Bass DI for both active and passive basses

[FunWithBass]

Amp as DI:
As far as I know, no current class D head requires a cab connected in order to use the XLR out as a DI. Aguilar TH350/500, Ampeg, Darkglass 900, G-K MB200/500/800 or MBFusion500/800, Mesa Subway, TC Electronic, etc.

If you already have any of the above, they can save you buying an extra and unnecessary piece of gear.

OTOH, if you have a specific need for a straight DI, or want one as a gig bag backup, I would consider almost all of those heads to be excessively large and expensive for the purpose.

The one standout that deserves consideration as a gigbag multi-tool is the MB200. Inexpensive, reliable, great EQ w/pre-post switch, lots of gain, capable of driving just about any cab at reasonable levels, active/passive switch, power amp input, etc. Best of all, there are active DI's that are larger!

Bass Preamp/DI:
Safest bets: The new Sansamp BDDI v2 with the mid control, the Mesa Subway preamp-DI and the Sadowsky are all rugged and simple, with great tone-shaping options and sounds that should please just about any bassist. The Mesa and Sansamp are better choices if overdriven sounds are a requirement. The Sadowsky leans toward modern, active tones, the Sansamp sits in the middle, and the Subway is a little more dark and old-school.

All three are simple to use, and have great-sounding DI outputs, a cut above the good-but-not-stellar DI in the G-K heads.

Pedalboard replacements: If you're looking for lots of features, the Zoom B3, Sansamp Bass Fly rig and the new G-K Plex preamp offer interesting extras, but they have a steep learning curve as a result. Ditto for the Radial Tonebone series and the EBS Microbass, Sheehan and Valvedrive pedals. The Zoom has the most effects, but the audio quality isn't as good as the others.

The Aguilar Tone Hammer is another tricky pedal to recommend, as it's quite coloured. People tend to love it or hate it. Another consideration with the more complex pedals is that early adopters of the G-K and BFR have been posting mixed reviews, and there have been noise and reliability issues reported by some users.

If the device is going to be shared by multiple bassists, and all I needed was a good bass DI, I would definitely stick with the Mesa, Sadowsky or Mesa.

Passive DI:
Let's face it- a lot of recorded bass tracks don't involve a bass amp. Give a bass player speaker emulation, tone or gain controls (from an amp head or a bass preamp), and quite often they'll actually make life harder for the folks at FOH.

Simple is good, and the Radial JDI is a bomb-proof industry standard. If you're a tone-weenie, you will find that it sounds noticeably better than more affordable passive DI's (including Radial's excellent Pro DI series), and it's more hi-fi than all but the very best active DI's. Distortion, noise, etc. are extremely close to a straight piece of wire. Because of the lower impedance compared to an active DI, it will round and darken the sound of passive basses very slightly, but in a way that sounds great.

One of the pluses of a passive DI, is that it is always there for you. Aside from leaving the pad or ground switches in the wrong setting, it's idiot and calamity-proof. It will work fine when phantom power is unavailable. This happens surprisingly often on the road- a lot of analog consoles don't like having active mics or DI's hot-swapped without turning off the 48V first.

Active DI:
OTOH, a really good active DI can sometimes preserve signal quality with oddball, difficult sources. Usually, this implies an acoustic instrument with piezo pickups but no internal preamp. If you want to reserve the last bit of fidelity in the sub frequencies with extended range basses or keyboards, an active DI is often recommended, although in most cases FOH will roll that stuff off anyway...

As long as there's a good passive box like the JDI hanging around as a failsafe, an active DI is a nice thing to have in your arsenal.

The Countryman 85 is an industry standard, and surprisingly, it's a few bucks cheaper than the JDI. But for the extra $20, I personally prefer the Radial J48. In fact, it's the cheapest active DI that I would recommend.

The Radial JDV or Firefly are a step up from the J48, but they're pretty expensive.

If you've got more than $200 USD to work with, the sleeper in an active DI these days is the Neve RNDI. No effects or extras, but the phantom-only RNDI is showing up at recording sessions as well as on stage, and at well under $300 USD, it's a steal compared to more expenses boxes.

Although the fidelity of the JDI and the Neve are pretty much as perfect as you can get, sometimes you want a "colour box". I would put the REDDI and Avalon in that category, but TBH, any "magic" they provide is extremely subtle. Unless you're a recording studio owner or playing stadiums, I don't see the point from a sound, price or portability standpoint.

