For a good 15-20 years, the one item that was always present in my bass playing arsenal was a SansAmp BDDI. The pedal was forever in my case, or plugged to my bass, everywhere I was or went.
I ended up selling it because it started distorting. The culprit: It was my L-2500 combined with my signal chain that got much louder, and which proved too much for the BDDI circuitry. I replaced it with an MXR M81, which handles levels and volumes more efficiently.
As I was selling the SansAmp away though, I didn’t expect that I would miss it for one sole purpose. The BDDI was an incredible always-ready little box! Need to play into a small or a big amp, or into a console or a PA system? Regardless, the little box magically beefs up your sound and allows you to thinker with it at will.
Current circumstances reminded me how useful such a box as the BDDI was. And as I can’t afford to buy back a SansAmp pedal, I’m happy to have discovered the Behringer BDI21. It does some of what the SansAmp can do, at a much more affordable price.
The Behringer BDI21 is not a SansAmp BDDI clone. It is not equivalent in quality. It is not the best DI/preamp box on the market. But at such a low price – I paid mine CAD70$ including shipping and taxes – it does that one job: it efficiently beefs up your sound, plus allows good EQ and volume control, with the turn of a couple knobs.
I’ve been playing for a couple hours using the BDI21, since I received it earlier today. It takes a while to figure out. Again, these are not the same circuits as the SA BDDI. So, you need to check them all out individually and in combination, before you can navigate to a tone that you like.
I appreciate how the Drive circuit on the BDI21 is smoother than on the BDDI. You can dial in a good amount before it actually distorts. It serves as a Gain, more than as a Distortion. And it breaks nicely when you dig in. I prefer it to the BDDI’s, which I never dialed in at more than 25%.
For the rest, I currently have the Drive, Presence and Blend at 50%. Treble is at 75% and Bass at 45%. That gets me most of my original tone, with a little added “houmpf!”
I have my creative pedal chain, all with comp, dist, delay, flanger, etc. I use it in my studio. But now, I’m also happy to have the BDI21 that will sit in my case, alone, ready for all occasions where I might bring my bass. It might not be as high quality as a SansAmp BDDI, but it does efficiently do its job as a Swiss-army-knife pedal.
I ended up selling it because it started distorting. The culprit: It was my L-2500 combined with my signal chain that got much louder, and which proved too much for the BDDI circuitry. I replaced it with an MXR M81, which handles levels and volumes more efficiently.
As I was selling the SansAmp away though, I didn’t expect that I would miss it for one sole purpose. The BDDI was an incredible always-ready little box! Need to play into a small or a big amp, or into a console or a PA system? Regardless, the little box magically beefs up your sound and allows you to thinker with it at will.
Current circumstances reminded me how useful such a box as the BDDI was. And as I can’t afford to buy back a SansAmp pedal, I’m happy to have discovered the Behringer BDI21. It does some of what the SansAmp can do, at a much more affordable price.
The Behringer BDI21 is not a SansAmp BDDI clone. It is not equivalent in quality. It is not the best DI/preamp box on the market. But at such a low price – I paid mine CAD70$ including shipping and taxes – it does that one job: it efficiently beefs up your sound, plus allows good EQ and volume control, with the turn of a couple knobs.
I’ve been playing for a couple hours using the BDI21, since I received it earlier today. It takes a while to figure out. Again, these are not the same circuits as the SA BDDI. So, you need to check them all out individually and in combination, before you can navigate to a tone that you like.
I appreciate how the Drive circuit on the BDI21 is smoother than on the BDDI. You can dial in a good amount before it actually distorts. It serves as a Gain, more than as a Distortion. And it breaks nicely when you dig in. I prefer it to the BDDI’s, which I never dialed in at more than 25%.
For the rest, I currently have the Drive, Presence and Blend at 50%. Treble is at 75% and Bass at 45%. That gets me most of my original tone, with a little added “houmpf!”
I have my creative pedal chain, all with comp, dist, delay, flanger, etc. I use it in my studio. But now, I’m also happy to have the BDI21 that will sit in my case, alone, ready for all occasions where I might bring my bass. It might not be as high quality as a SansAmp BDDI, but it does efficiently do its job as a Swiss-army-knife pedal.
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