Darkglass B7K Ultra vs Microtubes 200 amp

[Hollowway]

Also, the Microtubes 500 and 900 v2 amps do have the VMT distortion included. With the Microtubes 500 v2 being in the $800 range, it is a solid buy.

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If you want to stick with a pedal-based format, the Microtubes Infinity will give you more versatility with B3k and VMT distortions, multiband distortion (like the Microtubes X) and multiband compression along with the Darkglass Suite and cab sims for around $600.

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It's weird that I used to work with this guy. This video really emphasizes the differences between the Adam, Alpha-Omega Photon, VMT, B3k, and X style distortions. It's nice that even listening to the full gambit, that I am still reallly happy with my choice on the 900 v2 since the B3k and VMT distortions are my favorites.

Man, that demo of the ADAM made it sound horrendous. I watch Amos Heller's demo, which was much, much better, but I still hated the ADAM. Waaaaay too distorted and messy sounding.

It's interesting that, in metal guitar tones we want articulate, not fuzzy gain, but in bass metal tones fuzzy, smeared gain seems to be the goal. I like clean bass with just a touch of dirt, and some EQ to keep it clanky, which makes me feel like I'm stuck in the '90s.

 

[Grindspine]

Man, that demo of the ADAM made it sound horrendous. I watch Amos Heller's demo, which was much, much better, but I still hated the ADAM. Waaaaay too distorted and messy sounding.

It's interesting that, in metal guitar tones we want articulate, not fuzzy gain, but in bass metal tones fuzzy, smeared gain seems to be the goal. I like clean bass with just a touch of dirt, and some EQ to keep it clanky, which makes me feel like I'm stuck in the '90s.

If it makes you feel any better, my bass sound influences range from JC Green of Godflesh and Mikael Hedlund of Hypocrisy to a bit of Fieldy from Korn. Back in the nineties, I had played a friend's Fender Bass VI and another friend's Jackson Concert V bass, sometimes through a DOD Distortion and Peavey PA system until we got our hands on a Bass Grunge. Being able to blend some clean low end to a distorted mid-treble was such an amazing thing back then. DarkGlass really did a great job of capturing a more high fidelity version of all of that and making it lightweight and streamlined.

I was fortunate to meet some of the guys from the company when they visited Sweetwater in 2018. They're all down to earth and all bassist. That really comes through on the pedals and amps they make.

A trick that I learned from Rufus Mann's youtube videos is that you can get an alternate sound by increasing the distortion mix, then playing really low gain, kinda the opposite between mixing the very high gain & clean sounds. That works great for most of his demo videos and covers.

 

[Crungy]

Man, that demo of the ADAM made it sound horrendous. I watch Amos Heller's demo, which was much, much better, but I still hated the ADAM. Waaaaay too distorted and messy sounding.

It's interesting that, in metal guitar tones we want articulate, not fuzzy gain, but in bass metal tones fuzzy, smeared gain seems to be the goal. I like clean bass with just a touch of dirt, and some EQ to keep it clanky, which makes me feel like I'm stuck in the '90s.

Watch the Nate Navarro review of it, that one has had me considering it for a while lol

 

[Crungy]

A trick that I learned from Rufus Mann's youtube videos is that you can get an alternate sound by increasing the distortion mix, then playing really low gain, kinda the opposite between mixing the very high gain & clean sounds. That works great for most of his demo videos and covers.

That's what I've been doing with Darkglass pedals when I got a B3K 10h years ago. They sound great cranked up but I find them far more versatile than people give them credit for. They can do so much more than djent/high gain sounds.

 

[Screamingdaisy]

Man, that demo of the ADAM made it sound horrendous. I watch Amos Heller's demo, which was much, much better, but I still hated the ADAM. Waaaaay too distorted and messy sounding.

It's interesting that, in metal guitar tones we want articulate, not fuzzy gain, but in bass metal tones fuzzy, smeared gain seems to be the goal. I like clean bass with just a touch of dirt, and some EQ to keep it clanky, which makes me feel like I'm stuck in the '90s.

If you want your bass to sound dirty you typically have to use a lot of dirt. If you use moderate amounts the guitars tend to swallow it up and it blends in with the guitars.... which, is honestly my preference. I like to use a moderate amount as a thickener, and I want my bass tone to merge with the guitars. If the crowd thinks my rhythm player has an epic guitar tone, then I feel like my bass tone is on point.

My preferred tone is more 90s. Clean blended with dirt, dirt dialled in to accentuate the clank. Mike Starr/Rex Brown type territory. That's the basic sound I run on my BDDI, then I goose it with a B7K to get into Justin Chancellor territory.

