I think the MXR and Sansamp are the two best out there but both are different babies. MXR produces a more straight up distortion while the Sansamp emulates a tube. Can't go wrong with either.
They also work really well with each other! The MXR has a nice naturally (scooped midrange) tone but it is not too drastic. The Sanamp responds more like a Genz amp or a Markbass. I personally use the MXR and a Sadowsky Bass Preamp pedal in my live bass rig and it sounds great. Thanks for commenting and I hope you enjoyed this video!
w1wang Coming back to this now after a couple years. Currently I'm using the MXR as a clean preamp DI to bring out the natural tone of the instrument. The Sansamp is a good Ampeg tube emulator and always gets compliments from the sound guys.
It should be noted that the MXR distortion gets a LOT less dirty if you are running it through a cab Sim or in front of your amp. It's still dirty but it isn't as grindcore-ish so early in the knob rotation. For $200 the MXR is pretty impressive. If you put the MXR Bass Compressor in front of it, it is a dream.
I've used both preamps. On this demo I'd give a slight to the MXR. It has more of what I would describe as a vintage, mic'ed ampflifier warmth. Both preamps are excellent choices IMO though. Thanks for posting this.
catboyzee They're both great and could be used for different gigs and styles of music. I love my MXR and I also really like the MOOER Cab sim I just got!
I don't like the full dirt from the mxr but when I turn on the overdrive Channel and just put a little bit of grit it makes the pedal sound better and then I add a Behringer vintage tube overdrive 808 pedal to get the majority of my overdrive.
hi.. i have mxr m80 bass d.i. and sansamp tech 21 vt bass d.i. not sansamp bassdriver. sansamp bass driver have much less flexibility and more midrange scoop ( approximately around 800hz) and no midrange control (but have a presence control for high-mid distortion) sound like vintage tube saturation (old svt ampeg) . vt bass d.i. have much flexibility..3 band eq ..bite switch control ( simil presence) speaker emulation ( more fat sound) character control (pre saturation for vintage or modern sound). there are a two simil pedals with different character (not much) mxr bass m80 bass d.i. are a not saturator but moderate high gain distortion with some features (noise gate and clean sound) m80 have a distinctive character (color).sound have a solid bottom end and a crispy high end distortion with midrange scoop (simil sansamp bass driver) but midrange (around 800hz) control is avaible for compensate (to taste depend of your style).sounds more modern and aggressive than vt bass and sansamp bass driver. there are a 3 great pedals: mxr m80 for modern and aggressive (great for metal tone). sansamp bass driver for classical tube vintage coloration. tech 21 vt bass d.i. for all around saturation (sound flat than m80 and bass driver)
Richard Venegas hi. i have a vt bass d.i. and use this with a gallien krueger rig 770rbii and neo 4x10 and i use this (vt bass d.i.) for gritty and punchy bass, with vt bass d.i. can find the sound of sansamp bass driver ( or similar and not viceversa) because vt bass d.i. are more flexible than sansamp bass driver but sansamp bass driver have a specific tone response ( like a smile eq in flat mode) , depend of your style and amp that use, i recomend tech 21 sansamp vt bass d.i. if you want a flexibile and full range sound and if you use a more character amplifcation,in other case sansamp bass driver can is a good choice :D
Alright, so after seeing the Hysteria riff being played through both preamps I think I'm going to go with the MXR d.i +. Would be a great substitution for lugging around an amplifier.
+guitarandbass1995 Glad you dig the MXR but if you want something to substitute an amplifier, I would highly recommend the Tech 21 VT Bass Sansamp as it's modeled after Ampeg bass amps and can really nail that Hysteria tone quite well!
Glad to hear it! Again both are great units and as of recent my big recommendation would be to use a MXR Bass DI into a sansamp for a rocking direct bass tone! I need to get a Sansamp for myself soon haha
i know i am super late to the party and my opinion will probably be very unpopular, but i think such reviews should be done with the most used basses and amps. How many of us can actually afford a Fodera? And the ones that can are most likely not watching the review because they have bought both these pedals long ago and have replaced them by now
Review muito top Matt!! tenho o MXR bass D.I., e estava pensando em pegar o sansamp, e esse review me tirou a duvida que eu estava. O MXR é bem melhor!!!
w1wang I tried both ended up buying the programmable Sansamp. I liked the ability to preset 3 different tones, and ultimately felt I didn't need the heavy distortion of the MXR (can get a fuzz box if I want to add that sound). But for someone else I'm sure the MXR would be perfect.
