Do I need a DI if my bass is active?

[KSDbass]

In case you didn't catch it, I play an active KSD, and I was just wondering, do I need a DI box to run straight to the mixer? and if I don't need one, what would happen if I used a DI box? my bass is a 9v circuit if it matters.

[62bass]

In short, you need a direct box. It doesn't have to be an active direct box but should be of good quality. There are many on the market. You don't need to spend huge amounts of money on the boutique models with tubes or multiple eq combinations. Just a good quality, simple direct box.

You'll be unhappy running your active bass direct to the board without one. But, try doing it once first so you know. Nothing like personal experience.

[DavidRavenMoon]

If you are going into a PA, get a DI. If you are going into a board for recording, you should be fine.

I always just plug my bass into one of the 1/4 line in jacks and crank up the mic pre gain a bit.

[ToneRanger]

Originally Posted by 62bass

In short, you need a direct box. It doesn't have to be an active direct box but should be of good quality.

Why?
I usually use one just because it's more convenient to have an XLR lead to the desk, but I've often recorded without.

A passive bass has high impedance out, so you can't run a long cable without losing all your highs, and a low impedance mixer input will load down the pickups. But an active bass has a circuit buffering the pickups, and is almost certainly low impedance output, so signal matching and long cable run are no problem. Only thing you're missing is the balanced output which eliminates any RF noise from the cable run.

Of course there might be other things a fancy DI can do to sweeten up your sound, but in terms of signal matching it's not necessary.

[cabcreaser]

having a ground lift switch and a nice transformer (for example, a Jensen) will keep your signal pure and noise free. I would highly recommend a nice di (for instance, the Radial JDI is a great di under 200 dollars).

[KSDbass]

sounds good, thanks guys.

[PilbaraBass]

everyone needs to understand the importance of running a balanced (XLR) signal to the mixer. This is achieved by using a good DI.

A balanced signal has half of the waveform signal carried on the plus (+) lead and half carried on the negative (-)...these two signals will cancel out any noise that is picked up along the signal path between the DI and the mixing board. This is called common-mode rejection.

running an unbalanced (like from 95% of all basses) to the board uses the shield as part of the signal path. As a result, noise can more easily be picked up in the path (such as via a ground loop) and is not rejected.

This is why balanced signals are THE preferred method for mixing and THE preferred method for getting a signal over distance to the board (such as through a multi-channel snake).

Use a DI...an active DI WITH a transformer isolation is best, and the ground lift is an added bonus.