Connecting PA <-> Active DI <-> Practice Amp

[kiwlm]

Had the maiden gig for my band yesterday!

Our band being complete noobs in live sound, we brought along our own practice amp and hoped that the sound man can have some sort of set up done properly for a small hall of 50 people.

The sound man have a DI box ([Invalid or Expired Link Removed]), and my practice amp is a [Invalid or Expired Link Removed].

At first the sound man asked me to try to plug in my passive yamaha bass straight into the PA, but turned out the volume is too soft. So after that the sound man connected my bass to the DI box, and from the DI, out to the PA and my practice amp, with my practice amp acting as a monitor.

Setup 1:

Bass -> DI -> PA
         |
         +--> Practice Amp

I thought the common configuration is

Setup 2: 

Bass -> Practice Amp -> DI -> PA

But the sound man said that my amp does not have a "line out jack" so we can't do that. I did not have more time to chat with him yesterday, so I hope I can get an explanation here over what he might have meant?

My practice amp have two "output", one is labeled as Tape Out, and as from the spec sheet "Cinch connector, approx 1kOhm unbalanced" (this is the red/white two cables type), and another output labeled Phones Output, from spec sheet "1/4" stereo jack".

My questions:
1. Is Setup #1 above the usual configuration or is it just a compromise because of my practice amp?
2. What (output/connector) should I look for in my next amp upgrade to be able to connect from my amp straight to the PA (as I understand, I need XLR for this?) or to the DI box?

Thanks in advance!

 

[deekay911]

Setup 1 can be a normal configuration, the 'practice amp' is usually a little bigger than a practice amp to give on stage sound monitoring.

A normal amp/head/combo will have a DI out built in, with an XLR connector, like you saw on the Behringer DI box. Then you don't need the DI box at all.

 

[bassman1185]

It is really odd that he would try to plug your bass straight into the PA, but he's right on the configuration of the DI. Most of the time, soundguys like to run DIs before any the EQ section on an amp, because the way we tend to EQ ourselves tends to sound terrible through the main system.

 

[MNAirHead]

Your sound guy's parellell set sounds correct.