Demeter VTBP-201S Users DI question

[rmars]

To any of my fellow Demeter VTBP-201S users;
I have had a few sound guys say they are getting a weak signal from the DI and I have been sending them a flat signal. Didn't even think about it till today but I wondered if maybe I should be sending a EQ'd signal instead for a stronger output?

I bought my 201S about 8 years ago and within a few months of purchasing it I quit playing and it has all but sat dormant until about a year ago and I have only used the DI within the last few months. I know the pots sound a bit scratchy from sitting so I didn't know if maybe something could have gotten funky with the DI even though it was basically unused.

Thanks for any input.

[lowfreqgeek]

I do not have experience with the VTBP-201S, but I believe it uses a Jensen transformer, which has a -22dB drop from input to output. Most amps and active DIs these days have unity gain, or close to, meaning the level coming out is the same as the level going in.

My Radial JDI and Aguilar DB900 both have the same Jensen xfmr that the Demeter has, and both require the additional 20-22dB of gain to get back to unity.

Does it still sound good? As long as it sounds good - and you're sound guys have decent consoles - I wouldn't worry about it. Unfortunately, if the console preamp is noisy, the additional 22dB of gain just to get back to unity can become an issue - but that's on cheap gear (Behringer, for example). Most decent clubs won't be an issue.

[rmars]

Originally Posted by lowfreqgeek

I do not have experience with the VTBP-201S, but I believe it uses a Jensen transformer, which has a -22dB drop from input to output. Most amps and active DIs these days have unity gain, or close to, meaning the level coming out is the same as the level going in.

My Radial JDI and Aguilar DB900 both have the same Jensen xfmr that the Demeter has, and both require the additional 20-22dB of gain to get back to unity.

Does it still sound good? As long as it sounds good - and you're sound guys have decent consoles - I wouldn't worry about it. Unfortunately, if the console preamp is noisy, the additional 22dB of gain just to get back to unity can become an issue - but that's on cheap gear (Behringer, for example). Most decent clubs won't be an issue.

Yes it does have the Jensen.

Actually the only person to really complain was the guitarist (he runs sound)in one of my bands this weekend and he has some cheaper gear (yes, Behringer and the like) but he kept saying he though my bass sounded distorted out of the mains. I thought it just sounded slightly extra growly (thinking it was his eq'ing) but he said it was low grade distortion(?). He doen't know what my gear is so he always wants to insult it.

Other sound guys haven't complained so much as they just wonder if it's plugged in and it just takes them a bit to figure it out and then they say it's fine.

Thanks a bunch for your response, I didn't know any of that.

[lowfreqgeek]

I used my DB900 for the first time on a live gig last week and the sound guy asked if I was plugged in. Then he realized he needed to add the extra gain (he uses Countryman Type 85 - unity gain or so). Anyway, once he figured that out, it sounded SWEET! His console was a Yamaha M7, though (very high end).

As for your guitarist/soundguy, if the bass sound he's getting isn't any good, it's most likely due to his cheap gear. The preamps in the Behringer are noisy and will probably introduce additional distortion at higher gain settings. That's the nature of poorly designed op-amp-based preamps.

Just tell him that you DI transformer is the world-renowned, world-standard Jensen and that any distortion in the bass is coming from his cheap gear.

Originally Posted by rmars

Yes it does have the Jensen.

Actually the only person to really complain was the guitarist (he runs sound)in one of my bands this weekend and he has some cheaper gear (yes, Behringer and the like) but he kept saying he though my bass sounded distorted out of the mains. I thought it just sounded slightly extra growly (thinking it was his eq'ing) but he said it was low grade distortion(?). He doen't know what my gear is so he always wants to insult it.

Other sound guys haven't complained so much as they just wonder if it's plugged in and it just takes them a bit to figure it out and then they say it's fine.

Thanks a bunch for your response, I didn't know any of that.

[rmars]

Originally Posted by lowfreqgeek

Just tell him that you DI transformer is the world-renowned, world-standard Jensen and that any distortion in the bass is coming from his cheap gear.

LOL! Yeah, I'm on my last leg with that gig anyway so I will probably throw that in somewhere along the line with my laundry list or reasons they're a pain in my rear after a gig some night....

If I'm ever around Albuquerque or your ever near Bettendorf, IA I owe you a beer!

[BiigM]

I've gad no issues with mine. Always sounds sweet :-)