Michael Kish Good choice! All of these pedals are great. I liked the MXR a lot, but my bass player in my old rock band used to use the programmable Sansamp live right into the mixer. Mr. Lukassen loves his Sansamp as do I. There is so much marketing going on with pedal sales and guitar and bass gear in general and at the end of the day, whatever sounds good to you is the best choice! Hope you enjoy your Sansamp and please feel free to watch my other videos on my channel. have a great day!
It's just a tool to split your signal into two separate channels. And yes, you can use both at the same time. You might want to do this if you want both a DI sound and a mic'd cab (which makes monitoring easier and you get more tonal options), or drive the bypassed signal with a fuzzbox for some extra grit. Alternately you could stack effects like chorus, delay, verb or what have you in the bypass side of the pedal and use it as a dry/wet rig (wet/bypass ch going to amp, dry/DI ch going FoH). Of course, you could do this for the "wet" channel and keep the bypass tone as your "dry" channel. Depends on what you like, really.
Thanks a lot man I am using an mxr bass di and bought it after watching your video I was just wondering what if I could use the unaffected signal simultaneously for some times xtra grit you know :3 poorman's billy shehaan rig
@@adnanferoz193 you should be able to do it yeah! With the di+ you could have the distortion/di tone go to one Amp or foh and the dry/unaffected tone for the another to give it more oomph in the mix!
I honestly think a Fender or Sandberg California would have sounded as good or better. And you wouldn't be afraid to take either on a gig like the Fedora.
Jaco / WR teen town - Marcus Miller / Sanborn run for coverSweet bass man Hey I could swear I heard Geddy Lee uses a sans amp is this true?So far I think it sounds the best of the preamps I've heard.I want to hear the Ken Smith preamp has anyone tried one?
w1wang so it makes sense to invest 150$(MXR price - that Di price) to buy better bass especially if you have cheap 300$ one :) Now I'm relying on PA sound so good DI is important. Great comparison btw!
They don’t get but halfway up presence, drive, treble and bass on the sansamp. That’s where the tone comes from…learn how to turn knobs further. This is not a good representation of the tones you can get out the sansamp at all.
The slapping part really got me. The mxr is far more present and bold but the sansamp just has this realistic texture that makes me prefer it.
+Mike Yeah the Sansamp is a really cool piece of gear. I love both DI's but I also got a Sadowsky preamp pedal that kills! Thanks for watching!
w1wang so do you prefer the sadowsky over this two pedals?
When you have a Fodera, you don't need any pedal to sound awesome !
The midrange control on the MXR really convinced me into buying one
I use it all the time, everywhere, anywhere
I love my MXR Bass DI for that same reason! The Color switch also does wonders!
The best thing about it is, that it makes a crappy amp sound acceptable, and a good amp sound amazing :)
I like the MXR because it has a crunch that sits more on the top so that you keep the lowest frequencies a little cleaner.
I use that technique too- look to the right, smile, look away.
I was looking for a preamp/DI pedal demo by a fabulous finger style bass player and have found it.
I think the MXR and Sansamp are the two best out there but both are different babies. MXR produces a more straight up distortion while the Sansamp emulates a tube. Can't go wrong with either.
They also work really well with each other! The MXR has a nice naturally (scooped midrange) tone but it is not too drastic. The Sanamp responds more like a Genz amp or a Markbass. I personally use the MXR and a Sadowsky Bass Preamp pedal in my live bass rig and it sounds great. Thanks for commenting and I hope you enjoyed this video!
w1wang Coming back to this now after a couple years. Currently I'm using the MXR as a clean preamp DI to bring out the natural tone of the instrument. The Sansamp is a good Ampeg tube emulator and always gets compliments from the sound guys.
It should be noted that the MXR distortion gets a LOT less dirty if you are running it through a cab Sim or in front of your amp.
It's still dirty but it isn't as grindcore-ish so early in the knob rotation.
