Tech 21 SansAmp RBI

Very easy to get a great sound straight out of the box, even with all the knobs dialed to 12 o'clock. A lot of input/output options, which is where it gets a little tricky. A good read of the (extremely clear and well laid out) manual will see you through.

Here's my setup: Stuart Spector Design NS-4 (neck-through Czech with dual soapbars) > RBI > Carver PM 1.5 power amp > Trace Elliot 1248H cab.

As mentioned, with everything set to 12'o'clock, the RBI has a lovely warm round tone. Like almost anything, if you dial treble or drive all the way up you'll add a bit of noise. The frequency response is great - dial in the suggested 'Reggae' setting and you _will_ shake your house.

The effects loop is brilliant - you can select Series or Parallel operation. I run the RBI's send/return through a Boss LS-2 Line selector pedal, which contains all my effects in two loops. Depending on how I have the LS-2 set, I either have just the basic RBI tone, or up two 3 channels simultaneously. Distorted bass with no loss of tone is a reality :)

I can't rate this yet, but I used the Bass Driver DI box for over 2 years without any sign of a problem at all.

Never dealt with them personally, but their website is nice.

10 out of 10 for bang-for-the-buck. No, it doesn't sound exactly like a tube pre-amp. It doesn't weigh the same or cost as much either!

I play bass for an Australian three-piece called 'idoru' (shameless plug: http://www.idoru.com.au). We define ourselves as atmospheric/heavy/rock. At times I need ungodly amounts of filth in my sound, other times I need it to be clean and simple. With all the options available in the RBI, it suits my style perfectly.

I've been playing for about 8 years, and I finally feel like I've got some pro gear when I take the stage. If it were stolen, I'd replace it straight away.

I love it's warm, round tone and simplicity. I love that I can go from clean to gritty depending on my playing. The only feature missing is the +10 db input boost as found on the Landmark bass heads. This boosts passive basses so you can get stronger levels of drive. As it is, I use effects to get my distortion.

I didn't even bother trying anything else - my experience with the BDDI was enough to make me upgrade. My tone before was good, now people are gob-smacked!

There are a lot of good sounds that can be coaxed from this unit. It can make some VERY convincing reproductions of an SVT, a Bassman, and a lot of other amps. My personal favorite is the Tool sound which is basically the SVT setting with more drive, less treble, and slightly more mids (with my Jazz Bass). Turn a few knobs and you'll have a completely different but still good, sound. I run an ART 441 EQ in the effects loop and it helps to add clarity and punch. In front of the RBI is an Ibanez AD-9 analog delay and an Electro-Harmonix Dlx Electric Mistress. Behind the RBI is a Behringer EP1500 Power amp and a new Mesa/Boogie 2x15.

1U rackmount solid-state bass preamp. Drive, Blend, Presence, Level, Bass, Mid and Treble controls, XLR Output w/Level control. Effect Loop with Mix 50/50 switch (for parallel or series operation). 1/4 TRS and XLR ins and outs. Pretty easy to get some awesome sounds out of with enough features to keep the "knob-turners" busy.

It's as reliable as it gets.

Tech 21 is always quick in responding to emails and has always been a pleasure to deal with for me.

I've been playing for a decade and have been through a couple amps (Crate, Ampeg SVT3, SWR WM4004, Mesa Bass 400+) and after trying this preamp out I'm VERY impressed. The RBI sounds more like an SVT than the SVT3 did. The Bass 400+ was the absolute best sounding amp I've played through but had to sell due to finances. This unit gets a similar meaty, crunchy bass tone I had with the 400+ so I'm happy with it. Plus, after turning some knobs I've got a completely different sound. I love Tech 21 products b/c they're always reasonably priced, sound good, and last.

Pretty easy to use however the manual does help a TON. It's more complicated than the pedal version but a little more versatile too. I'm too lazy to comment on all the features so check out www.tech21nyc.com or read the previous reviews.

It's good at getting very close to all those sounds it says it can recreate...say about 95 out of 100 for a comparison scale. It will never quite be that all-tube Bassman or SVT but for a few thousand less (money, pounds, headaches changing tubes, etc.) it's definitely worth it. The sounds are very musical and it works great as a preamp.

It's as reliable as electronics get. Keep away from flame and water and it'll last forever.