Thank you for the detailed information and reviews! I have the TH and a GK heads, so I may use those for myself (and not leave them at the church). The worship leader wants one that stays at the church for anyone else to use.

 

[NKBassman]

My suggestions:

Passive DI: Radial JDI. Simple, bulletproof.
Active DI: Countryman Type 85. Again, simple, bulletproof option. Requires phantom power.
Preamp w/ tone shaping: Aguilar Tonehammer DI or Mesa Subway DI. As far as Class D heads go, if I didn't already own a Tonehammer 500 I'd be looking at the new Mesa Subway 800. Given the quality of these amps, I have to assume the preamp pedals are excellent as well.

Honorable Mentions: Tech 21 Sansamp BDDI. Tech 21 VT Bass. Ampeg Scrambler.

 

[bikeplate]

JDI

 

[EarnestTBass]

I love my Ampeg SCR DI Scrambler. However- It may not work so well when alternating between passive and active basses. The pad switch is accessible only after removing screws from the (very well made and sturdy) box.

I like mine well enough to drill a hole and install an external mini switch.

 

[s0707]

...

The Countryman 85 is an industry standard, and surprisingly, it's a few bucks cheaper than the JDI. But for the extra $20, I personally prefer the Radial J48. In fact, it's the cheapest active DI that I would recommend.

...

Just looking at the specs, the Countryman has 10 MOhm input impedance, so it may give you an added capability of working well with piezo pickups (for some fretless basses, double basses). Someone mentioned the J48 also works well with piezo pickups, but its specs says its input impedance is only 220 KOhms (piezos like 10 MOhm).

 

[NKBassman]

Just looking at the specs, the Countryman has 10 MOhm input impedance, so it may give you an added capability of working well with piezo pickups (for some fretless basses, double basses). Someone mentioned the J48 also works well with piezo pickups, but its specs says its input impedance is only 220 KOhms (piezos like 10 MOhm).

This is correct. If input impedance is a concern, then the Countryman is a good choice. It's a lot higher than any of the standard Radial offerings. The Type 85 is a really nice clean active DI. I've used mine in the studio several times for that "direct off the bass" DI track, and then I usually put my Radial JDI after my pedalboard for a second track.

 

[lowfreqgeek]

Just looking at the specs, the Countryman has 10 MOhm input impedance, so it may give you an added capability of working well with piezo pickups (for some fretless basses, double basses). Someone mentioned the J48 also works well with piezo pickups, but its specs says its input impedance is only 220 KOhms (piezos like 10 MOhm).

I like the Type 85 a lot, and it works great for double bass with the 10Mohm input. The J48 absolutely DOES NOT work for piezos, unless they are pre-buffered. That said, the Type 85 can get brittle sounding in the highs when driven with a low-Z output from an active bass. The 220k input impedance of the J48 is just low enough to not get brittle with active instruments, and high enough to not make passive instruments dull (like the JDI can do for some passive basses).

I've had and used all the above, and many others, but my #1 pick is the J48 for do-it-all clean electric bass. However, I'd very GLADLY use an RNDI instead of the J48. In fact, I may go ahead and purchase once. The J48 stinks for upright bass, btw. For that (and for studio), I use my Manley Tube DI. I also have an Aguilar DB900 that sounds great with both active and passive basses. The tube/iron tames down the brittle highs that might otherwise occur with a low-Z output into a high-Z input on a purely solid-state DI.

 

[bass_lord_mutha]

I use a Radial JDI and it sounds great with both passive and active basses. I know a couple players locally that use the Tone Hammer at church as well and like them a lot too.

 

[g4string]

OP.....try and convince your WL the church needs two DI's.....one passive and one active. The Radial JDI (passive) and Countryman 85 (active) are what I'd reccomend. They're hard to beat in terms of sound quality -vs- $cost ratio. BUT.....if the budget only allows for one, get the Radial JDI.

 

[Smogcity]

I'd say Noble

Buy once, cry once. This should last you a lifetime, sounds great with any bass and had a lot of studio utility in addition to just being a bass DI

 

[pbass2]

I've successfully used the Radial JDI with active and passive basses both. One of the benefits is not requiring phantom power from the board.

