DSM & Humboldt Simplifier Bass Master bass guitar pre-amplifier
Excellent Preamp, Cabsim and DI.
The reviews are right: the tonal possibilities and the different setups are enormous with this device. The EQ controls are quite subtle, so even relatively big boosts and cuts sound reasonable.
I bought this as a backup and even smaller alternative for my usual setup that uses a Tonex One pedal into a Radial J48 DI. I was able to find the warm but clear tone I like after a bit of experimenting using the headphone output. From what I've heard at rehearsal, the sound quality of the DI outputs is excellent too, but I'll see what my usual FOH engineer will have to say about that.
One caveat : the Preamp and parallel signals are not blended but added, meaning that you double the gain. You have to be careful with your gain staging to avoid clipping when adding a lot of the parallel signal.
The build quality seems excellent. It's well finished and feels study, even tough it's not overly heavy. The pots and switches feel solid too.
It's not cheap, but given all it can do, it's actually quite reasonable. For example, a good DI and a preamp or ampsim pedal would cost at least the same amount.
The reviews are right: the tonal possibilities and the different setups are enormous with this device. The EQ controls are quite subtle, so even relatively big boosts and cuts sound reasonable.
I bought this as a backup and even smaller alternative for my usual setup that uses a Tonex One pedal into a Radial J48 DI. I was able to find the warm but clear tone I like after a bit of experimenting using the headphone output. From what I've heard at rehearsal, the sound quality of the DI outputs is excellent too, but I'll see what my usual FOH engineer will have to say about that.
One caveat : the Preamp and parallel signals are not blended but added, meaning that you double the gain. You have to be careful with your gain staging to avoid clipping when adding a lot of the parallel signal.
The build quality seems excellent. It's well finished and feels study, even tough it's not overly heavy. The pots and switches feel solid too.
It's not cheap, but given all it can do, it's actually quite reasonable. For example, a good DI and a preamp or ampsim pedal would cost at least the same amount.
December 9, 2025
|
Steve L.
This review was automatically translated from French.
