A whole new world. IEM.

[leonard]

Lot's of great gear available nowadays but my old Sansamp BDDI does just exactly what you say you want. It's important to take it easy with the blend knob though.

 

[alembicguy]

Helix

 

[Turn Em Loose]

I’m a big fan of the Aguilar Tone Hammer DI. Runs on batteries, phantom power or an 18v power supply. Great sounding DI out. Very nice low gain OD tone, punchy and quite versatile.

 

[Stellvia]

Shift Line Olympic MkIIIS. Gives you that warm tube sound, from clean to dirty with a flexible EQ (allegedly based on a Fender/Alembic tonestack), headphone out, aux in, DI out with separate volume control and multiple grounding options and the ability to load two of any cab sim you care to use. Nice and small little box that gives a great sound and sounds lovely through IEM’s. Very much worth it for the price, the Shift Libe guys are really nice to deal with and they offer free international shipping and I believe they still offer a 10% discount for Talkbass members. Has become the favourite preamp of quite a few people on the forum this year!

 

[JimmyM]

I just sometimes find it strange (when using back line) to have a speaker sim, going through another speaker - and if that's mic'd, it's going through even more speakers.

At least the VTDI gives the option of turning the speaker sim off (or are you saying the Deluxe allows you to bypass it too?)

Nope, can't bypass in the Deluxe, although the newer ones give you an option to use a different speaker sim. But honestly, I don't even notice the difference because all my cabs have the same frequency cuts, and if I'm using it as a DI, I want those cuts in the PA as well. I do like tweeter frequencies on upright, which I will sometimes use the second channel for it on fly gigs when I have one, but I can live without them for the night.

Occasionally I want a blend control, but only when I've got extreme levels of bright distortion, for effect.

Will definitely have to give the Deluxe a go at some point.

Have you compared it with their Fly Rig? (or whatever it's called - I can't remember, but it has lots of pretty coloured lights)

I do like colored lights, but never tried the Fly Rig, and with all due respect to Tech 21 which is a great company, really I'm not too interested in it because I either don't need the other effects it has or I prefer the separate pedals I have.

 

[bbbenji]

Tone hammer DI gets my vote. Just picked one up and it gets a lovely, slightly OD warm tubey sound with AGS turned on a low gain.

 

[Bassheart365]

I love my Noble preamp for this, takes away the rubbery tone and sounds great in IEMs and FOH. Powers other pedals too. It's not cheap, but I haven't looked back. It doesn't really distort though so you'd need to use a pedal or two if that's your thing.

People rate the Shift Line Olympic too which looks similar but cheaper.

Another Noble devotee.

 

[sawzalot]

Good info in here. I just wound it all the way back and try to get the best sound out of my basses, which admittedly all have active preamps. All I really need is a bass, a clip on tuner, and a decent DI to play a gig. Of course I use more than that, but for me the key is to have my bass very prominent in my IEM mix. I use a TC Electronic SpectraDrive for a little Eq/compression/dirt/DI, an octaver, and a wireless. But all that is just extra sauce, all I really need is my bass and an onboard or outboard EQ.

 

[Bassgore]

Gee... I really love this forum.
You guys are great and really lovely
Thanks for all the help.
Baba Booey to you all.

 

[EastCoastThump]

For smallish boxes driving IEMs, I've gigged the OmniCabSim Deluxe, Two Notes Torpedo C.A.B., Mooer Radar, and Sans Amp Original, VT, VT Deluxe, and VTDI. Of those, my faves are the Two Notes and the OmniCabSim Deluxe.

But I've been dialing in a Helix Stomp over the last few days. Its gives the Two Notes a run on tone, flexible editing via USB, IR capability, and user presets. And with the built-in headphone amp and the ability to configure the loop as a stereo aux in for your IEM mix, it rivals the OCSD as a standalone small box solution. (Need to use a 1/4"-to-XLR cable for the DI send, though.)

 

[Bassgore]

For smallish boxes driving IEMs, I've gigged the OmniCabSim Deluxe, Two Notes Torpedo C.A.B., Mooer Radar, and Sans Amp Original, VT, VT Deluxe, and VTDI. Of those, my faves are the Two Notes and the OmniCabSim Deluxe.

But I've been dialing in a Helix Stomp over the last few days. Its gives the Two Notes a run on tone, flexible editing via USB, IR capability, and user presets. And with the built-in headphone amp and the ability to configure the loop as a stereo aux in for your IEM mix, it rivals the OCSD as a standalone small box solution. (Need to use a 1/4"-to-XLR cable for the DI send, though.)

How is the sound in Helix.
I’m really hesitant to Line6 products.
The artist I most often gig with uses the Helix as main engine in the arsenal...
Sometimes I find it to be a litte to high tech sounding... or maybe it’s just me reacting to all the knobs, lights etc

How is it on bass?

 

[EastCoastThump]

It's extremely good. On silent stage gigs, it would be a strong platform just to run amp + cab sims. As a bonus, the Stomp's routing has been really well thought-through, and the box has on tap all the Helix line's useable processing and FX. For meat and potatoes bassists, this strikes me as a one-box solution. (Players who want always available footswitch control over many individual FX might be drawn instead to the FX, LT, or full Helix floor.)

