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MXR M80 Bass D.I.+ Direct Box and Preamp with Distortion

Distortion channel with gain, volume, and blend controls. Noise gate. DI output.

Overall User Ratings

Overall:
           9 out of 10
Features:
           9 out of 10
Quality:
           9 out of 10
Value:
           9 out of 10
I Want It:
           9 out of 10
Sound:
           9 out of 10
Ease of Use:
           9 out of 10
Support:
           8 out of 10
 
 

"Really Big Punch and a Nice Growl"

Overall:
          9 out of 10
Features:
          9 out of 10
Quality:
          9 out of 10
Value:
          9 out of 10
I Want It:
          9 out of 10
Sound:
          9 out of 10
User: a customer from bellsouth.net
Submitted: 1/2/2006
Style of Music: Classic Rock, Pop, Country
Musical Experience: Active Musician
Location: Acworth, GA USA

 

 
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
Feature:
Features include Low, Mid, and High EQ as well as the color button mentioned above. The distortion seems to be pretty versatile in that you have a volume, blend, trigger (for the noise gate), and gain control. The blend allows you to blend the clean channel with the distorted channel. The unit also features XLR out along with a parallel out to run direct to the PA and to your amp.

Quality:
HEAVY DUTY. Metal Casing everything seems pretty solid. The battery compartment may be the only thing that might break. It's made out of plastic. It still seems fine though.

Value:
This unit sells for around $135 bucks. That seems a bit pricey, but it's cheaper than the Sansamp unit. I think the real value of this unit is being able to walk into practice or a gig with just the M-80 and know that you will be able to get a good sound without having to break your back carrying an amp.

Desirability:
This thing looks cool to me. I would say that I bought it more for the practicality than the looks though. A unit like this is a good investment for any bass player to use direct to the PA or just to beef up the sound of your amp. Even if you don't use it all the time, it would be good to have as a back up in case you get an annoying hum in your amp from neon beer signs or some jack ass wants to play on Mustang Sally and blows out your amp.

Sound:
The sound of this box sounds old school to me. That's a good thing. It really adds a lot of punch to my amp. I have been able to get the big warm round sound (with passive pickups) going direct through the PA and I've been able to get a nice punchy growling sound (active pickups) going into my Ampeg BA 115. I compared it to the Tech 21 RBI and I have to say I like the MXR M-80 better, especially when going to direct to the PA. The Tech 21 seemed to lack something when going into the PA. I will say the MXR definitely needs a compressor to tighten up the sound a bit. This unit has a distortion channel that sounds pretty good. You can get a slightly overdriven distortion or you can get really nasty, whatever you desire. I will say that the Tech 21 wins in this area though. The unit has a color button that gives a subtle, but noticeable boost to the mid-range frequencies. This is very useful to cut through the mix when playing live.

Support:
I have not had to contact them. I've had the unit for about 6 months now.

Overall:
Overall, I am happy with the M-80. I could honestly say I would recommend it to other bass players. Everyone has their own individual tastes though. Most of the online retailers offer a pretty good return policy if you don't. Try it, you'll like it.

4 of 4 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?    
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"If your looking for a high quality Bass DI with a little more....."

Overall:
          9 out of 10
Features:
          9 out of 10
Quality:
          10 out of 10
Value:
          9 out of 10
Sound:
          9 out of 10
Ease of Use:
          9 out of 10
Support:
          5 out of 10
Submitted: 11/4/2006
Style of Music: Progressive rock
Musical Experience: 30-year bassist.
Location: Midwest

 

 
Feature:
All it needs is compression.

Quality:
Built very well. When you pick it up, you know you got something good.

Value:
100 bucks cheaper than the Sansamp. And better! ( I've had one ).

Desirability:
Its a good piece of gear that has become an essential part of my rig.

Sound:
Sounds great. No noise whatsoever. Great EQ, not complicated at all. Distortion from just a little grind to over the top, and everywhere in between.

