Active or passive input?

[exz5string]

Hey folks, kinda dumb question but I can't think of the right way to do this one right now.

I'm playing a bass with active pickups, and my SM900 head has inputs for both active & passive. I have always used the active, of course, but just added a compressor into the setup, in line before the amp, so I'm wondering if I should still use the active input, since the compressor is powered, or switch to the passive?

Searched for older posts but found none, sorry if it's a repost.
Thanks!

 

[MNAirHead]

Really up to you.. it's intended to "pad" an input of high output active basses.. this causes distortion.

 

[exz5string]

I'm gonna switch back & forth a bit tonight, see if the sound changes much. Don't think the passive input will harm anything do ya? it's got it limiter, so does the comp, so not worried about big spikes

 

[bassman1185]

Most amps' active inputs are simply a bit lower gain. If you plug into the passive input, you'll just have to drop your input gain by a few db or you'll get distortion.