Again, it all comes down to a matter of opinion.Д«ut depending on what your needs are, one may be bette fitted for you than the other. To our ears the Glowplug (and the actual tube) sounds a little more вЂ™roundвЂ™, but that does not necessarily equals better, though. If have not noticed this in the first two rounds of sound clips, you probably havenвЂ™t used headphones or a pair of good speakers. The difference is subtle вЂ“ especially when the DRIVE knob is not set too high on the SansAmp вЂ“ but it is definitely there. Which one you prefer is of course a subjective matter (as always). Therefore, the SansAmp is also a more expensive pedal. The Glowplug is more of a One Trick Pony, where the SansAmp VT Bass DI is a complete set of tools that also offer 3-band EQ, speaker simulation and DI functionality, as well as further tonal varieties via the BITE and CHARACTER parameters. While the pedals can indeed be used for a similar task вЂ“ adding tube-like tone to your sound вЂ“ the pedals are quite different by nature. This is also why we decided not to do a full-on example at a 100% wet mix as the difference would be too big to deliverВ a meaningful comparison.

More details and sound clips here: Eden Glowplug Review / Tech 21 SansAmp VT Bass DI Review.ДЄs you have probably noticed, the SansAmp adds a lot more dirt as the DRIVE knob is turned, compared to the WARMTH control on the Glowplug. Now, the WARMTH and DRIVE knobs are cranked all the way up, but the BLEND and MIX knobs are backed down to 25%. The pedals are now set to 50% on the WARMTH and DRIVE parameters as well as on the MIX and BLEND. In this example, we swap the P bass for a Fender Jazz bass, and also use a pick, so there is a new DRY sound clip that you should listen to first as a reference.

Now, weвЂ™ll turn up the heat a little, pushing the WARMTH and DRIVE knobs to 25%, but at the same time back the MIX / BLEND knobs down to 50%, leaving us with an even blend of the FX and dry signals. First a dry version, followed by each of the shootout contestants. But the WARMTH and DRIVE knobs are turned all the way down, so while itвЂ™s an all-tube scenario, the tubes are not driven very hard. In this round, we use a passive Fender Precision bass and both pedals are set to 100% wet mix, which means that none of the dry signal is blended in. You simply canвЂ™t judge low-end material on laptop, tablet or phone speakersвЂ¦! NOTE! Please use headphones or вЂrealвЂ™ speakers. The SansAmp has a lot of additional controls вЂ“ the EQ is set completely flat, the вЂBiteвЂ™ is off and the Character is set at noon in all sound clips. The Glowplug also has a Crossover feature, but in all clips, this knob is set right at noon with a crossover frequency at 180 Hz. On the Eden Glowplug, the control is named MIX, whereas the Tech 21 SansAmp calls this feature BLEND. On the Glowplug the WARMTH control sets how hard you drive the internal 12AX7 tube, and the DRIVE knob on the SansAmp does the same, only the range is wider and at the outer extreme you get more overdrive than the Glowplug can deliver.ДЇurther, both pedals can combine the FX signal with the dry signal. There are two main parameters for each pedal that are named differently, but share somewhat similar functionality. The key focus is on comparing the basic вЂtubeвЂ™ sound of each pedal вЂ“ the actual tube in the Eden Glowplug versus the tube emulation circuit of the SansAmp VT Bass DI. For this particular shootout, we will focus on some very specific areas, which also means leaving out some features.

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