For $200 the MXR is pretty impressive. If you put the MXR Bass Compressor in front of it, it is a dream.
that bypassed fodera won
I've used both preamps. On this demo I'd give a slight to the MXR. It has more of what I would describe as a vintage, mic'ed ampflifier warmth. Both preamps are excellent choices IMO though. Thanks for posting this.
catboyzee They're both great and could be used for different gigs and styles of music. I love my MXR and I also really like the MOOER Cab sim I just got!
Nice job on the starwars cutscene 👍
I don't like the full dirt from the mxr but when I turn on the overdrive Channel and just put a little bit of grit it makes the pedal sound better and then I add a Behringer vintage tube overdrive 808 pedal to get the majority of my overdrive.
i choose your bass...doesn't matter what is the preamp,your basses make it good...soo,,fodera is the real winner..🙌
juan music doesn't sound that good tbh
hi.. i have mxr m80 bass d.i. and sansamp tech 21 vt bass d.i. not sansamp bassdriver.
sansamp bass driver have much less flexibility and more midrange scoop ( approximately around 800hz) and no midrange control (but have a presence control for high-mid distortion) sound like vintage tube saturation (old svt ampeg) .
vt bass d.i. have much flexibility..3 band eq ..bite switch control ( simil presence) speaker emulation ( more fat sound) character control (pre saturation for vintage or modern sound). there are a two simil pedals with different character (not much)
mxr bass m80 bass d.i. are a not saturator but moderate high gain distortion with some features (noise gate and clean sound) m80 have a distinctive character (color).sound have a solid bottom end and a crispy high end distortion with midrange scoop (simil sansamp bass driver) but midrange (around 800hz) control is avaible for compensate (to taste depend of your style).sounds more modern and aggressive than vt bass and sansamp bass driver.
there are a 3 great pedals: mxr m80 for modern and aggressive (great for metal tone).
sansamp bass driver for classical tube vintage coloration.
tech 21 vt bass d.i. for all around saturation (sound flat than m80 and bass driver)
Wow! Great accurate notes mate! Yeah, everyone watching this video check out this comment!
w1wang
:D
Hi peppe marrazzo, so if i want to get a fatter tone, like a massive wall, wich one is better? The sansamp tech 21 vt bass d.i.? cheers!
Richard Venegas hi. i have a vt bass d.i. and use this with a gallien krueger rig 770rbii and neo 4x10 and i use this (vt bass d.i.) for gritty and punchy bass, with vt bass d.i. can find the sound of sansamp bass driver ( or similar and not viceversa) because vt bass d.i. are more flexible than sansamp bass driver but sansamp bass driver have a specific tone response ( like a smile eq in flat mode) , depend of your style and amp that use, i recomend tech 21 sansamp vt bass d.i. if you want a flexibile and full range sound and if you use a more character amplifcation,in other case sansamp bass driver can is a good choice :D
Thanks a lot peppe marrazzo ! you´re great!
Alright, so after seeing the Hysteria riff being played through both preamps I think I'm going to go with the MXR d.i +. Would be a great substitution for lugging around an amplifier.
+guitarandbass1995 Glad you dig the MXR but if you want something to substitute an amplifier, I would highly recommend the Tech 21 VT Bass Sansamp as it's modeled after Ampeg bass amps and can really nail that Hysteria tone quite well!
+w1wang hmm. Very interesting. I'll have to look more into it. Thanks!
w1wang
ended up getting a Tech 21 Sansamp. Sounds amazing :)
Glad to hear it! Again both are great units and as of recent my big recommendation would be to use a MXR Bass DI into a sansamp for a rocking direct bass tone! I need to get a Sansamp for myself soon haha
Awesome vid
Well played, good demo! :D
Thanks for watching!
i know i am super late to the party and my opinion will probably be very unpopular, but i think such reviews should be done with the most used basses and amps. How many of us can actually afford a Fodera? And the ones that can are most likely not watching the review because they have bought both these pedals long ago and have replaced them by now
Been thinking on buying the MXR....wondering if it will get Geddy.Lee bass tone also?
Hey yes I think it will be okay for that, but I'd actually recommend the Geddy Sansamp over the MXR for his tone!
yo this kid is shredding
Review muito top Matt!! tenho o MXR bass D.I., e estava pensando em pegar o sansamp, e esse review me tirou a duvida que eu estava. O MXR é bem melhor!!!