You know, I looked at the Sansamp stuff, but they don't have headphone outs, so I'd still need to get a little mixer or something to use it. What I'm trying to do is use this as a practice rig. But I can get a whole new rig, too, so long as I can still use it with just headphones.

I should also probably consider just buying an updated interface and doing a DG plugin. 99% of my practice is done sitting in front of my computer.

Tech21 hasn't really leaned into the whole headphone thing. They did it on the first Bass Fly Rig, but then they removed it on the BFR V2.

For headphones, I use either my B7KU or the headphone jack on my amp, with an iPad fed into the input. I never really liked practicing on a laptop, but plenty of people make it work.

 

[Screamingdaisy]

That's what I've been doing with Darkglass pedals when I got a B3K 10h years ago. They sound great cranked up but I find them far more versatile than people give them credit for. They can do so much more than djent/high gain sounds.

+1.

My main gain setting is around 9:00 to 10:00. Enough to bring out the harmonics, not enough to make it sound really dirty in the mix.

My other favourite setting is gain around 2:00.

 

[Crungy]

+1.

My main gain setting is around 9:00 to 10:00. Enough to bring out the harmonics, not enough to make it sound really dirty in the mix.

My other favourite setting is gain around 2:00.

I'm usually at 9-11 o'clock on them, but I do stack them in different variations.


The B3K on the far left is always on and the eq of the B7K is on 99.9% of the time. From there, I either use the B7K drive or Alpha drive depending on the tone I want. The Dingwall/DG drive is used for more of a distortion effect vs an always on sound.

 

[Hollowway]

You guys have any opinion on the X vs B7k? On paper, the C sounds really cool, with the high and low pass filters. But it seems like more people gravitate toward the B7k.

 

[Crungy]

You guys have any opinion on the X vs B7k? On paper, the C sounds really cool, with the high and low pass filters. But it seems like more people gravitate toward the B7k.

I haven't used one yet but what I noticed people love it or don't seem to care for it.

Could be a pilot and the plane issue for those who don't love it... I think it would be easier to get less than satisfactory sound with the X.

 

[Grindspine]

You guys have any opinion on the X vs B7k? On paper, the C sounds really cool, with the high and low pass filters. But it seems like more people gravitate toward the B7k.

The main difference is that while the B7k mixes a full frequency clean signal to a full frequency dirty signal, the X uses a crossover. The way drive circuits tend to emphasize higher frequencies kinda does this already, though not as precisely as the crossover on the X. I bought my 900 v2 before the X came out, otherwise, it would have been a tough choice between them. If given the choice right now, I would still take the 900 v2 for the third channel (VMT). Strictly between the B3k and X sounds, I think that I could easily get along with either, but am already happy with the B3k sound I get out of the amp.

 

[Screamingdaisy]

As a preamp, I think the X is awesome (full disclosure, I use an Infinity, which has an X in it. I haven't tried the actual X pedal.). It replicates a full studio signal path that would cost a lot of money to produce using stand alone pedals.

The catch is, you need to be pretty dedicated to that sound as there's no real way to turn it off. I mean... you can turn it off, but it's such a massive shift in tone that I think that's impractical for live application as it'd fuck with the entire mix.

If it's the sound you want 100% of the time, awesome, as there's no need to turn it off, ever. If on the other hand you want to change sounds... you're kinda stuck with it.

I think that's why there's the love/hate thing for this pedal.

The B7K on the other hand can be both a preamp and/or a distortion pedal. I can use it like an X and leave it on all the time, or I can turn it on and off without a massive shift in my overall sound, or I can dial it in fairly aggressively so it takes over, but it's still stacked into whatever I'm using for my final sound so there's still a level of consistency in what I'm delivering to FOH.

I like both, but I think they have different strengths and weaknesses. If you're not sure which one to get, I'd start with a B7K (regular B7K, not the Ultra).

 

[Moongrum]

I should also probably consider just buying an updated interface and doing a DG plugin. 99% of my practice is done sitting in front of my computer.

It's not sexy or cool, but way more practical imo.

 

[Grindspine]

I should also probably consider just buying an updated interface and doing a DG plugin. 99% of my practice is done sitting in front of my computer.

The DarkGlass plugin is pretty awesome. I hate using iLok, but the DG plugin is the one reason I could validate it. That's useful for bass and synth.. And also has the B7k and VMT sounds.

If I am not actually using my Microtubes 900, I have gotten some great sounds out of Helix Native in the Obsidian preset... Because, you know, obsidian is kinda dark glass.