I think one thing you forgot to mention is price and wait time for the noble. Currently the Caveman is $650usd and readily available while the Noble is $1200usd with a 3-6 month build time. And the difference between the pedals is really splitting hairs between two of the best units on the market.
Man big difference in sound and functionality. Noble powers up to 6 other pedals and Requires iec also includes bass/treble boost and low cut. Caveman has an effects loop and 2 levels of gain staging. To my ears (from this demo as I’m not sure where gain was set on either pedal) the caveman has a bump in the low mids that’s just warm enough but maybe a little to much with a very sterile(in a good way) top end. The noble is actually flatter but it has a crispy gain that coats the whole sound and the highs are certainly colored sweet. Two rad pedals for sure!
That caveman sounds really nice! I want one! Thanks for this video Iván. Is really nice the way you do your videos, with and without music. Helps to heard the differences nice and clear!
What you say about the reaction to your fingers while playing for me is the most important thing, that people can not understand. The sound come out in a certain way because the musician feels the responde in a certain way. The kind of tone of the instrument can be adjusted but how you feel the strings and the response won't. It's a super little delay in the transmission of the chain finder>string>sound that nobody can feel...but us!
If I remember correctly, the caveman is tuned, on purpose, to less hit the end-end low end, around 60hz, in order to leave that area for the bass drum. I also heard that fullness of the noble in this video, but heard some amazing demonstrations of the caveman on other videos. so its hard for me to decide which one I prefer. I will say, that of a home or studio use, having a tube preamp sounds nice, but If I where to choose one for the road, the caveman is an easy winner for me.
Very informative and extremely helpful videos buddy! Thank you very much for taking time to make these. I would not have the chance to try either the noble or the caveman DI. For the small crowds I’ll play for the caveman or a neve DI would be plenty. Keep up the great work! I look forward to seeing more of your videos!
Ivan thank you bro. Awesome demo. Love hearing this rare high quality stuff. Two requests I would love (if you haven’t done them alrdy) are 1. Noble into bp1 and bp1 into noble 2. Bp1 full size AB’d vs the compact Thanks Ivan for the great reviews and great playing!
Fantastic comparison. Hard to say which one I prefer. From this side of the TH-cam fence, I would say more harmonics and body out of the Nobel and more focused and “natural” sound from the caveman. Great video Ivan, thanks.
Very similar in sound quality. The Noble has strong mids while the Caveman's mid's are flat giving it a High Fidelity effect. I guess it depends on the effect you're after. Bonus Points with Michael McDonald 2:53
I was intrigued by the caveman as I recently saw Ida Nielsen on stage with it and she had a great funky sound. But based on this video I still prefer the Noble.
Same happened to me - I was lucky to get to hear Ida Nielsen last week, she for sure could make a-n-y rig sound great. I think the (compared to the noble) more "focused and faster" BP1 suits her style - "You can´t fake the funk" ;-) By the way: Her BP1 was running into a mighty Vanderkley rig (Aurora + and two Vanderkley 310 cabinets) the sound was VERY enjoyable. So consider yourself lucky you were just intrigued by the most readily available part of this signal chain ;-)
I have the Caveman BP1 and it sounds great to me I also the the send & return, tuner out and amp out which I’m using. The Noble is now at least twice the price here in the UK though it sounds great and I love the valve sound I’m using loads of ambient effects so the cleaner more accurate sound of the Caveman works for me. I’m not playing standard bass lines at the moment if I did I may look at getting a Noble. I’m going to the new Caveman BC1 end of chain Compressor which will work brilliantly with my set up
Thanks for the video. Caveman sounds better in the mix (IMHO). Noble is kinda getting lost especially in the rock song demo. I would prefer Caveman for the current settings you've made.
This is a great comparison, the way you demoed was perfect. Can definitely hear a difference, and I prefer the BP1. Glad I got one when they were still (relatively) cheap
Great comparison, thanks Ivan. I have the Noble and love how clean it is. It's a good foundation for saturation and distortion pedals. The Caveman has lovely mid saturation but the high end on the Noble is sweeter. Caveman has a bit more low end punch, but the Noble can get some back with the bass knob.
