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Broke Down and bought a DI
- Thread starter iriegnome
- Start date
They work, and at that price, it never hurts to have one in the bag.
With that said, it's also worth thinking about how much tone control you want to have before the signal gets to the board. That helps you deal with sound guys of varying skill levels, tune the sound to the room itself, and generally get the most out of what your bass is crankin'.
But the IMP definitely gets the job one, and even if you got a premium DI later, it'd be very smart to keep that thing around as a backup.
With that said, it's also worth thinking about how much tone control you want to have before the signal gets to the board. That helps you deal with sound guys of varying skill levels, tune the sound to the room itself, and generally get the most out of what your bass is crankin'.
But the IMP definitely gets the job one, and even if you got a premium DI later, it'd be very smart to keep that thing around as a backup.
I have a Radial J48, and the thing is amazing. For active basses, it deals with the headroom issues you might have with a strong preamp beautifully. This particular unit may not be practical for live applications because the sound engineer would need to give you 48v phantom power to your channel; might be a pain, might not. So then you get the JDI as mentioned above, and you're going through a Jensen transformer right into the board.
These Radial units are around $200, kinda spendy, but the tone you'll be getting out of the front of house will please both you and the engineer.
Radial isn't the only candidate out there for a DI - Countryman and others have fine reputations. And if you hit Powerball, you just get an Avalon U5 and travel Class A signal path the whole way. Ah, luxury.
These Radial units are around $200, kinda spendy, but the tone you'll be getting out of the front of house will please both you and the engineer.
Radial isn't the only candidate out there for a DI - Countryman and others have fine reputations. And if you hit Powerball, you just get an Avalon U5 and travel Class A signal path the whole way. Ah, luxury.
I think it was usually a case of "I have all these mics and subwoofers and I'm going to use them", with a wee bit of dry bass to fill in whatever wasn't already rumbling.
All the club soundguys had those Whirlwinds. They were cheap and they transmitted sound. "Bass tone" usually wasn't much more than afterthought anyway amidst all the noise and volume.
In the OP's situation, tone nuances and noise/hiss will be much more exposed. If he isn't having trouble with that, then his equipment is fine.
- Feb 12, 2006
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- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Fortunately, I spend no time at the club level and haven't for many years. At that level, I stand by my thought that the TP is probably more important (and arguably more useful) than the bass DI anyway. 
Fortunately indeed.Fortunately, I spend no time at the club level and haven't for many years. At that level, I stand by my thought that the TP is probably more important (and arguably more useful) than the bass DI anyway.
- Aug 21, 2003
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With all due respect Andy...it shows...Fortunately, I spend no time at the club level and haven't for many years.
I'm going room of all sizes from small to theater and I have noticed it has made a difference.
Side note I would love to see where people are spending 1 hour to do a kick sound on a 5 band bill.
I don't doubt such behavior years ago on those 5 PM load-ins when there was a more serious presence for live music showcases, but I believe they are the way of the doo-doo. At least in my experience.
I carry the tone hammer pedal to pretty much every gig, and it gets a lot of use, tons of praise, and has never let me down.
Totally worth it, especially when there is a less than sufficient backline.
Totally worth it, especially when there is a less than sufficient backline.
My only concern is that you spent close to $50 on a 'get by' DI, when there are far better choices for equal or less cash... If you can flip it to a buddy, there are threads here that will guide you to a better DI that you could use with confidence in other situations... or...
I PM'd a well know bass amp (...and other things) designer here on TB for recommendations on sub $50 DI's and he kindly replied with these two options as as quality choices (passive tranny DI boxes);
Rapco DB-100 (which I believe is now called a DB-1)
Audiophile EWI FDB-101
I PM'd a well know bass amp (...and other things) designer here on TB for recommendations on sub $50 DI's and he kindly replied with these two options as as quality choices (passive tranny DI boxes);
Rapco DB-100 (which I believe is now called a DB-1)
Audiophile EWI FDB-101
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Also put me in the camp that investing a little more into a good DI is well worth it. I picked up a JDI a few years ago, and it paid itself back very quickly. With that said, everybody's situation, budget, and goals are different, so if a Whirlwind works for what you need it to work for, rock on!
I hope so. I've seen bands take 2 hours to check IEMs, which gets to be a little asinine. At that point, you should have your own monitor board already set up that you just patch into the engineer's board. Boom. Done.
Amen. This is where an "Aux Iso Split" on the main stagebox spitter comes in really handy. Keep a spare trunk plugged into it and just hand the guest band a fan to patch their own preset IEM board with.
