imaginable
Jk I’m poor af I bought the hx stomp
Common opinion here seems to be that the small difference will get lost in the mix. I’m not so sure it isn’t the opposite. The Noble has a more dynamic envelop to my ear which will help it punch through the mix. The Regal is a little flatter and less dynamic sounding. Rather than getting lost in the mix, those differences are likely to make the Noble stand out more in the mix than the Regal. I’m curious to hear if Ivan’s experience is similar. Great comparison! I know many people run things like the Helix into a tube DI to add that extra oomph so that IEM’s and the rest have that dynamic cut.
Having the Noble in the signal chain definitely helps when playing purely through IEMs.
Ivan- Thanks for this comparison. On my studio monitors, it was very close. There was a bit more fullness with the real Noble preamp. As you mentioned, the in-room feel is the biggest difference.
Glad it was helpful!
Wouldn’t turning the bass up a little on the helix fix this issue?
Great, great video. I hear subtle things in the Noble so I would choose that, but it is so close that Helix owners should be pretty happy.
I totally agree!
As someone who can't afford the real thing, I'm pretty thrilled my new HX Stomp can at least get in the ballpark along with everything else it does.
The Noble definitely sounds fuller, but as others have said, that probably gets lost in a full band context.
Thanks for this vid man! Been using the regal on my hx for the last month & loving it.. it made me curious about getting the real thing
I do already have an HX Stomp, so have obviously updated the firmware to include the ‘Regal’. The Noble is quite expensive, but to be honest, it’s the long waiting time, which puts me off buying one. Also, I have a Caveman Audio BP1 which, as far as I’m concerned, is fantastic. In conclusion, I probably won’t get the Noble or use the Regal.
Correction, the Helix Stomp does have "XLR" or balanced outs. They are just configured on TRS 1/4" stereo jacks. No external DI required.
Thanks for pointing that out!
I hope the Noble comes to Pod Go soon. The difference is minimal to none through my headphones.
Good News ! I have a Helix Line 6 LT unit. I'll test this out 🙂
Just put a comp and an Eq on the stomp after the regal to have more in-room and dynamic.
do a blind comparison video. the modeling sounds amazing. would i just throw this in right before my amp/cab blocks on my Stomp XL?
Hi Ivan .... Great video ... Can you explain you signal chain inside the Software? Do you run the preamp isolated, or through speaker simulations? Kind regards Nils
Both are clean. No EQ or compression. I kept it as “dry” as possible for this. No cab sim either.
I was hoping you’d make this one! Miss you on the infinite Mesa thread but I understand your situation. Hope all is well!
Thanks for the support :)!
Thanks for the back-to-back comparisons. With headphones, the differences are very slight. In the context of in the mix playing with a band, there will be no difference.
Thanks! The Regal is missing some upper harmonic detail. Or maybe it just has less treble? Still sounds good though.
I also feel it is missing a bit of top end. You notice it more when the treble is boosted a bit like on the last pick examples
As always amazing video. Really cool release for the Stomp users, but I wouldn't buy a unit for this preset. Until now, with Kemper/QCortex/Stomp it's always 90% but I can't never find the fullness/presence of tubes/transformer, so not so impressed yet. For now, i'll keep playing with my PF50T and Reddi DI's. Still on the fence to buy a Noble due to price (with tax)+leadtime, and it's just my hobby.
Always looking at cheaper alternative such as Arkham Oracle, Capo, Acme Motown, Origin Effects ect...
Thanks again, it helps a lot :)
Thanks for watching!
Hey thanks for your channel. Updated to 3.71, yep Regal in with the drives as a Bass DI. It is amazing that an update gives us something so close. I have a Cali76 eq'd into the Stomp on my board and can put the RNDI at the end to add a whole other thing with the Neve sound going to house. Great video!
It’s under “drive” pedals if I remember correctly
@@IvanBassist Nobles $2200 today on reverb. Um, I better find that hx clone. Thank you.
NO one understands what you gear play when you on stage. People care about sound of song and not about black boxes of bass player on stage.
Respect for Line 6 ,now its noble killer
I'm new at this stuff, but I cannot find this preamp in my hx stomp, any help😅
I think it’s under Drive
Very close.... the Noble has a bit more high end and bite than the Regal
Would be good to hear bypass in there as well. Do either of these products do anything, basically.
You cannot by-pass a Noble DI. It’s always on and it does not have a “Through” out
Thanks for the video. I might be the only one, but I thought the Regal actually souonded better through my AKG headphones. Maybe I would change my mind listening through studio monitors. Hard to say. The Regal seems to be lacking some high end, but I have found that I have to bump up the treble in the global settings on my HX Stomp to make it sound like my pedal board when it i removed. THe HX Stomp seems to cut off some high frequencies. Good comparison, though.
Thanks for watching!
I see that on the noble vs line6 there's a different on the hipass, it's flat on the analog and hipassed on the line6, was that intentional?
It’s just the image. It does not change when you adjust things.
Don’t listen with your eyes 😁
I'm a guitarist with an HX Stomp, and was curious about the Nobels DI. I think your comparison and analysis was excellent, and enjoyable to listen to.
Regarding "feel," I was watching a recent Leon Todd video where he was playing through some of the new Effects in a recent Fractal Update. Everything was sounding good, as normal, and then he started playing the new Tremolo Effect, and I immediately started hearing what I think is usually referred to as "feel." It made me wonder if feel is actually a form of volume modulation, and that adds "life" to the sound. Do you have any views on that? Thanks
Hey there! Thanks for watching. Could you please forward me that video you mentioned?
@@IvanBassist The video is called "New Fractal TREM Modes Inspired by VINTAGE Amps | Axe-Fx III Firmware 23b" and you can also see the comment I posted there. I listened on Studio Monitoring Headphones. I'm very interested in what you think.
Very interesting. Great video as always.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Gracias Ivan por la comparación, es muy útil !! Tengo una Hx Stomp, todavía no probé la emulación del Noble, tengo que hacerlo, está clarísimo escuchando acá con monitores que no van a lograr lo mismo con una emulación digital en un aparato de 500 dolares contra un aparato valvular de 2500 dolares, creo igual que con la emulación y un poco de ecualización se podría acercar bastante para aportar el caracter y color que le falta al Regal frente al aparato original, saludos!
Muchas gracias por ver el video! Ojala te guste luego de hacer la actualizacion :)
Nice!!
Did you do a blind test? So record your bass into a looper and then have blind switching between the hx stomp and the noble.
I havent, but I did switch back and forth several times during the mixing process with my eyes closed.
I might do a blind test video, though.
Man, I make a living playing bass, and not a bad one. HX stomp and a cheapo bass is enough to earn good.
I'm going to have to use some classic musician 'cork sniffing' adjectives to describe the difference. The Noble was more 'three dimensional' and 'present' and 'chewier' For 99 % of players getting the Noble would be a waste .... I'm tempted by the JAD Freer though ;)
Cork sniffing 😂😂😂 that's great!!!
😂😂✌🏽
drunk punters or in the mix - you cant tell
they sound the same- easier to carry an hx stomp than 8x10 cab!!!!
My wallet cried when it saw the price of the Noble. Damn that much for a D.I.???
It’s a one man operation and it does sound great 😄
@@IvanBassist no indeed. Good on the guy for doing so well on the product.
Sounds nothing like the real thing unfortunately
It's literally 90-95% the same.