The Cave Man is really amazing for the price and availability. I own a Arkham Oracle and I’m 100% sold on it. Amazing piece of gear just like the Noble and Cave Man. 😉
Good video, Ivan. I don’t have the Noble, but do have the Caveman and other preamp units like the Mesa subway, Rheingold BP-2 and a couple of Warm Audio mic preamps. They’re all good, but right now I’m enjoying the fat sound, which the Xotic EP booster (a guitar pedal) gives my bass. It’s a lot cheaper too!
Noble blends better on the mix, nicer mids so more musical to me. The caveman pokes a little harder. So the noble is better for P bass finger style and caveman for J bass percussive kind of playing.
The cougars doing kamikaze shots at the bar will never hear the difference 😅 I had the same observation as Ivan about the clarity/sense of spaciousness of the Noble sound. Is it worth twice as much?
To me, the Noble was clearer and more present. The Caveman was slightly blurry. The Caveman also seemed to have been recorded louder, which made it a bit harder to compare.
Interesting. Also the decision - size matters ;-) But question: The Quad Cortex does also have a DI. You told in the first Video that you are looking for an option. But isn´t the noble the option for the Quad Cortex? Is the Caveman the Option for the Option? But i can see the decision for the Noble not alone for size reasons. In my home setting with nearfield monitors and listening only to youtube audio: i think also the Noble sounds better. But it would very interesting how compares the Quad Cortex DI to the Noble. Only one high class device would be enough. And even smaller. It would be time for Neural that they include some different Preamps like Neve, API, SSL, Universal Audio und something like that. And some DI´s. Competitors do that. Thanks for your videos, always a pleasure to look them.
Hey there! The DI out of the Noble definitely sounds better than just using the QC’s XLR outputs. The QC on its own sounds definitely good and I’ve played many gigs just with the QC. I like to have the Noble due to the added tone goodness and as a backup signal in case the QC would die mid-gig
Both are nice sounding...the Noble just noses ahead with a bit more clarity ,the Caveman a more solid bottom end..both are very smooth but defined sounding....live i doubt you could tell the subtle differences...some solid state bass amps, pedals, DI's etc have a fantastic tone/sound...i would leave the Noble at home in your studio as expensive, delicate with tubes & the real transformer can sometimes be sensitive with pedals to close to it....the Caveman is great for solid state & more road freindly i would imagine.. neat...
Hi Great Vid as always. You know your stuff. I bought the Caveman Pre some month ago. And finaly the Noble arrived too, so i have both. Witch one is better, well ah maybe the Noble because it looks better 😅. No these are two different horses. i love them both. And i am really happy to use both. i go into the Caveman and than into the noble. No it is not too much, i like it. But too big for a pedalboard, except on a little board, just those two, this make my middleclass GK Fusion 210 Combo Highclass. But as you know not every pedal works great with every amp. So i am not satisfied with the Caveman Pre and my Glock Bluebird. Cheers thank you for your vids Martin from Germany, we met after the Dingwall show in Frankfurt a few weeks ago.
I see you have some captures done already. Thanks! What are your thoughts? Do they serve the same function? Are you using the captures live instead of the real thing?
Not at the moment, because I carry my Noble as a backup DI and have it on my board in case my Quad Cortex dies. However, they do sound pretty damn close. I can mostly tell they’re captures if I A/B them side by side and the sound difference is minimal.
It’s such a slight difference between sounds . I have a noble and love the tone . Now do I really neeeeed a Nobel for what I do , 100% I do NOT 😅. But I looked at it like a investment that if need I could sell and get good money back on it.
i doubt that the difference is so big that anyone would hear it in in a band setting on a stage were there are so many other factors. Also from my own experience sometimes at first you are not fully digging new gear until you get more used to it and then when you switch back suddenly you hear a much larger difference. ofc. one important factor is if whatever you have makes you feel good that is always a big plus. The Noble also seems far More delicate and prone to damage in transport, another factor worth considering. i have a bp1 compact i have never heard the larger brother (or even the rackmodel) those that did hear them both say the larger one sounds better.