Can't go wrong with a JDI.

 

[FunWithBass]

Lots of suggestions....but....why does the WL want a different DI, what is he trying to achieve?

Excellent question. I do not know yet.

When he mentioned the idea, he did not have time to elaborate. He mentioned that he wanted to meet with me at a later date and discuss it. In the mean time, I thought I would pick up from the last time I looked at purchasing a DI, which lead me to the question of a DI that worked well for both active and passive basses. I figure that it will be a more productive meeting if I have a few options for him based on what he is trying to achieve.

 

[jcbofa]

I've tried almost all mentioned above except the Noble, and there isn't a bad suggestion among them.

I will say that I have gravitated to the new Mesa DI - 4-band EQ, balanced dry DI AND preamp outs simultaneously, and a front-end active/passive pad in addition to the input gain adjustment.

Sounds awesome, quiet, 9V DC and a great price point.

 

[FunWithBass]

OP.....try and convince your WL the church needs two DI's.....one passive and one active. The Radial JDI (passive) and Countryman 85 (active) are what I'd reccomend. They're hard to beat in terms of sound quality -vs- $cost ratio. BUT.....if the budget only allows for one, get the Radial JDI.

I will bring the idea up for two DIs. Thanks!

I also wonder how the passive DIs will react if the battery in your active bass dies and you flip the passive switch on your bass (while performing). Any ideas?

 

[NKBassman]

I will bring the idea up for two DIs. Thanks!

I also wonder how the passive DIs will react if the battery in your active bass dies and you flip the passive switch on your bass (while performing). Any ideas?

IMO, aside from the issue with piezo pickups already discussed, the difference in tone between high quality active and passive DI's will be negligible in a live context. You might be able to tell the difference in a critical listening (ie. studio) environment, but live, in the mix, switching from Active to Passive mode on the same bass... there's no way that the DI choice is going to make or break the situation.

 

[MDBass]

Hey everone,
I was playing bass today in my church and the worship leader mentioned that he wanted to get a DI box specifically for bass (instead of using the ProCo CB-1 they use for all the other instruments). I am not sure what the WL is looking for as far as features or budget, but it would be used by several different bassists who would be using passive or active basses (as well as active with passive switch).

Seaching the threads, I saw mention of the Radial J48 for active and passive basses.

Are there any single DI boxes that you have used that worked well for both active and passive basses?

All DI's work well with both active and passive basses, it really comes down to your budget and what features you're looking for.

If budget is no concern I'd highly recommend the Jule Monique, but something a Radial JDI would work just fine on a budget.

 

[Lo-E]

IMO, aside from the issue with piezo pickups already discussed, the difference in tone between high quality active and passive DI's will be negligible in a live context. You might be able to tell the difference in a critical listening (ie. studio) environment, but live, in the mix, switching from Active to Passive mode on the same bass... there's no way that the DI choice is going to make or break the situation.

I tend to agree. If it's really a concern, the highest-impedance input will be the least affected by the change, ie: the Countryman, but in reality it's not likely to be a big issue in a live setting.

Countryman Type 85. Requires phantom power

The Type 85 will also work quite happily with a 9V battery. On paper there's a slight loss of headroom doing that, but I've never heard a difference live or in the studio, personally.

 

[FunWithBass]

You can run the TH500 without a speaker. It specifically mentions it in the manual. See the top paragraph on page 4 of the manual..

I have the version 3.0 of the user manual for the Tone Hammer 500, and the top paragraph on page 4 is entitled 'Protection Features' and does not mention speakers. Maybe your manual reads differently?

I bought TH500 used and printed out the manual from the Aguliar website last year since it did not come with a manual.

That said, I did contact Auguilar and was told that the TH500 could be safely operated without a speaker load as you (and several others here) have said. So thanks for pointing that out.

So for my personal use, I will use my TH500 head for now, but this thread is about what the church will buy for their use.

 

[JimmyM]

Any SS head is fine without a cab. It's only tube amps that you need to worry about using without a cab. There are very rare exceptions out there, but 999 times out of 1000, that's the rule.

 

[John Hobson]

I used my active bass with Radial JDI for a while no problems.
Later I got a Sansamp VT Bass Deluxe (active) which also work well as a DI Box.

Never had a single problem with either one. Sound guy never had any issues, as far as I know......