I started by editing the bass presets to pare away everything but the amp/cab/mic emulation. I've been building some song-specific patches, and the ability to split the signal path makes it much easier to balance meat and FX without the tone losing its punch.

 

[Wood and Wire]

if I'm using it as a DI, I want those cuts in the PA as well.

I wish there were the option to have the speaker sim engaged on the XLR, but simultaneously bypassed on the 1/4" when hooking up to back line.

 

[tech21nyc]

I just sometimes find it strange (when using back line) to have a speaker sim, going through another speaker - and if that's mic'd, it's going through even more speakers.

At least the VTDI gives the option of turning the speaker sim off (or are you saying the Deluxe allows you to bypass it too?)

Occasionally I want a blend control, but only when I've got extreme levels of bright distortion, for effect.

Will definitely have to give the Deluxe a go at some point.

Have you compared it with their Fly Rig? (or whatever it's called - I can't remember, but it has lots of pretty coloured lights)

Cheers!

The VT Bass Deluxe has the speaker sim switch on the 1/4" output. There is no Blend on the Deluxe version as the form factor with the presets won't support it. Our speaker sims were designed to work well with your amp's speaker system as well as direct. We use a fairly mild curve that is not as steep as some of the digital products out there. We also give you post EQ controls so further shape the tone.

 

[Wood and Wire]

The VT Bass Deluxe has the speaker sim switch on the 1/4" output.

Am I understanding you correctly : does that mean you can bypass the speaker sim on the 1/4" output, yet simultaneously have the speaker sim engaged on the XLR output?

That would be ideal (but glad to hear the bypass is included on the Deluxe).

Cheers!

 

[tech21nyc]

Yes.

 

[Wood and Wire]

Yes.

That's awesome!

Thanks!

 

[Wood and Wire]

The VT Bass Deluxe has the speaker sim switch on the 1/4" output. There is no Blend on the Deluxe version as the form factor with the presets won't support it. Our speaker sims were designed to work well with your amp's speaker system as well as direct. We use a fairly mild curve that is not as steep as some of the digital products out there. We also give you post EQ controls so further shape the tone.

Hi, thanks to your detailed info - I finally got round to buying a VT Bass Deluxe version 2 - I'm really digging it!

I have a couple of questions, that hopefully you can answer :

1. Where can I get replacement rubber feet? (I got a really good deal on an opened box, but the store had put Velcro on the base, then never used it as a display model).

2. I was under the impression that the ground lift switch would, by extension, disable Phantom power.

However, I'm finding that regardless of whether the switch is engaged, or not ; the unit always receives Phantom power.

That's a good thing, as far as I'm concerned - but I wanted to check if that is the intended behaviour.

So far, I have not encountered any earth loops, so I cannot verify if the ground lift is working, or if the switch is doing anything at all.

Thanks for any clarification you can give.

 

[tech21nyc]

Hi, thanks to your detailed info - I finally got round to buying a VT Bass Deluxe version 2 - I'm really digging it!

I have a couple of questions, that hopefully you can answer :

1. Where can I get replacement rubber feet? (I got a really good deal on an opened box, but the store had put Velcro on the base, then never used it as a display model).

2. I was under the impression that the ground lift switch would, by extension, disable Phantom power.

However, I'm finding that regardless of whether the switch is engaged, or not ; the unit always receives Phantom power.

That's a good thing, as far as I'm concerned - but I wanted to check if that is the intended behaviour.

So far, I have not encountered any earth loops, so I cannot verify if the ground lift is working, or if the switch is doing anything at all.

Thanks for any clarification you can give.

If you need replacement feet contact our support department with your name, address and which unit you need the feet for.

Tech 21 USA, Inc.
Tel: 973-777-6996
Fax: 973-777-9899
email: [email protected]

The phantom power should be disconnected when the ground lift switch is used. If you are also running the 1/4" to another piece of gear the phantom will remain on. If you are only using the XLR out and the phantom stays on either something is wrong with the unit or you possibly have an XLR that's wired incorrectly.

 

[Wood and Wire]

If you need replacement feet contact our support department with your name, address and which unit you need the feet for.



The phantom power should be disconnected when the ground lift switch is used. If you are also running the 1/4" to another piece of gear the phantom will remain on. If you are only using the XLR out and the phantom stays on either something is wrong with the unit or you possibly have an XLR that's wired incorrectly.

Thanks so much for that, will drop you guys an email.

I will have to double check, but I'm pretty sure I checked with just the XLR connected.

I did a continuity test on a couple of XLR cables, and everything seemed in order

pin 1 : shield
pin 2 : signal +
pin 3 : signal -

But that said, I was always surprised by another active DI of mine, that exhibits the same behaviour (I think it was probably a 90's BSS), and that's making me wonder if it wasn't an Easter egg - but rather a possible fault with the device supplying Phantom power, or even with several cables.

I'm going to try a bunch of different cables, and try powering the VT Bass from a different mixing console, and a portable recording unit.

Will report back.

Cheers!