Ease of Use:
Very simple. I plugged my Rickenbacker 4004 in, and within 10 or 15 minutes I had it mastered.

Support:
I went middle of the road here, just because I havent had to contact the company yet.

Overall:
For me its tops right now.

1 of 1 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?    
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"Good product."

Overall:
          9 out of 10
Features:
          9 out of 10
Quality:
          9 out of 10
Value:
          9 out of 10
Sound:
          9 out of 10
User: a customer from larry.yi.org
Style of Music: All kinds of music. You name it I play it.
Location: Texas

 

 
Quality:
Solid peice of equipment.

Value:
Great price.

Sound:
The only thing I would change would be to increase the amount of pre-amp drive. It works very well for the situation I use it in which is a church musical group. We run the bass through the church sound system and it gives the bass a good low end sound. But I notice it needs more volume on the mixer than the sansamp does. All in all though, an excellent product.

Overall:
Good overall product except for the docs. (:

1 of 1 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?    
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"Brought out my bottom end and supped up my bass."

Overall:
          10 out of 10
Features:
          10 out of 10
Quality:
          10 out of 10
Value:
          10 out of 10
I Want It:
          10 out of 10
Sound:
          10 out of 10
Support:
          10 out of 10
User: a customer from netzero.com
Submitted: 8/29/2004
Style of Music: Blues Rock
Musical Experience: Active Musician
Location: Richmond, Tx

 

 
Feature:
Nice. Really brought out my bottom end with out clipping but i use a compressor as well.

Quality:
Just by feeling it you can tell it will last you for years.

Value:
Good price.

Desirability:
Love black cant go wrong with that.

Sound:
As soon as i plugged it in i was impressed with it. A little tweaking and i had my sound just right.

Support:
No problems.

Overall:
I probably wouldn't replace it unless they come with an even more versatile one.

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MXR M-80 Bass Preamp Customer Review

Overall:
          10 out of 10
Features:
          10 out of 10
Quality:
          10 out of 10
Value:
          10 out of 10
I Want It:
          10 out of 10
Sound:
          10 out of 10
Support:
          10 out of 10
User: a customer from yahoo.com
Submitted: 3/5/2005
Style of Music: Rock, Alternative
Musical Experience: Active musician
Location: Italy

 

 
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
Sound:
This pedal really made a huge difference with my sound. I use the Sansamp BDDI and MXR M-80 in my setup. They both have there place and one or the other and sometimes both are used all the time. Great product and I can't live without it!

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"Buy this box, now!"

Overall:
          10 out of 10
Features:
          10 out of 10
Quality:
          10 out of 10
Value:
          10 out of 10
I Want It:
          10 out of 10
Sound:
          10 out of 10
Support:
          10 out of 10
User: a customer from gte.net
Submitted: 9/20/2003
Style of Music: Mostly rock and blues.
Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA

 

 
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
Feature:
The M-80 is loaded. Phantom power and XLR/parallel outs are nice to have when you need them.

Quality:
Tank-like in its construction. Battery hatch should be beefed up, though.

Value:
Excellent value and a great piece of equipment.

Desirability:
Cool, non-descript black box.

Sound:
I'd rather play than fool with knobs and stress over my gear. The M-80 let's me get just the sound I need quickly and easily. The distortion is fantastic.

Support:
N/A Perhaps I'm just lucky, but I've never had a problem with any of my Dunlop gadgetry.

Overall:
It does a lot for a box its size. If it were damaged or stolen I'd be bummed until I got another one. I never jam, practice or gig without it.

3 of 4 people (75%) found this review helpful. Did you?    
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"Good but...."