The tone, versatility, portability, and reliability of this unit make it indispensable in a bass rack. Like I said before, it comes really close to getting all those great sounds and although the die-hard tube fans will disagree, the general public will never know the difference. May I suggest the Bass Driver DI foot pedal for those who love the "less-is-more" approach (such as myself). I traded the RBI back in for the pedal b/c it offered pretty much the same sounds in an even more portable version. Just imagine showing up at a show in ANY sized venue with a jazz bass, some chords, and this pedal. Pretty cool huh?

The Sansamp RBI is very easy to use. The controls are simple and the manual is easy to read and it very clearly explains all of the features of the unit. There are no patches to edit since this is a single channel unit. It took me about 2 minutes to get a good sound happening from the unit and after about 1 hour of play it sounded really great all by itself.

The sound quality is excellent and the unit is very quiet. The controls are quite interactive with one another and a great number of tones are possible dispite the rather simple control pannel. I'm using it with an Ampeg SVP-1500 power amp and nothing else. I use it to produce a more classic rock bass tone with some distortion and it does this absolutely great with a big warm sound that's wonderful. The best part is the fact that no other gear is required to get these sounds, no compression or outboard eq is needed, great...

I could not resist removing the cover to have a look at the insides of the RBI. Inside the layout is very neat and there is are actually VERY few components inside, it's mostly one large IC. After looking at the layout and construction I feel that problems will be unlikely under any type of use. I plan on using it for years and I hope that works out because it's replacing a good sounding but less than reliable piece of gear in my rack (SVP-PRO). I'd feel safe gigging without a backup unit.

I have not delt with them directly but their website is packed with lots of good information on all of their products.

For playing classic rock or similar styles with a simple rig this thing would be just about impossible to beat. If you like to get different sounds by using different playing styles this thing is perfect. If you need channel switching or a million presets it's not what you want. It's just amazing how great of a sound it gets from such a small simple package, I don't see how they do it and it's not a 1 trick pony either, great stuff.

This unit, like its little brother the D1, is very easy to use if you understand what it does, and how it works. Take the time to read the manual, and re-read your bass amp manual! Understanding your guitars signal flow and how it is processed in your amp, can lead you to find new way to improve your rig. Many manufacturers include a signal schematic that shows just how your signal is routed through your amp, and what happens to that signal as it is being processed to the power amp. What I have learned will hopefully help others out there, in their quest to find that just right blend! So, pour yourself a cup of coffee, soda, beer or what ever, and sit back because this is going to be an indepth review. A review, that is my personal findings, and a review that just might be an education for some others out there having the same problems. And just maybe, for some of you, an education in signal processing! Enjoy!

Our bass player is using a Yamaha bass 4 string, and a Hofner. His amp is a Ampeg B4R. The speaker cabs are a 4-10 top, and a 15 or 18 bottom. Each cab is rated at 8 ohms. Keep this in mind, because I will explain more on ohms later. When he first purchased this amp about 6 years ago, we hooked it up like the manual said, we choose to run the amp in the bi-amped mode. For those of you who dont know, bi-amping gives you the ability to route the bass signal to two different power amps. The B4R, in this mode, now has two seperate power sections. By running this way,it allows you to determine how much of the low freqs and high freqs go to the cabs. Utilizing the frequecy blend knob on the front of the amp, determines how much, and what freqs get processed by which amp. IE, the low amp, or the high amp. Also, the B4R has a balance knob next to the freq knob which is used to determine just how much of that processed signal will go to the top cab, and how much will go to the bottom cab. Once we fired her up for the first time, we tried everything to achieve some good driving clean bass tones. We twisted all the knobs and eq the shit out of it. Drove the gain up and master in an attempt to get that good old thumping clean clear bass that gets your feet a tapping. Tried this, tried that, tried all of it and guess what? The only way we could get some close sounding bass from this rig was to drive the gain to almost max with the main volume knob maxed also.............and even then it sounded like a hippos butt flappin from a bad graze of dining in the swamp! It was terrible! What did we do? Well, for a totally stock B4R, the only way to get some halfway good tone was to shell the bi-amp mode, and run the rig in the bridged mode, and piggy back the top and bottom cabs together. Running in bridge, diffently had some power now, and like I said not too bad of tone. However, in this mode, you have almost no control of you signal to the cabs. Being a guitar player myself, I would compare that mode, to a Gibson Les Paul. Either all or nothing! Our bass player has played this way ever since until just recently. A side note here! Electronics don't like vibration period. If your running your amp assembly on top of your cabs, and dont have one of those 600.00 vibration cases, you had better put some 2-3 inch thick foam under it! We didn't, the vibration took its toll, and circuits in the amp became loose so it had to go to the shop.