No. Tubes are not always better. 1980's. I'm in a music store with my guitar player. I'm playing through a Trace Elliot 1x15 solid state bass combo. "I don't know Mike". "There are no tubes in this". / "Who cares!!!" "Listen to the tone on that!!!" "Listen to how round that is!!!" / "You know, when a man is right - a man is right!!! "It sounded killer!!!"
I think one thing you forgot to mention is price and wait time for the noble. Currently the Caveman is $650usd and readily available while the Noble is $1200usd with a 3-6 month build time. And the difference between the pedals is really splitting hairs between two of the best units on the market.
Man big difference in sound and functionality. Noble powers up to 6 other pedals and Requires iec also includes bass/treble boost and low cut. Caveman has an effects loop and 2 levels of gain staging. To my ears (from this demo as I’m not sure where gain was set on either pedal) the caveman has a bump in the low mids that’s just warm enough but maybe a little to much with a very sterile(in a good way) top end. The noble is actually flatter but it has a crispy gain that coats the whole sound and the highs are certainly colored sweet. Two rad pedals for sure!
That caveman sounds really nice! I want one! Thanks for this video Iván. Is really nice the way you do your videos, with and without music. Helps to heard the differences nice and clear!
What you say about the reaction to your fingers while playing for me is the most important thing, that people can not understand. The sound come out in a certain way because the musician feels the responde in a certain way. The kind of tone of the instrument can be adjusted but how you feel the strings and the response won't. It's a super little delay in the transmission of the chain finder>string>sound that nobody can feel...but us!
If I remember correctly, the caveman is tuned, on purpose, to less hit the end-end low end, around 60hz, in order to leave that area for the bass drum.
I also heard that fullness of the noble in this video, but heard some amazing demonstrations of the caveman on other videos. so its hard for me to decide which one I prefer.
I will say, that of a home or studio use, having a tube preamp sounds nice, but If I where to choose one for the road, the caveman is an easy winner for me.
Good points!
Very informative and extremely helpful videos buddy! Thank you very much for taking time to make these. I would not have the chance to try either the noble or the caveman DI. For the small crowds I’ll play for the caveman or a neve DI would be plenty. Keep up the great work! I look forward to seeing more of your videos!
Thanks for watching, Chris!
Ivan thank you bro. Awesome demo. Love hearing this rare high quality stuff. Two requests I would love (if you haven’t done them alrdy) are
1. Noble into bp1 and bp1 into noble
2. Bp1 full size AB’d vs the compact
Thanks Ivan for the great reviews and great playing!
Hey Caleb, thanks for watching! Unfortunately, I don’t have the Caveman with me anymore.
Fantastic comparison. Hard to say which one I prefer. From this side of the TH-cam fence, I would say more harmonics and body out of the Nobel and more focused and “natural” sound from the caveman. Great video Ivan, thanks.
Very similar in sound quality. The Noble has strong mids while the Caveman's mid's are flat giving it a High Fidelity effect. I guess it depends on the effect you're after.
Bonus Points with Michael McDonald 2:53
I was intrigued by the caveman as I recently saw Ida Nielsen on stage with it and she had a great funky sound. But based on this video I still prefer the Noble.
Funk isn’t a tone it’s a style
Same happened to me - I was lucky to get to hear Ida Nielsen last week, she for sure could make a-n-y rig sound great. I think the (compared to the noble) more "focused and faster" BP1 suits her style - "You can´t fake the funk" ;-) By the way: Her BP1 was running into a mighty Vanderkley rig (Aurora + and two Vanderkley 310 cabinets) the sound was VERY enjoyable. So consider yourself lucky you were just intrigued by the most readily available part of this signal chain ;-)
Ivan-your feel is tremendous and wow does that P-Bass sound legit. I’ve always wanted a Noble and a gig that does it justice. Still searching!