Gracias mi amigo!
Very nice comparison. It's hard to decide.
Glad you enjoyed the video. Both are great pedals. Let me know if you have any questions!
w1wang
I tried both ended up buying the programmable Sansamp. I liked the ability to preset 3 different tones, and ultimately felt I didn't need the heavy distortion of the MXR (can get a fuzz box if I want to add that sound). But for someone else I'm sure the MXR would be perfect.
Michael Kish Good choice! All of these pedals are great. I liked the MXR a lot, but my bass player in my old rock band used to use the programmable Sansamp live right into the mixer. Mr. Lukassen loves his Sansamp as do I. There is so much marketing going on with pedal sales and guitar and bass gear in general and at the end of the day, whatever sounds good to you is the best choice! Hope you enjoy your Sansamp and please feel free to watch my other videos on my channel. have a great day!
Hey did u switch your bass into passive mode or its in active while preamp of di is on
Very nice
Hi! Got a question, the parallel out can be used as a dry out? Just to make sure this pedal would allow to slpit the signal
Some James Jamerson! ;)
Yep yep. Happy New Year!
What is the point in a side by side comparison if you go a play an orchestral piece in the middle of it?
What's the use of parallel output ? Can I use the unaffected bass tone simultaneously coming from parallel ?
It's just a tool to split your signal into two separate channels. And yes, you can use both at the same time.
You might want to do this if you want both a DI sound and a mic'd cab (which makes monitoring easier and you get more tonal options), or drive the bypassed signal with a fuzzbox for some extra grit. Alternately you could stack effects like chorus, delay, verb or what have you in the bypass side of the pedal and use it as a dry/wet rig (wet/bypass ch going to amp, dry/DI ch going FoH). Of course, you could do this for the "wet" channel and keep the bypass tone as your "dry" channel. Depends on what you like, really.
Thanks a lot man
I am using an mxr bass di and bought it after watching your video
I was just wondering what if I could use the unaffected signal simultaneously for some times xtra grit you know :3 poorman's billy shehaan rig
@@adnanferoz193 you should be able to do it yeah! With the di+ you could have the distortion/di tone go to one Amp or foh and the dry/unaffected tone for the another to give it more oomph in the mix!
MXR wins with distortion, but otherwise evenly matched as far as I can tell
SansAmp totally owns MXR here. I think it's because of that amp simulation (the MXR doesn't have it).
+Toїvó I don't believe the Tech 21 Sansamp Bass Driver has a cab/speaker sim?
w1wang essentially that's what the blend control is. Tube/Speaker emulation.
2 different boxes! Tech 21 Sansamp is a Overdrive and the MXR M80 is a Distortion effect...
Well they are both technically DI boxes but yes, the MXR does offer distortion and though the Sansamp also does, it is mainly an amp sim.
You have my sub
Use a bass that normal people can afford
I honestly think a Fender or Sandberg California would have sounded as good or better. And you wouldn't be afraid to take either on a gig like the Fedora.
The guy looks to be normal ,plus a good player
Jaco / WR teen town - Marcus Miller / Sanborn run for coverSweet bass man
Hey I could swear I heard Geddy Lee uses a sans amp is this true?So far I think it sounds the best of the preamps I've heard.I want to hear the Ken Smith preamp has anyone tried one?
+scottbos68 Yes Geddy uses a Sansamp! check out the Lynda course on Rush for a quick bass rig rundown!
humm... surprisingly for me bypassed sound was the best. Guys who believe in just a good DI are right)
Serhii Petrovuch I think the DI was one of the LiveWire $40 ones! Thanks for watching!
w1wang so it makes sense to invest 150$(MXR price - that Di price) to buy better bass especially if you have cheap 300$ one :) Now I'm relying on PA sound so good DI is important. Great comparison btw!
They don’t get but halfway up presence, drive, treble and bass on the sansamp.
That’s where the tone comes from…learn how to turn knobs further.
This is not a good representation of the tones you can get out the sansamp at all.
SansAmp sounds the best, too much distortion on the MXR
afterthefox7 Both are great but in hindsight, I wish I had bought the Sansamp instead of the MXR. Thanks for watching!
w1wang Like I said SansAmp sounds that best, period.
Sansamp BEATS the MXR.
Who cares I can't play that good