Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver vs. Darkglass Microtubes B7K Ultra

The Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver and Darkglass Microtubes B7K Ultra make up Match 1 of Round 1 in our 2020 DI Shootout. Comment your favorite below so it can move on to Round 2.

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[non_rapping_jz]

For a soloed bass, I really prefer the sansamp, which surprised me. It might be more useful to hear both in a mix/band context, though. I'm looking forward to the rest of this series.

[CamiloDiaz]

Hands down the SansAmp. Every setting on the BK7 made it sound like Periphery.

[pthaynes]

The SansAmp sounds better. The notes, and the initial attack have way more definition.

[alvin.sozidatel]

As most of the comment section I'm very much surprised with the results but Sansamp definitely wins for me. I wonder how It would do against DG Vintage Ultra though.

[briankeithdiaz]

Really didn't think I'd say this going in, but I'm leaning toward the SansAmp on this one. The Darkglass gets a little tight and nasally. The SansAmp sounds a bit fuller. Just my personal preference though.

[cammiearmstead]

sansamp totally! darkglass is cool for metal, but sansamp has it all,

[psslg]

The Tech 21 sounds more natural to me. Which is definitely a good thing, since they try to emulate real amps.

[diegograssinoblackbelt]

Sansamp +1, much more versatile, B7K is great but not for everything.

[fysy]

I vote Sansamp.
The Darkglass has great clean and high gain sounds, but I prefer the Sansamp for low and mid gain sounds which I personally find more useful

[johnmontagnamusic]

Tech 21 by a country mile. I've had my SansAmp Bass Driver since 1996 and it still runs as if I bought it yesterday. They have cracked the code of giving your bass tons of sweet juice and grind, but you'll still be able to blend into the mix with all the other instruments.

[esposoman]

I'm in love with Sansamp tone since 2005 or so when I was mesmerized with Nightwish bass tone on their album "Century Child". I saw that pedal in the Marko Hiettala live setup and since then I wanted one. I've been using a Bass Drive Deluxe for years. It's a great Preamp, a good overdrive and a DI. Usually I plug it straight FOH. Recently I wanted a diferent overdrive flavor, so I set good clean tone in the Sansamp and simply put a Boss ODB3 in front of it. It takes pedals very well.

[BoomstickNick]

So difficult! Love the natural bass tones of the Sans Amp, but that's Darkglass distortion can't be beat!

[larrymckenna]

SansAmp!!! Thanks for helping with my decision as I was looking at both

[obscuridad]

The Sansamp is just in a league of its own. It is the most essential part to my bass rig and tone. It's all you'll ever need.

[squishy]

A note about this comparison, the Sansamp when "flat" has a pretty hefty mid cut and a nice high roll off baked in which is, IMHO, why it sounds immediately better in the intro comparison. The B7k is much flatter in it's frequency response but you can easily make it sound much more pleasant like the "flat" sansamp by cutting 500 or 750Hz to taste and rolling off the treble a little. Using the attack boost and lowering the drive a bit to compensate for the gain works well to bring back the presence like the Sansamp. I personally love both and the Sansamp has a character which I really like for low gain settings (it's an industry standard for so many years for a reason!), but you can make the clean sounds a LOT closer than is shown off in the intro.

[adammays]

Depends on the application always. This makes me sad to say since I own the B7K, but the Sansamp overall sounded better to me in this comparison. Gonna have to get one to add to my board

[lordundhimself]

I've never really been crazy about the sound of Darkglass stuff. But I always got love for companies that got love for bassists

[vinplaysbass]

I stack my sansamp with my b3k...and now with my x7 ultra. They sound dope af when dialed in together. Best of both worlds

[Vivi-sama]

SansAmp all the way for this one in each settings. But I guess that the Darkglass sounds awesome for contemporary metal.

[sonsofthewicked]

SansAmp hands down!
But the whole series is going to be extremely interesting. Can't wait for the next episode!