Thanks for the kind words, Kevin!
I have the Caveman BP1 and it sounds great to me I also the the send & return, tuner out and amp out which I’m using. The Noble is now at least twice the price here in the UK though it sounds great and I love the valve sound I’m using loads of ambient effects so the cleaner more accurate sound of the Caveman works for me. I’m not playing standard bass lines at the moment if I did I may look at getting a Noble. I’m going to the new Caveman BC1 end of chain Compressor which will work brilliantly with my set up
Have heard great things about their new compressor!
Thanks for the video. Caveman sounds better in the mix (IMHO). Noble is kinda getting lost especially in the rock song demo. I would prefer Caveman for the current settings you've made.
This is a great comparison, the way you demoed was perfect. Can definitely hear a difference, and I prefer the BP1. Glad I got one when they were still (relatively) cheap
Great comparison, thanks Ivan. I have the Noble and love how clean it is. It's a good foundation for saturation and distortion pedals. The Caveman has lovely mid saturation but the high end on the Noble is sweeter. Caveman has a bit more low end punch, but the Noble can get some back with the bass knob.
The Cave Man is really amazing for the price and availability.
I own a Arkham Oracle and I’m 100% sold on it. Amazing piece of gear just like the Noble and Cave Man. 😉
Great comparison! I would love to see the Caveman vs. RNDI
Thanks for watching! The RNDI is waaaaay more transparent than the Caveman
@@IvanBassist oh really?! I didn’t expect that. I need to get my hands on one.
Nice job ! Great explanation on each unit. Thanks again bass brother 👍🏼🎵
Thanks for watching!
Very interesting how you split the signal.
Good video, Ivan. I don’t have the Noble, but do have the Caveman and other preamp units like the Mesa subway, Rheingold BP-2 and a couple of Warm Audio mic preamps. They’re all good, but right now I’m enjoying the fat sound, which the Xotic EP booster (a guitar pedal) gives my bass. It’s a lot cheaper too!
Glad to hear you’ve found a pedal that works for you
There’s always another ‘must have’ pedal down the road, when you’ve got Gear Acquisition Syndrome!
True 😅
Noble blends better on the mix, nicer mids so more musical to me. The caveman pokes a little harder. So the noble is better for P bass finger style and caveman for J bass percussive kind of playing.
The cougars doing kamikaze shots at the bar will never hear the difference 😅 I had the same observation as Ivan about the clarity/sense of spaciousness of the Noble sound. Is it worth twice as much?
Another outstanding review. Thanks.
Thanks, John!
To me, the Noble was clearer and more present. The Caveman was slightly blurry. The Caveman also seemed to have been recorded louder, which made it a bit harder to compare.
I tried to match volumes and output as closely as possible.
Interesting. Also the decision - size matters ;-)
But question: The Quad Cortex does also have a DI. You told in the first Video that you are looking for an option. But isn´t the noble the option for the Quad Cortex? Is the Caveman the Option for the Option? But i can see the decision for the Noble not alone for size reasons. In my home setting with nearfield monitors and listening only to youtube audio: i think also the Noble sounds better.
But it would very interesting how compares the Quad Cortex DI to the Noble. Only one high class device would be enough. And even smaller. It would be time for Neural that they include some different Preamps like Neve, API, SSL, Universal Audio und something like that. And some DI´s. Competitors do that.
Thanks for your videos, always a pleasure to look them.
Hey there! The DI out of the Noble definitely sounds better than just using the QC’s XLR outputs.
The QC on its own sounds definitely good and I’ve played many gigs just with the QC. I like to have the Noble due to the added tone goodness and as a backup signal in case the QC would die mid-gig
Great comparison, the Noble sounds more like an amp while the Caveman is uncoloured. Both very good sound-quality.
How about the night owl Edison tube preamp. That’s a nice small unit and for $200 bucks it’s great.
