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Bass-friendly DI Box for less than 100 CDN $ ?

Bassmike62

Bassmike62

Punch'n Ooomph
Oct 4, 2009
6,318
11,243
Somewhere Northwest of Montreal, CAN
#1
Looking for this for my home studio and it could be used for recording as well as live playing if required. Ideally transparent and warm, but I understand this could be difficult to achieve within my budget.

Reason: I've been using the BDDI last in chain for a few years, but I'm now looking at moving it in a more classic mid(ish)-chain spot. Still want a DI last, though.

Any suggestions ?

Thx for your help.

(EDIT: I added the "CDN" to the title).
 
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#2
I use either an LR Baggs Paracoustic DI or a Sansamp Paradriver. I think I bought each of them for just a little more than $100....

What I like about both of them is that as an multi-instrumentalist they work great for everything and no external power supply is needed.

Beside a 9 volt battery, you can power either w Phantom power or a normal boss AC power supply for the Sansamp.

The Sansamp is my go to because the controls have bigger knobs whereas the PADI has teeny little pots but both sound good - though neither is specifically designed for bass they both work great for me.
 
#4
I have little-to-no expertise on the subject, but I picked up one of these when it was a stupid deal of the day (I got it for $40 new):

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They are normally $100, but you might be able to find one a bit cheaper, as I was able to.

I use it in my home studio, and it sounds pretty darn good. I don't have much to compare with, though.
 
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#5
bongomania said:
Be sure to specify whether you mean a DI box that is just a DI box, or a pedal with features like EQ or distortion that also has a DI output and says DI on the package.
Click to expand...

Good point.
I'm looking for just the DI function, no EQ or other stuff.


Luke19Boarder said:
I have little-to-no expertise on the subject, but I picked up one of these when it was a stupid deal of the day (I got it for $40 new):

Invalid Link Removed

They are normally $100, but you might be able to find one a bit cheaper, as I was able to. I use it in my home studio, and it sounds pretty darn good. I don't have much to compare with, though.
Click to expand...

Yup, we're in the right territory, thx !
 
#9
In your price range, for a straight DI, I think the Radial Pro DI would be hard to beat. I own the JDI (pretty much the same thing, just with a Jensen transformer, thus a higher price), but will readily admit that the Pro DI transformer is excellent and in most cases no one could detect an audible difference.
 
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#10
Al Kraft said:
In your price range, for a straight DI, I think the Radial Pro DI would be hard to beat. I own the JDI (pretty much the same thing, just with a Jensen transformer, thus a higher price), but will readily admit that the Pro DI transformer is excellent and in most cases no one could detect an audible difference.
Click to expand...
^ I'll second this for live. In your price range that is a really good choice.
 
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#11
Luke19Boarder said:
You may note that there are passive (radial ProDI) and active (BBE Magnum) DI boxes. I would do some research (or hopefully someone can step in here to explain) to decide whether it would be advantageous to use one vs other.
Click to expand...
Sure I'll bite. There are two main cases where it could matter:

1) With a passive bass and no pedals or other buffers between the bass and the DI, a passive DI can load down the signal, reducing highs, and in some extreme cases weakening the signal overall. If you want a dark vintage sound, this may be fine.

2) With an active bass or with effects or some other buffer/boost between the bass and the DI, some 9V active DI boxes may distort on your signal peaks. To avoid this, you can use an active DI that runs on 18V or higher.

Based on those two cases, some people set a rule of thumb to use an active DI with a passive bass, and a passive DI with an active bass. But of course that's just a simplification and generalization; there will be lots of instances where passive works great with passive, and active works great with active. It depends on the specific gear at hand.
 
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#12
bongomania said:
(...) some people set a rule of thumb to use an active DI with a passive bass, and a passive DI with an active bass. But of course that's just a simplification and generalization (...)
Click to expand...

Interesting, never saw it that way before. Would it explain why s Stagebug SB1(active) clipped when I used it with an Ibanez Montage hybrid electric-acoustic guitar ?
 
#15
Bassmike62 said:
Looking for this for my home studio and it could be used for recording as well as live playing if required. Ideally transparent and warm, but I understand this could be difficult to achieve within my budget.

Reason: I've been using the BDDI last in chain for a few years, but I'm now looking at moving it in a more classic mid(ish)-chain spot. Still want a DI last, though.

Any suggestions ?

Thx for your help.
Click to expand...
Radial makes decent ones for what you want. I own a sans amp RBI, Darkglass b7k ultra and a radial pro DI. Studio we used had two different radials from the one I have. But those were specifically geared towards reamping and they worked great also.
 
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#17
Bassmike62 said:
Looking for this for my home studio and it could be used for recording as well as live playing if required. Ideally transparent and warm, but I understand this could be difficult to achieve within my budget.

Reason: I've been using the BDDI last in chain for a few years, but I'm now looking at moving it in a more classic mid(ish)-chain spot. Still want a DI last, though.

Any suggestions ?

Thx for your help.
Click to expand...

"Transparent" and "warm" are generally opposites, unless you're referencing a high end tube unit like a Jule Monique ;)

Look into the Radial boxes, they're an industry standard for a reason :thumbsup:
 
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