Mesa 400+ DI or Slave out?

[humbleleon991]

On all my other bass amps ive ever had ive always gone from my direct out, (sometimes to a direct box), then to the board, but I was reading the mesa 400+ manual online and it was talking like it used the slave output as the direct out. And also it the direct out is 600 ohm balanced output, what does that mean??
heres the manual: http://www.mesaboogie.com/manuals/Bass%20400%20Plus.pdf

[BurningSkies]

I used the DI the whole time I owned mine. I know that some soundmen complained about it being too hot, my main problem was that it wasn't clean enough for me. I'd listen to board tapes after the fact and it had more 'grind' than I was ever hearing or wanting in my tone.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by BurningSkies

I used the DI the whole time I owned mine. I know that some soundmen complained about it being too hot, my main problem was that it wasn't clean enough for me. I'd listen to board tapes after the fact and it had more 'grind' than I was ever hearing or wanting in my tone.

Never could figure out how a signal could be 'too hot' for a board with an input pad. Lots of clueless sound guys out there!

It would not surprise me at all if you heard more 'grind' directly from the board, or actually from the mains for that matter. The voicing of most bass cabs would work nicely with that amp to 'voice' and soften and sculpt the grind and grit coming out of a head like that.

Another example of why a post EQ DI is not what most people think it is... i.e., a way to get 'your tone' to the audience.

For that kind of gritty, grindy voicing, a mic is probably the OP's best friend.

[Caca de Kick]

For a DI signal I always use the slave out and DI box and keep the slave volume knob low, like around 1-1/2.
I've had several of these Mesa tube heads (still have a 400), and for some reason the XLR jack just seems real noisy with either hums or buzzes. So since the slave jack has it's own volume knob, it's worked out better.