DI vs. line out

OriginalCrash · #1 05-31-2007, 08:46 AM

This isn't a question about recording, specifically (I play live in a praise band at our church), but it's the same equipment so this should be the right board for this... I have a SansAmp BDDI and a Fender Rumble 100/115 (with an XLR line out). Which would be best to use going to the board? I use the eq on my amp for some final fine tuning to the sound I get from my bass, parametric eq, and SansAmp, so running from the line out would include that eq in the signal. But the sound guy will, of course, be able to eq my sound at the board for the FOH mix, so I wonder if that extra stage of eq is really necessary. Anyway, I could probably easily answer my own question by saying I should just ask the sound guy which way gives him the best signal or standing in front of the stage and seeing which sounds best, but I figured I'd see what other people's experiences were with direct boxes vs. amp line outs...

Brian

StoutXXX · #2 05-31-2007, 08:53 AM

I would just give him the line out XLR out of the Sansamp and call it a day. I dont know about the sound but I imagine the Sansamp is quieter then the line out of the amp. Just a hunch.

OriginalCrash · #3 05-31-2007, 08:55 AM

That's pretty much what I was thinking, but I hadn't actually compared the two so I wasn't sure.

Brian

Eric Grossman · #4 05-31-2007, 08:59 AM

Don't use the line out, unless you run a seperate DI, too. If you use the line out, exclusively, and your amp goes out for any reason, you'll have no signal.

Son of Bovril · #5 06-04-2007, 07:02 AM

Um, I think it is probably just easier and cleaner to send the line from your sansamp, no point in adding extra cables and electronics in the signal path if it isn't adding anything worthwhile

eb76 · #6 06-12-2007, 08:03 PM

If I was going direct to the board with no miked signal at all, I'd be tempted to just use the BassDriver, and leave the amp at home unless monitoring is an issue. Most churches don't really dig on huge stage volume, and if you're running direct, the amp is just adding stage volume and little else. If the church is equipped with decent monitoring, I'd just bring my bass and the BassDriver and call it a day. When my band was actively gigging and I brought my BassDriver, the sound guy always used that rather than miking the cabinet, so if there were monitors onstage, I left the amp in the car. As long as I could hear, and the band could hear me in the monitors, the amp wasn't needed. Weezer used no amps at all on their first big tour when they hit it big, relying on PODs for amped sounds.