Now we just need a review of some DA converters that can actually capture the sound
There were moments I liked the Caveman, there were moments I liked the Noble. Overall, I liked the Cavan better. Something in the low mids.
Falto correr la Noble en el Caveman y al revés! Estarìa interesante Ivàn :D
Overkill 😂😂😂😂
You'd need to compare them with the Rheingold and TwoNotes preamps too...
Noble wins
Both are nice sounding...the Noble just noses ahead with a bit more clarity ,the Caveman a more solid bottom end..both are very smooth but defined sounding....live i doubt you could tell the subtle differences...some solid state bass amps, pedals, DI's etc have a fantastic tone/sound...i would leave the Noble at home in your studio as expensive, delicate with tubes & the real transformer can sometimes be sensitive with pedals to close to it....the Caveman is great for solid state & more road freindly i would imagine..
neat...
You can also place the Caveman pedal between your bass amp and in front of your compressor, then octave and chorus? or just for recording & studio?
Yes, you can place it in front of your amp
And before effects. However, I’d recommend using the loop for the effects
Great video, thank you!
Hi Great Vid as always. You know your stuff. I bought the Caveman Pre some month ago. And finaly the Noble arrived too, so i have both. Witch one is better, well ah maybe the Noble because it looks better 😅. No these are two different horses. i love them both. And i am really happy to use both. i go into the Caveman and than into the noble. No it is not too much, i like it. But too big for a pedalboard, except on a little board, just those two, this make my middleclass GK Fusion 210 Combo Highclass.
But as you know not every pedal works great with every amp. So i am not satisfied with the Caveman Pre and my Glock Bluebird.
Cheers thank you for your vids
Martin from Germany, we met after the Dingwall show in Frankfurt a few weeks ago.
Hey Martin! Thanks for watching and supporting the channel! Were you the one who asked me about my Super P? :)
@@IvanBassist No i can‘t remember that 😅 i just went by to say hello, after i realized who you are.
@BobdeVille happy to meet you in person :)!
How about capturing both of them with the Quad Cortex. Have you tried that?
I see you have some captures done already. Thanks! What are your thoughts? Do they serve the same function? Are you using the captures live instead of the real thing?
Not at the moment, because I carry my Noble as a backup DI and have it on my board in case my Quad Cortex dies.
However, they do sound pretty damn close. I can mostly tell they’re captures if I A/B them side by side and the sound difference is minimal.
@@IvanBassist I get that. A backup can be a lifesaver. Thanks for the feedback. Will try them asap!
It’s such a slight difference between sounds . I have a noble and love the tone . Now do I really neeeeed a Nobel for what I do , 100% I do NOT 😅. But I looked at it like a investment that if need I could sell and get good money back on it.
Love my Noble, too!
Just ordered a Noble and I have the exact same mindset as you! Checked Reverb and they’re selling at ~$2300 :-)
@@Myulls hope you enjoy it once it arrives :)!
Thanks 😮
both are great but for different ppl
Hate to say it, but at twice the price, I’d still buy the nobel
i doubt that the difference is so big that anyone would hear it in in a band setting on a stage were there are so many other factors. Also from my own experience sometimes at first you are not fully digging new gear until you get more used to it and then when you switch back suddenly you hear a much larger difference.
ofc. one important factor is if whatever you have makes you feel good that is always a big plus.
The Noble also seems far More delicate and prone to damage in transport, another factor worth considering.
i have a bp1 compact i have never heard the larger brother (or even the rackmodel) those that did hear them both say the larger one sounds better.
The Noble is built like a tank, not delicate at all.
No. Tubes are not always better. 1980's. I'm in a music store with my guitar player. I'm playing through a Trace Elliot 1x15 solid state bass combo. "I don't know Mike". "There are no tubes in this". / "Who cares!!!" "Listen to the tone on that!!!" "Listen to how round that is!!!" / "You know, when a man is right - a man is right!!! "It sounded killer!!!"
So in the mix of full band no body hear difference 100%
Noble more natural.
noble > caveman