When we got the amp back from repair, our bass man hooked it all up again in bi-amp mode. Said he wanted to try it again that way...........Jeeeeeeeeeezzzz why? Same result as before, no difference. Thats the million dollar question. Why? Why does this amp not sound good in this mode? Whats wrong? How in Gods name can we get this amp to sound like its got some butt, and what is holding it back?

I am not claiming to be an expert here, and I certainly am not a electrical engineer, all I can do is relate what I did, and what I think happens with the amp running in this mode.

First, remember ohms? We have 2 cabs, each at 8 ohms. The B4R is rated at 1350 watts mono-bridged into 4 ohms. Thats a bunch of power to drive the signal to drive the speakers. By piggy backing 2 8 ohm cabs, your ohms now is down to 4. Forget addition, 2 8s when it comes to ohms, does not equal 16. It equals 4. So, we had plenty of power in the bridged mode to make things sound half assed good. However, in bi-amp mode, this amp is rated at 2 X 255 watts into 8 ohms. That means each cab could get 255 watts to push it! You would think that 255 watts would be enough to push things, but its not............believe me! In the back of my mind, I feel that the preamp section of this amp is nothing short of horse shit on the trail.............and I truely feel that the B4R has a combination of an inherently weak preamp section and a weak power amp section running in the bi-amp mode. Especially running 2 8 ohm cab

Cant say much here, but if it lasts as good as it sounds.........well?
Would I use it without a backup..............would have to if it shot craps..................but would we want to.....Hell no!


Only givin a 5 here cause I dont know.........too early.

Haven't used them yet, but one heck of a web site.....thanks Tech 21

Style: Classic rock, blues, some newer rock, some Jazz.

No LCD, no menu, all knobs. Easy.

Not my choice for a bass preamp. I own a Tubeworks Blue Tube and an Ampeg SVP-Pro, both are tube preamps. The Sansamp claims to get those vintage tube sounds - I don't think so. The distortion sounds like a fuzzbox to me when it overdrives. I like the preamp to peak into distortion when I slap-n-pop - the Sansamp is too ratty, not as warm and punchy as real tubes and it doesn't have that natural compression of tubes.

I didn't care for the EQ either, they're not as effective as the preamps I own. The stompbox bass DI is even worse than the RBI.

Not my style, but they work for other folks namely any style other than slap-n-pop. But it gets a 3 for falsely claiming to get that vintage tube sound - not even close.

If you want a tube sound, buy a tube preamp.

If you don't want the hassle of replacing tubes and you're playing basic styles, check out the Sansamp it will do the job.

The front knobs need little explanation. All the sockets and switches on the back need some explanation. This is also meant to be a recording studio tone tweaking tool.

VERY GOOD SOUND QUALITY. Heard on many recordings. Used by more than bassists. It makes an excellent heavy metal guitar preamp as it can get very distorted and dirty if need be.

I never heard of them having reliability problems.

Good so far. They answer all your questions and help with setup issues.

I just couldn't go the real tube preamp route as they were too expensive. I didn't want future retubing issues either. More importantly, I think this preamp has more tonal range than just about any tube preamp out there at twice the price. You need to bypass the preamp section in any combo amp or amp head you use, however. The tone control sections can sometimes interact and really kill your sound. It works great into power amps like a Crown, etc. For just bass, you could buy the Bass Driver DI, but for guitar I like this better because of the midrange control and gain control on back. This also gives much more hookup versatility and a separate XLR output volume control. Classy little preamp. Worth the money, every cent.

For ease of use, this rackmount unit is very similar to the stomp box version. That is, it's very easy to dial in a good sound, and the default sound is pretty good. I bought it to do a decent simulation of a cross between an SVT and a Bassman and it does that very easily.

I use this with the power amp of an SWR SM-400S head through an Ampeg 4x10 cab. I was never satisfied with the tone I got out of the SWR preamp, and this unit really makes it sound like an SVT. (And I owned one for a while and sold it because it was too heavy, so I know what an SVT is supposed to sound like.)

It can be a bit noisier than the stomp box version (Bass Driver DI), but the output of the stomp box isn't really enough to be a preamp all on its own like this rackmount unit is. (The BDDI behaves more like a DI box than a preamp.) I'm not big on a ton of high end in my bass tone, so dialing the highs and drive down a little bit from wide open was not a big deal to me.

I suspect if you want your sound to have a lot of highs in it or like a very overdriven sound then the noise might get to you. If you're going direct into a studio sound board, you might be better off going with the stomp box version instead. However, as a preamp, the RBI is certainly the better way to go, because of the different output levels of the two units.

