Sansamp BDDI vs MXR M80 bass DI+

fat_boy · #1 02-15-2010, 09:17 PM

hi everyone!
i wanna know your opinion. I need a DI now but i don't know what to choose, sansamp or MXR.
so, tell me your think, and what do you suggest me?
thanks :d

marklaforest · #2 02-15-2010, 09:38 PM

I've had my sansamp for years, swear by it. I have one of the older ones without the mid control. Not really sure what else is out there now, but I've never needed to look. I run mine at pretty much 12 o'clock on all the knobs except blend and level, which are full on. You can get some pretty nice distortion tones with it too if that's your bag. It's a great preamp, and the DI is top notch. Just about any sound guy who sees it at a gig breathes a sigh of relief immediately. I've never had a problem with mine at all, despite it being thrown around a lot and having a lot of beer split on it.

Never tried the MXR, but I've never been disappointed with their stuff either. You won't be disappointed with the sansamp though.

iamdenialNJ · #3 02-15-2010, 11:29 PM

I've had the sansamp and it wasn't my cup of tea. I'm really interested in this also as I've heard pretty sweet sound clips from the mxr bass di+. They usually go for <$70 used. While BDDI's go for ~$130 used. I'm gonna give the mxr a try real soon. My cousin has two on his pedalboard. I wonder if that means something. haha

iamdenialNJ · #4 02-15-2010, 11:36 PM

I have a general question about DI's in pedal form.

I use delay in my band and I place all my dirt before my delay. If I place the mxr in front of my delay (which is what I'm planning on doing) will I hear the delay (or any effects placed after the bass di +) if I'm being DI'd??

JonnyAngle · #5 02-16-2010, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamdenialNJ

I have a general question about DI's in pedal form.

I use delay in my band and I place all my dirt before my delay. If I place the mxr in front of my delay (which is what I'm planning on doing) will I hear the delay (or any effects placed after the bass di +) if I'm being DI'd??

You will NOT hear any effects after the DI.

cheapbasslovin · #6 02-16-2010, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamdenialNJ

I have a general question about DI's in pedal form.

I use delay in my band and I place all my dirt before my delay. If I place the mxr in front of my delay (which is what I'm planning on doing) will I hear the delay (or any effects placed after the bass di +) if I'm being DI'd??

There are some DIs that have effects loops (EBS Microbass, BassDriver Deluxe, the new VT Deluxe) that run Dirt (tube emulation)> Effect loop> DI, but otherwise you can't DI your effect after the DI pedal's circuitry.

fat_boy · #7 02-16-2010, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamdenialNJ

I've had the sansamp and it wasn't my cup of tea. I'm really interested in this also as I've heard pretty sweet sound clips from the mxr bass di+. They usually go for <$70 used. While BDDI's go for ~$130 used. I'm gonna give the mxr a try real soon. My cousin has two on his pedalboard. I wonder if that means something. haha

oh, i think you should know that the price will be considered after all.
For now, all I wanna know is your opinion about these 2 DI.
I don't have any effects and I don't like them too much so i won't give my sound any effects at all, may be I will need some distortion or overdrive in the future :d
Because of all that reasons, what do you suggest me??

cheapbasslovin · #8 02-16-2010, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fat_boy

oh, i think you should know that the price will be considered after all.
For now, all I wanna know is your opinion about these 2 DI.
I don't have any effects and I don't like them too much so i won't give my sound any effects at all, may be I will need some distortion or overdrive in the future :d
Because of all that reason, what do you suggest me??

If you don't want it to effect your sound much then I recommend the MXR. It is a much more transparent tool than the SansAmp, with a pretty intuitive EQ setup.

Personally I never cared for the SansAmp as I found its tone to be either too harsh or uninteresting (never in between). Obviously it is up to your personal taste, some love the SansAmp sound.

fat_boy · #9 02-16-2010, 07:56 AM

Sansamp is voted to be the best DI pedal by the Bass Player magazine and i had the chance to try it- one of my friend. So I love what it can bring.
But it seems that so many people love it so it's hard to find one.Therefore, i wanna know more about the MXR M80 bass DI+ :d

shaolinwhat · #10 02-16-2010, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fat_boy

Sansamp is voted to be the best DI pedal by the Bass Player magazine and i had the chance to try it- one of my friend. So I love what it can bring.
But it seems that so many people love it so it's hard to find one.Therefore, i wanna know more about the MXR M80 bass DI+ :d

Ive used both pretty extensively, and they're both great options. I've been settled on the MXR for a while now, mostly because I prefer to have a cleaner, more transparent EQ in front of my amp (and for FOH). The MXR simply does not do the tube dirt/grind that the sansamp is capable of, but that's not something I need or want at this point. Construction wise I would say they are both top notch.

The bottom line for me is that with the M-80, my bass sounds like my bass, my amp sounds like my amp, just with some really nice eq'ing added. The Sansamp tends to sound, well, like a sansamp no matter what you play through it. Of course that also depends on how you have the settings, there is a blend knob which can alleviate this to a degree.

Eric! · #11 02-16-2010, 10:15 AM

The M-80 I had liked to get all hissy n' pissy when I was running both 1/4" and XLR out. Coulda been a multitude of reasons (iffy cables, GodLyke daisy chaining). I had a programmable BDDI that worked wonders so I'm acquiring a BDDI again now for my DI needs.

I do like the tubey-modeling it does too, at the end of my chain (rounds out my dirt collection, as I have a Rat clone, Hematoma, and Mephisto). However, the distortion from the M-80 is a great great rock tone.

iamdenialNJ's cousin had two on his board most likely because it does grit so well, and its DI is pretty good too.

Also, I believe the Programmable BDDI Deluxe also has an effects loop.

Both M-80 and BDDI are built like tanks, even for the stomp-happiest players.

stflbn · #12 02-16-2010, 10:28 AM

As others have said...

SansAmp - imposes it's own tubey type sound on your tone no matter what. If you like that, great. If you don't... not great.

MXR - good clean preamp/eq that doesn't really impose it's own vibe. Has the option of adding some overdrive if you want.

iamdenialNJ · #13 02-16-2010, 10:53 AM

Even if I don't use the DI on the mxr...3:00 (on the video below) pretty much sold me on the mxr dirt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGT9IVvR8sM

shaolinwhat · #14 02-17-2010, 05:05 PM

yea the distortion does have its place, but its good to have a seperate (better) dirt pedal on hand IMO.

the low one · #15 03-02-2010, 02:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamdenialNJ

Even if I don't use the DI on the mxr...3:00 (on the video below) pretty much sold me on the mxr dirt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGT9IVvR8sM

I have the M80 and like it but I'd would like to see a fuller demo of it which I don't have the gear to do myself sadly. This Dunlop sales demo has reverb on it and he changes from fingers to pick between clean and distored sounds so it's not easy to compare sounds.