- Feb 12, 2006
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- 5
- 220,576
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
5pm load-in... no wonder they turn into CF's...
Laod-in for my next show is a 10am call IIRC, that gives us plenty of time to attend to whatever details are necessary, including a decent lunch & dinner.
Regarding DI's, I have spent quite a bit of time listening to a pretty wide assortment (including a big box full of collector iron that I have in my stash) and the difference for the most part are minor, and frankly I find that just a tiny bit of eq can often bring them all to within being remarkably similar. This is assuming the transformers are adequate for the job (appropriate core, winding technique, impedance ratio, bandwidth/level, etc.)
I've got a bunch of interesting transformers I'm not using anymore so if anybody is interested in perhaps some vintage project iron, PM me.
Laod-in for my next show is a 10am call IIRC, that gives us plenty of time to attend to whatever details are necessary, including a decent lunch & dinner.
Regarding DI's, I have spent quite a bit of time listening to a pretty wide assortment (including a big box full of collector iron that I have in my stash) and the difference for the most part are minor, and frankly I find that just a tiny bit of eq can often bring them all to within being remarkably similar. This is assuming the transformers are adequate for the job (appropriate core, winding technique, impedance ratio, bandwidth/level, etc.)
I've got a bunch of interesting transformers I'm not using anymore so if anybody is interested in perhaps some vintage project iron, PM me.
Nah, not really
It takes no longer to dial in my REDDI than any other DI, and it sounds like what I like rather than the vast majority of DI's that don't.
BurningSkies
CRAZY BALDHEAD
- Feb 20, 2005
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Depends on the gig. We do support in a few venues that list a 5pm load in, then we sit around for 2 hours while they do their best to sort out the headliner, leaving us with a 15 minute line check instead of a sound check. Could have walked in the door at 7pm for that.
We are always asked for 5pm load in's! Then sit around, sometimes we don't go on until 11pm (Headlining) and that really sucks, but we do get the longest sound check times! However, this DI is not at all for those times. Really, It is just for a tiny bar gig that can't cram enough people in with the band and the PA support is super minimal. It doesn't need to be much better than an IMP because it would then send out a better signal to the board than the actual snake or even the PA itself sends. Just isn't worth the money
BurningSkies
CRAZY BALDHEAD
- Feb 20, 2005
- 27,956
- 20,348
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Dingwall Guitars
Those gigs (the ones we carry our own PA for) are the ones I don't go through the PA. On small PA's, the bass ends up swamping the mix in small 15's or 12's. I learned over the years that for those gigs, the fewer things we put in the front end the easier it is and the end FOH sound is better. I had a guitar player who wanted to cram everything on stage through a pair of 12's or 15's and it just ended up sounding like crap. These days, for smaller gigs we prioritize the PA inputs:
1) Vocals x4
2) Hand drums
3) Kick
4) snare/hat mic (a single mic)
5) Keys or guitars if needed. (usually not, unless it's a 'dub heavy' night with our dub engineer at the board, then they DO go and stay down in the FOH and mostly feed effects sends/returns that ARE out front).
With 30 or 50 or even 100w for electric guitars, there's no need for them to be in the FOH. With my fEARfuls for bass, I can produce a single-point PA quality room filling bass tone that's better and more coherent in the room than a small PA. I have a DI for bigger club PA's, festivals or theaters. I purposely bought a preamp that is a HQ DI too for this reason.
That is exactly my point. It is the first time in 14 years the PA guy wanted me in the FOH when there was way to much just really with 4 vocal mics. I figured for the price of 2 lunches I should, after 35 years of playing, pick up a practical DI without worrying about much and if the FOH really wanted me in the mix, then bam, I am covered. This has spun a 2 page run of why I bought a cheap DI to use maybe 2 or 3 times a decade.. My DI on my full rig is perfect. But I am not talking about my main rig. I am talking about a $150 Acoustic B260 stack.. really.. $40 actually higher than I wanted to spend.
I can't even tell you how many times when I have experienced a sound crew that had nothing but whirlwind DI's.
Not saying anyone got an hour soundcheck...nobody did.
Band #1 throws their gear off stage, band #2 throws their gear on stage. Soundguy spends 90% of that time setting up drum mics, lots of them. Then sticks a 57 in front of guitar amp, plugs bass into whirlwind, then goes to the board. Quick line check---> downbeat.
Actual mixing is done during the set. Obviously getting a decent lead vocal and kick/snare Is priority 1, and should be. Just that during the set, everything else keeps getting bigger/fuller/more...except bass. It might stay where it was at linecheck, or get buried further.
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