Darkglass Microtubes X Ultra Bass Preamp Pedal Reviews

I own nothing but Darkglass gear, and for good reason, it's the best out there. This pedal is no exception. The low-pass/hi-pass feature is genius and allows you to get studio quality bass tones and control live, ir in your DAW with one input. Highly recommend.

It sounds like I restrung my bass with suspension bridge cables. Tons of tone shaping options and once you dial the pedal in you can go even farther with the darkglass suite. I will probably be buying more darkglass products in the future.

Between the B7K Ultra, the Alpha Omega, and the Microtubes X Ultra I like the Microtubes X Ultra the most. It's a little less intuitive than the B7K, and while the B7K is an amazing pedal you can't go wrong with, I think the Microtubes X Ultra ultimately has more tone shaping tools that also allows it to sort of thread the needle between the Vintage Microtubes and the B7K Ultra and give you the best of both worlds.

What really sets this pedal apart is the combination of the low compression, the low pass filter and the high pass filter.

The low compression allows you to control the amount of low end, allowing you to ensure that no matter how distorted you are you always have a tight foundation of low end.

The low pass and high pass are a little confusing but work in tandem with each other for dialing in the perfect kind of distortion / overdrive.

The high pass determines what frequencies are going to be distorted. It'll distort all the frequencies at and above the level it is set at, at a range between 100 Hz and 1kHz. To put it as plainly as possible, if you set the high pass at the lowest level it'll give you an extremely raw old school fuzzy style distortion that captures all of your signal. Think along the line of Motorhead or Cliff Burton on Anesthesia where it's just fuzzy and completely saturated. At around 9-10 o'clock you'll get a more definition giving you more of an old school Geddy Lee tone. And around 2 o'clock and above you start get really crispy, crunchy hi-fi modern distorted bass tones.

The low pass determines the amount of cuff off frequency for cleans to be mixed back in the distortion so you can mix back in more clean lows and mids into your signal to taste.

These two combined are just fantastic tools giving you tons of tonal options and control on exactly what parts of your tone you want getting distorted. And you can set the high drive low and use this pedal as an always on "sound better" pedal.

If I had any major complaint about this pedal it's that the knobs for the low and high pass filters, perhaps the most important parts of this pedal for controlling your tone, are these small black knobs and the identifiers for where its set are these very tiny ridges with no color differentiation. Given how this pedal lights up like a Christmas tree when engaged it's basically impossible to tell visually what the low and high filters are set at. Heck even disengaged it's extremely difficult to tell. They could have had the High and Low Pass have their own LED aspect, or just give them white lines on the knobs to give them some kind of identifier like the four main knobs.

Still it's just the best overdrive / distortion I've played to date. All of the Darkglass pedals I have owned have been extraordinary and I think this one has the tone shaping and flexibility that makes it my favorite of the bunch.

This is the best pedal that Darkglass has by far. The dual processing ability of this pedal puts it in a league above every other product they have out. I love how creative you can get with this and sculpt literally any tone you want. And plus the cab sim on this makes it even better.

This pedal is fantastic! Replaced two other effects pedals and a DI routing box. I'm a first-time Darkglass user, and likely won't turn back. The sound you can get with this box seems nearly limitless, from crisp clean to heavy dirt. I was undecided between this and the Alpha-Omega, but glad I chose the Microtubes X Ultra. The ability to independently adjust the lows/highs, as well as the onboard compressor convinced me I made the right choice for my desired tones. Also, access to the Darkglass cab sim suite, as well as volume/compression adjustments make this a perfect option for playing through headphones or a home studio setup- which sound great. Only problem......spending way too much time tweaking out with all the options;)

Been searching for a pedal this diverse for a long time! This one is as complete as it gets for me! From bassy bass to Lemmy like distortion I can dial in almost any sound I need. This will be my only DI preamp pedal that I use!

It's no surprise but Darkglass has done it again with this new Ultra pedal in their Microtubes X line. After tinkering around on it for a week or so, I can honestly say this is my new favorite all around pedal and blows me away with its versatility more than my AOU by Darkglass. This pedal is great not just for metal and harder music but for clean sounds and tones as well! If you have a tone you're looking to get I am willing to bet this pedal will help you find it!

Overall a versatile, good sounding pedal. Iv'e used it in both live and studio settings for everything from Church music to Death Metal, and have always been able to find an appropriate tone (only tried with active pickups, so I can't speak for how it handles passives). I definitely recommend it.

The only downside I have found is the lack of an effects loop for the cab-sim on the DI output. Because of this, you can't put any effects after the preap/OD if you are using a cab sim, which can be limiting in some circumstances.

I absolutely respect Darkglass, they put out amazing gear. The only gripe i have i with design; luckily i had the warranty but i've had 2 of these go bad on me because they solder the power receiver to the operating board of the pedal, not the actual housing for reinforcement to prevent it from pushing inward and being unable to receive power. Doesn't even take much to loosen it. my Sansamp is half the price and more durable.

That being said, I don't think this is a common issue, and the tone you receive from ANY Darkglass pedal is top notch. I just think a minor change in design is necessary.

I received 2 of these pedals, both would make a pop/thump sound as you turned them on or off. No crazy settings... And no matter the setting, they'd both still do it.

Darkglass wouldn't call me and insisted i make a video and explain what power source i was using.

I tried the pedal with an eventide powermax, a cioks dc5 and a good ol 1spot. I ran the pedal into my Mesa boogie subway 800+ and subway115 cab.

I used a furman pst 8 power conditioner.

No matter what configuration both pedals would make a pop sound being turned on or off. I even ran the pedals without my bass plugged in. Both still made the pop noise.

After a very unproductive email exchange with Darkglass, i will never support their products again. I kept having to ask if they received my email and would address the issue in the video.

It was over 10 days and i only received automated like messages saying they had never had this issue.
I asked about getting in contact with a tech... Nothing.

Finally i contacted Darkglass through a different email and laid out my issue and asked for help, getting in contact with a tech. . .
The president; Markos (Marcos?) Decides to call me and tell me i was rude in the video I sent to them showing the issue and that i should just get a refund.

I asked if they could replicate the issue, if they were gonna have those 2 pedals shipped to them to test them out ... He said that they were already previously tested at quality control when they left the factory and the pedals were fine. . i asked if he saw the video, i asked him to acknowledge the issue, he did and said there was in fact something wrong with the pedals (contradicted himself), but that since i was coming across as unhappy and rude, i should just get a refund.

I explained to him that i spent $ on 2 pedals that don't work, why would i be happy? I wanna get in contact with a tech so i can resolve this issue and fix it... He didn't.

So i will never support darkglass ever again.