I played around with the recommended slap and reggae sounds, and they sound pretty nice. And of course, the SVT and bassman sounds are great.

When you power it up, you get a pretty big boom if the sound's already on. I typically power up the RBI first, then my head/power amp.

I gave it an 8 mainly because of the noise in some possible settings, but be advised that this thing does the SVT or Bassman sound very, very well. If that's all you need (as is the case with me), you'll be very happy with the sound.

I've only had it for a couple of months now, and it seems reliable enough. It's basically a solid-state preamp, so I don't expect much to go wrong with it.

Since I'm using only the power amp of my SWR head, I always have a built-in backup. However, I don't expect to ever really need it.

Never dealt with the company, so I have no opinion on this category.

I play roots music (blues, cajun, celtic), rock, funk, soul, etc. so the SVT/Bassman sounds I get out of this thing are absolutely fabulous for those styles.

I'm playing mostly a ten-year-old Fender '75 Reissue Jazz bass (with Dimarzio replacement jazz pickups and an EMG BTC preamp) through this unit, an SWR SM-400S head, and an Ampeg 4x10 cab (500W@4ohm).

I really love that I'm getting a decent SVT-like tone out of a 35-pound rackmount unit instead of the 85 pound SVT-II I lugged around for a few too many years.

I wish it were less noisy in some of the other settings, but that's a minor consideration to me, because I typically just set it and forget it. And watch out for the boom when you turn it on if you already have your power amp on.

VERY EASY TO USE RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX. THE MANUAL IS FINE, BUT YOU'LL MAINLY USE IT FOR CONNECTION OPTIONS(D.I. ETC...). CONTROLS ARE ALL STRAIGHTFORWARD.

I USE THIS UNIT WITH A QSC POWERAMP, READ TUBE PREAMP(NICE),AND A KORG TUNER THROUGH 2 BAGEND CABS. I RUN THE READ THRU ONE SIDE OF THE QSC AND THE SANSAMP THRU THE OTHER. I CAN GET THE SANSAMP TO SOUND JUST LIKE THE READ, OR HAVE EACH CAB SOUND DIFFERENT. I'VE MANAGED TO COME UP WITH SOME GREAT COMBINATIONS. I COULD'VE BOUGHT 2 OF THE SANSAMPS FOR THE SAME PRICE AS THE READ. IT'S A QUIET UNIT THAT SOUNDS GREAT(SOUNDMEN SEEM TO HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH THIS UNITS D.I.). MY BACKUP BASS IS A SPECTOR WITH PASSIVE PICKUPS AND THE SANSAMP IS REALLY USEFUL IN FATTENING PASSIVE PICKUPS. IT CAN BE NOISY(NOT MUCH) WITH THE GAIN OR THE PRESENCE KNOBS UP TO HIGH. FOR ME, IT SOUNDS GREAT. THE SALESMAN WHERE I BOUGHT IT SAID IT DIDNT HAVE THE WARM SOUND OF A MORE EXPENSIVE TUBE PREAMP, BUT THIS IS A MATTER OF TASTE AND THE QUALITY OF THE REST OF YOUR SETUP(AND HIS COMMISION).

I'VE HAD THIS UNIT FOR 2 YEARS, NEVER HAD A PROBLEM. WELL BUILT AND LIGHT.

NEVER HAD TO CALL.

I PLAY IN A BLUES-ROCK-FUNK BAND WITH HORNS AND A KEYBOARD PLAYER. THE SANSAMP IS QUIET, RELIABLE AND EASILY ADAPTABLE. I RARELY USE EFFECTS, SO I CAN'T SAY HOW THIS UNIT WOULD WORK WITH SOME OR ALOT OF EFFECTS. COMMON SENSE TELLS ME THAT IT WOULD ONLY ENHANCE ANY SETUP. FOR $300, YOU CAN'T GO WRONG. ALL IN ALL, GREAT JOB, TECH 21.

Thi sunit is so easy to use you don't even need the manual to get started.

With a 6x10 GK rig pushing 1200 watts, this piece will blow your mind. For direct or micing through cabinets you will get a great tone. It's very versatile in the range of tones you can get from it. Effects will always sound great(depending upon your tastes) but the effects themselves may require a little tweaking.

had it for over a year and have never needed anything.

Have dealt with them once and they were extremely helpful.

Overall this unit will rock for anything or any style that you play. With infinite tone and awesome sounds you could just buy it without hearing it and be very pleased