Overall:
          7 out of 10
Features:
          7 out of 10
Quality:
          5 out of 10
Value:
          8 out of 10
I Want It:
          5 out of 10
Sound:
          6 out of 10
Support:
          10 out of 10
User: a customer from hotmail.com
Submitted: 9/18/2005
Style of Music: Rock Alternative Experimental
Musical Experience: Active Musician
Location: Duluth, GA, USA

 

 
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
Feature:
I bought the pedal for its distortion and it was the best for the price. the eq is nice but can be a little muddy. and d.i part was noisy (no ground lift).

Quality:
the housing is built like a tank. but the exterior parts leave a little to be desired. the color button broke off pretty fast. and the pots got noisy quickly.

Value:
worth it if you need a quick fix.

Sound:
If you are looking for an all in one unit this is a very solid product. the problem is the mile wide inch deep theory... the tones are just about what is needed but not quite.

Support:
When I bout my pedal the xlr conncter was missing its screws. I was expecting to have to purchas the replacements but when I called dunlop up they sent me free ones and two backups to spare with no questions asked. very good support.

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"lots of stuff packed into one"

Overall:
          9 out of 10
Features:
          10 out of 10
Quality:
          8 out of 10
Value:
          8 out of 10
I Want It:
          8 out of 10
User: no
Submitted: 8/13/2002
Style of Music: crappy
Location: Who f**king cares

 

 
It's no tech21, but it is great little box in it's own right. Excellent as a DI, as an EQ, and as a drive box. Just not quite all there enough to be a stand alone Preamp. I owne the Sans Amp as well.
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"Great addition to almost any rig"

Overall:
          8 out of 10
Features:
          9 out of 10
Quality:
          9 out of 10
Value:
          9 out of 10
I Want It:
          9 out of 10
Sound:
          8 out of 10
Ease of Use:
          10 out of 10
Support:
          5 out of 10
User: a customer from yahoo.com
Submitted: 12/31/2007
Style of Music: rock
Musical Experience: Active Musician, Instructor
Location: El Cerrito, CA, USA

 

 
Feature:
3 band e-q is great, and distortion is better. The overdrive has its limits, but manages to keep things bass-y when I'm using my B string, which is a plus.

Quality:
High-quality, minus the radio station problems I'm having (and looking into).

Value:
For 140 retail, this is a great pedal. I bought mine for 70 used, and feel it was worth every penny.

Desirability:
Straight forward, reliable, and sounds good. If you're going to carry your own DI, why not have one w. some equalization and distortion?

Sound:
This thing definetly beefs up your tone, especially when you use the overdrive. However, the one I have (bought used) seems to pick up radio stations when I use the XLR (but no a 1/4 inch).

Ease of Use:
Makes perfect sense, easy to figure out. A fair amount of range with this as well.

Support:
Never contacted them

Overall:
If I could figure out why I'm getting radio stations and fix it, this would be a 9.5. I did plenty of on-line research, and the MD80 has lived up to the expectations (especially when it came to distoring the lower frequencies). Built strong, easy to use, and responsive, this is a good buy.

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MXR M-80 Bass Preamp Customer Review

Overall:
          10 out of 10
Features:
          10 out of 10
Quality:
          8 out of 10
Value:
          10 out of 10
I Want It:
          10 out of 10
Sound:
          10 out of 10
Support:
          9 out of 10
Submitted: 2/24/2005
Style of Music: Hard rock mania!!
Musical Experience: Hobby player as 15 years
Location: Kanagawa, Japan

 

 
Quality:
Sound is good, however I can't accept the quality of outer materials. I am sorry to say it looks cheap (because I am Japanese).

Value:
If you don't have amplifires, it is very valuable to buy. For example, if you live in an apartment, you might not wanna play using amplifires. You can plug into such as audio compornents, then use headphones. That must be as if you play a reharsal studio using big an amplifire!!

Sound:
Great distortion sounds, you can get hard drived sound easily. It enables us to get natural base sound without losing low frequency area when you play in high gain settting.

Support:
I don't know. I just bought this two days ago.

Overall:
Best drived effect for bass guitars. Good for any use such as recording and live.

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