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Best DI to Play Live WITHOUT Amp?

#23
I run without an amp quite a bit. I currently own a Sadowsky preamp, Fishman pro platinum EQ and a SABDDI. The sansamp works best without an amp. The Sadowsky kicks butt at making good gear sound better. The Fishman excels at providing a lot EQ and compression options. Also the Fishman works great with acoustic/upright basses. The SABDDI gets the nod with bass guitars without an amp. It emulates an amp. The tone isn't amazing. It isn't even stellar. It is however pretty good and weighs a whole heck of a lot less than the average amp.

On a side note, two glasses of wine and a glass of knob creek bourbon make typing one one of those split "ergonomic" keyboards nearly impossible.
 
#25
Best and ONLY DI to play with must have a ground lift to avoid ground loop problems. I found out the hard way that the Sansamps don't. You can use the Sansamp in front of a good DI with ground lift. That's the only way I'd use it. So I'd invest in a good DI first (Radial Engineering, etc), then add a Sansamp or whatever for tone/preamp/etc.

I also have heard that you shouldn't use a passive DI with a bass with passive electronics. The passive bass may not provide enough signal for a passive DI, and would require an active DI to regenerate the signal to an appropriate level.
 
#26
Jake of Bass said:
Probably a good idea to post your budget if money is a concern, it will narrow down the options presented to you.
Click to expand...

That's a good point. Unlike a bass or even an amp, where that "I've got to have it" feeling overrides the budget concerns, I'm not feeling emotional about a preamp/stompbox/DI. $250 is about the ceiling for me, which takes the U5 out of consideration, but leaves a lot of room for SansAmp, MXR, the Tone Hammer, etc.

More research raises another question for me. My new bass (Warwick Rockbass Corvette) has active pickups, which is new for me. Does this make a preamp/DI redundant?

Thank you all, again, for your helpful information.
 
#27
Again I can only speak from my experience through owning three SansAmps, but I happen to have always played active basses (currently an EBMM SR5) and they work very well with SansAmps. I imagine this is true for more preamp/DI combos than not.

PS: A cocktail and a few beers later and things are peachy :)
 
#28
tedsalt said:
Best and ONLY DI to play with must have a ground lift to avoid ground loop problems. I found out the hard way that the Sansamps don't. You can use the Sansamp in front of a good DI with ground lift. That's the only way I'd use it. So I'd invest in a good DI first (Radial Engineering, etc), then add a Sansamp or whatever for tone/preamp/etc.

I also have heard that you shouldn't use a passive DI with a bass with passive electronics. The passive bass may not provide enough signal for a passive DI, and would require an active DI to regenerate the signal to an appropriate level.
Click to expand...


Passive DI's through a long run back to the mixer will lose some signal (most notably high end) when running through a passive DI. For some people that might not be a problem.

Side note: SABDDI's do have a ground lift. I've used it numerous times in the past for the reasons you posted. Your post did however make me question the validity of my memory so I just pulled mine out of my gig bag to verify this.
 
#29
Jake of Bass said:
Again I can only speak from my experience through owning three SansAmps, but I happen to have always played active basses (currently an EBMM SR5) and they work very well with SansAmps. I imagine this is true for more preamp/DI combos than not.

PS: A cocktail and a few beers later and things are peachy :)
Click to expand...

Ah you are making me regret that it is now morning here in central US and that the social norms frown upon a refreshing beverage of that sort before noon.
 
#33
I've been wondering about this as well. SansAmp is out of the question, as the Ampeg tone is really not what I'm into. I use a lot of synthy and distorted effects, and play active basses. What would you guys go for? (Sorry for the hijack btw...)
 
#34
bdtesq said:
That's a good point. Unlike a bass or even an amp, where that "I've got to have it" feeling overrides the budget concerns, I'm not feeling emotional about a preamp/stompbox/DI. $250 is about the ceiling for me, which takes the U5 out of consideration, but leaves a lot of room for SansAmp, MXR, the Tone Hammer, etc.

More research raises another question for me. My new bass (Warwick Rockbass Corvette) has active pickups, which is new for me. Does this make a preamp/DI redundant?

Thank you all, again, for your helpful information.
Click to expand...

If all you are using the DI for is to handle long cable runs, an active bass makes a DI redundant. If you want the preamp for tone shaping, it is still useful. Also, if you need to go through a snake, you need a DI to get the XLR connection.
 
#35
seanm said:
If all you are using the DI for is to handle long cable runs, an active bass makes a DI redundant. If you want the preamp for tone shaping, it is still useful. Also, if you need to go through a snake, you need a DI to get the XLR connection.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what you mean about an active bass making a DI redundant. A DI converts an unbalanced signal to a balanced signal, which eliminates noise and interference as the signal runs to the mixer. The DI isn't redundant at all, but a necessary item. Now the preamp in some DI's might be a bit redundant, unless they provide some tone shaping or character that doesn't come from the onboard preamp.
 
#38
I was looking at getting some new A Design Preamps fro my studio and spoke with Peter Montessi today. Turns out he is going to Bass Player Live in LA next week. He said he will have REDDIs with him to sell plus his other EQs and toys..Im guessing they will be at a discount... Im going to be there with Alleva Coppolo basses for fun... Trying to get a REDDI at the Alleva Booth with headphone amp to try out.. Bass Player live is an awesome experience if anyone has never gone if you can try to check it out.
 
#40
The Aguilar Tone Hammer. Bass, Treble and Mids at 12:30, mid-center fully counter clockwise, AGC engaged with gain set at 8:30. It's as close to a REDDI as you can get without a REDDI, at less than 1/3 the cost and way more flexible. No joke.
 

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