Ampeg SCR-DI vs Radial JDI for FOH signal

The soundguy in me says you should be fine with the DI from the SCRDI.. Use(d) the very same pedal myself when I was ampless, and an SVT7Pro when not
DI - either way.

 

JDI between your PBass and tuner would be a good "insurance policy" in case there is a problem with your pedalboard, or a sudden loss of power, or the sound guy prefers a "dry" sound.

But you might find yourself never using it. The SCR-DI is a great piece of gear, so if you are happy with the results, no need to change things up, in my opinion.

 

The Ampeg SCR-DI is a really good preamp/DI. I use it all the time direct to FOH for lightweight gigs/jams. The DI always has that Ampeg flavor (and pseudo cab-sim filtering), activated or not.
Tim Crommerford is having one on its pedalboard, using it for IEM.

 

I’d be coming out of the VR built in DI, same as my 7 pro.

 

so you don't hear any of your cool pedal effects in your stage amp? what's the point of that?

are you using the scr-DI for much tone-shaping or just as a DI? if it's going basically flat then i say skip it and use the SVT VR's DI (with all the FX going into it) so you can get some real tube tone into the FOH. were it me i'd even set it post so as much of the amp's character made it into the mix as possible.

in that case just keep one in your gig bag to bust out if any of those situations come up.

if you really had to do that, better would be after the tuner so muting to tune actually mutes everything out front, and ideally that tuner would be something like a buffered boss TU2, otherwise the passive bass straight into the passive DI will have some signal loss.

personally, i'll be damned if i let a DI happen in front of my pedalboard!

that a soundguy "prefers a dry sound" is neither here nor there, it's up to you as the musician to create a good tone that fits the band (whatever that might mean) and then send it to FOH; it's up to the soundguy to make that work out front. (is that soundguy gonna tell the les paul-playing guitarist that he "prefers a strat sound"?)

 

Just to play devils advocate, since the OP is using the Thru on the SCR-DI, how will he know if he's sending a good tone to FOH or not? The Thru bypasses all of the SCR-DI's processing, so he won't be able to monitor what happens when he makes adjustments, unless the his signal is sent back to him through the fold back monitors.

I totally agree the DI needs to be taken after the effects. If you want some Ampeg tone, the OP's proposed signal path will do, but he is sort of running "blind," or in this case, "deaf" to whatever mojo the SCR-DI is working on his signal. It would probably work okay, but require more futzing with the audio tech to get the SCR-DI dialed in.

I am not a huge fan of running Post DI or a speaker level DI, especially if the player is using a traditionally voiced speakers. The voicing of the speaker will throw the EQ off in the DI...and also Post DI and speaker level DI can sometimes be overly noisy.

If the player relies on his/her rig to produce a signature sound, I suggest using a mic, but unfortunately many audio techs are opposed to this. You have to deal with a bit of bleed, noise, and EQ issues with a mic as well, but I think this is really the best way to authentically capture the sound of a players rig, especially if he/she likes to tickle the output tubes a bit.

Ultimately there is no perfect solution, so you just do the best you can. I think the SCR-DI will work fine, but some audio techs are going to want to use their own "old faithful," which might be a piece of crap. I have had audio techs reject using my Countryman Type-85 and Radial JDI for a piece of crap they were familiar with on a number of gigs. Over the years and various conflicts, I came to the conclusion it wasn't really worth a huge blowup that could compromise the gig.

 

I am also in the camp wondering why dry to the amp ? And also of DI post pedal board. I want to hear my effects ...

I am not generally in favor of ‘amp’ on board DI’s. If we do use one, it will be pre eq. A JDI or Countryman before the amp is my preference. Solid, quiet and reasonably transparent.

 

Stacking too many preamps tends to degrade the sound, so I think your proposed set up with the SCR-DI has some merit, but also some problems to work around. Mainly you get some Ampeg Mojo on your DI signal, but you really don't know how much, unless you are dialed into the monitors.

If you always running distortion, perhaps an OMNICABSIM or similar Amp/Cab Sim would be a better choice...I think mic'ing the cab is more authentic, but many people seem happy with a SIM.

Some are happy using the JDI's cab SIM as as well, but this is to be used at speaker level with the -15dB pad engaged. Make a parallel connection with the JDI instead of running the cab off the JDI's Thru. The internal circuitry of the JDI is not intended to carry the current of a high powered amp, but it will do fine with the voltage.

 

For what it's worth to you, looking at the rigs real pros use for playing concerts and festivals, almost none of them seem to use the preamp pedals that are so popular on Talkbass. It's bass>pedalboard>Active DI box like a JDI>FOH (and thru out to the amp.)

 

True, but the speaker emulator of the JDI is intended for use at speaker level rather than instrument level. It might pad the signal down too much. You might want to do a bit more research to make sure it will work at instrument level.

 

IMHO a preamp DI becomes more desirable if you are using IEMs and going ampless. This gives player the ability to dial their sound into the IEMs directly. However, as an audio tech I would rather not have to deal with the players tone control changes when possible.

 

The JDI is a fine DI, but if you want an instrument level cab SIM I think you need to look elsewhere. FYI, several people seem happy using the JDI cab SIM at speaker level.

I think your SCR-DI will work fine. My only concern is dialing it in and being mindful of what happens if you bump the level on one of your effects pedals. Maybe it will be fine with the particular configuration you are describing. Before spending cash I would do some experiments with what you have, to include trying the DI on your VR.

I am used to the audio tech providing a DI. I usually carry one just in case, but I found it very rare that I needed to use it. Early in my playing career I wanted to use my DI and found this often led to conflict, since the audio tech wanted to use his.

The OMNICABSIM is well respected, but I haven't used it.
https://www.dsmnoisemaker.com/omnicabsim-deluxe?lightbox=dataItem-ipifzqlc

 

Then why bother dragging out an SVT head? Nobody will hear its tubey goodness but you.

In fact you might as well do what I do with the same setup (where my pedalboard is my entire sound) and just throw a plain power amp on top of your bass cab.

 

Save some money if you go the Radial route and get a Whirlwind Director. To me it sounds the same.