Active or passive DI for an active bass?

[brianrost]

The cheapest DI (in the long run) is probably a Radial ProDI

+1,000,000

I have two of them, they sound great.

 

[Jack]

I was first looking at DI options at Thomann, there are many inexpensive ones. If passive is ok, I would actually prefer it over active for the sole reason that I would have one less power supply cable to bother me, or one less battery to worry about running out. The Millenium DI-E is so cheap it's ridiculous (14€), but basic active ones still cost only around 30 bucks anyway.

I own three of the Thomann own brand DIs as well as loads of others at various price points. I compared the sound of the Thomann to an LBP in this thread on another forum (sorry for the cross post). It's fair to say that the cheapie does just fine in the comparison that I did.

There's more to it that just sound though. If I was only going to have one I'd have something like a Sansamp (I like the Paradriver) so that you have an 'amp sound' in case you play a backline-provided gig or in the unlikely event your amp fails.

 

[DonaldR]

If it's just for an office jam, then plug your active bass directly into the mixer. I've done it many times with great results. In the meantime, save your money to get a good passive DI that will serve you well for the rest of your life. Don't buy a cheap DI now, plug direct instead.

I have a Radial StageBug SB-2 that serves me well for many things other than with my active basses (end of pedalboard, keyboards, etc.). For live sound a StageBug is good enough, but you can save for a Pro DI or a JDI, if you can hear the differences.

Then I would invest in a good preamp. It could have an XLR out but it's not mandatory. Remember that you saved for a good passive DI that can now be used with the preamp, or as a backup

 

[Shenron]

If it's just for an office jam, then plug your active bass directly into the mixer.

I have to say that this is what I've been doing in the first few times in our rehearsal room, and it did sound just great. I don't know why, it's just plugged into the mixer, which might have some default EQ for bass, then out into the speakers. No DI, preamp, effects or anything, and my bass is nothing expensive, but the result was immediately very good. Of course it can be just my untrained ears

 

[Jack]

I have to say that this is what I've been doing in the first few times in our rehearsal room, and it did sound just great. I don't know why, it's just plugged into the mixer, which might have some default EQ for bass, then out into the speakers. No DI, preamp, effects or anything, and my bass is nothing expensive, but the result was immediately very good. Of course it can be just my untrained ears

Given the number of world famous bass tracks that have been recorded with just a transparent DI, it's no surprise really. Bit of compression and a tiny bit of saturation from a plugin and you'll have a hit on your hands.

 

[amper]

Given the amount of money my bass rig represents, I really see no reason to buy a cheap DI, when an "expensive" one costs about as much as an effects pedal. There are four DIs on the market that are widely considered industry benchmarks. They are not the only high quality ones, however:

Countryman Type 85 active (nb: infamously Pin 3 hot for historical reasons*)
Countryman Type 10 active, a newer design with even better performance
Radial Engineering J48 active
Radial Engineering JDI passive
all of them are available in both mono and stereo versions (The Type 85 Stereo is Pin 2 hot, which is the modern standard)

No matter where you go in the world, no one worth their salt is ever going to question the choice of any of these units. I would not hesitate to use any of them. I use the Type 85 because, back when I started in pro audio in the 1980s, that's what was considered the best.

The only real drawbacks to the JDI are that the transformer does introduce some coloration of its own (this may be desirable or not desirable), and that the lower output (not lower gain, as it doesn't have any amplification factor, at all, so it's negative gain, or attenuation, cf. laws of physics) means that it will probably require more amplification, and may therefore result is a slightly lower signal-to-noise ratio. The JDI itself has extremely low noise floor, but the mic pre you are plugging it into may not.

I'm actually thinking for changing out my DI setup from the Countryman Type 85 to two Type 85S boxes, only because they are two different sizes, and when I pack up my kit, it seems like it might be easier to have them both be the same size. I need stereo for guitar, but I really only need mono for bass, but I like to use two DIs: one safety DI straight out of my instrument, and a second at the end of my pedalboard that carries my full tone.

If I get two Type 85S, then I can use them for either mono bass or stereo guitar, but money being what it is, I'll likely just buy one Type 85S for now, and continue to use my Type 85 as the safety, until I can afford otherwise.

* If I remember this correctly, the Type 85 is a very old design that dates back to before the AES had really settled on a standard for the XLR connector polarity, and eventually the AES settled on Pin 2 hot/positive. Rather than change the Type 85 and end up with two different versions in the wild, which could cause conflicts, Countryman elected to leave the design alone.

 

[DonaldR]

You cannot resolder pin 2 to pin 3 and vice versa?

 

[amper]

You cannot resolder pin 2 to pin 3 and vice versa?

You can, but it’s not generally needed, since it only matters if you have polarity mismatches, and most pro audio gear has polarity reversal switches on each input channel. If you do resolder them, the problem is that you then have units out there that might conflict with each other. Even if you label them clearly, labels can go missing or even be ignored. That’s why Countryman never changed their practice.

 

[amper]

I will also say that although the Radial J48 is a fine active DI, between it and the two Countryman units, I would choose the Countryman every time, because the J48 for some reason has a relatively low input impedance, less than 1 Mohm, while the Countryman designs have a 10 Mohm input impedance. Not that that usually causes problems, but the Countryman is just that much moe versatile. You wouldn’t want to use a J48 on a passive piezo pickup instrument, for instance.

 

[Zbysek]

I will also say that although the Radial J48 is a fine active DI, between it and the two Countryman units, I would choose the Countryman every time, because the J48 for some reason has a relatively low input impedance, less than 1 Mohm, while the Countryman designs have a 10 Mohm input impedance. Not that that usually causes problems, but the Countryman is just that much moe versatile. You wouldn’t want to use a J48 on a passive piezo pickup instrument, for instance.

I wouldn't use J48 with a passive piezo-equipped instrument either.

I agree that high input impedance DI is preferable for passive piezo-equipped instrument. I might add that such a DI box should have the (parallel) output (to amp) buffered in order for the instrument to benefit from the high input impedance.

I know that Radial PZ DI and SB4 have buffered outputs. I am not sure that it is the case for Countryman DIs though. I tried to look it up and didn't find this information.

I am using Broughton Messenger and HPF-DI with my passive NSD EUB. Both have buffered outputs...

 

[Wasnex]

I am not sure that it is the case for Countryman DIs though

The Type 85 does not have a buffered through.

 

[Zbysek]

The Type 85 does not have a buffered through.

I thought so...