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DI box Passive or Active

pedroims

pedroims

Dec 19, 2007
4,373
4,348
Michigan
#1
Our band is finally completed and we will start to practicing next week, this is a praise band which means that we will basically practicing and playing at church.

I am not allowed to bring my rig so I need to use the house sound and send my bass signal directly to the mix. My question are; what type of DI do I need to get? , what is the difference between an active and passive DI? my bass is active.

I have a suttle 6.0. Can I use it as DI? I mean without cabs plugged in , if so, how much will affect the sound? right now in my church, the bass goes to a subwoofer that is powering by a crown power head, we adjust the sound in the mix.

Thanks
Pedro
 
#2
I think the big deal with passive vs active DI has everything to do with input impedance. The Hi-Z input of an active DI doesn't have the potential to load up the PUP on a passive bass. Your active bass will already have a Hi-Z output, so you don't have to worry about it. A good quality passive DI will do the trick for you no problem.
 
#4
The Radial is a great choice! I did a little research last year when the DI on my head took a crap. All my basses are passive, so I went with the Countryman (That one's active.) Is the JDI the one with the Jensen transformer?? If so, that one is top of the line!!
 
#7
Uh, yes. Of course it depends on the subwoofer, but good bass tone requires a full-range set of speakers, not a subwoofer. In fact you'd be better off going through speakers that lost some lows, since the lows can contribute to boominess or muddiness in the mix, whereas losing the upper harmonic frequencies will leave you with no tone or ability to cut through the mix, only boom and mud.

The extra gain BBEnd mentioned would have to be available at the input stage of the board. It happens sometimes that a low-output bass through a passive DI into a board with insufficient preamp gain will result in the bass being too quiet in the PA mix.
 
#8
bongomania said:
Uh, yes. Of course it depends on the subwoofer, but good bass tone requires a full-range set of speakers, not a subwoofer. In fact you'd be better off going through speakers that lost some lows, since the lows can contribute to boominess or muddiness in the mix, whereas losing the upper harmonic frequencies will leave you with no tone or ability to cut through the mix, only boom and mud.

The extra gain BBEnd mentioned would have to be available at the input stage of the board. It happens sometimes that a low-output bass through a passive DI into a board with insufficient preamp gain will result in the bass being too quiet in the PA mix.
Click to expand...

That what I was thinking and I am sure they will not allow me to use my rig I will check what subwoofer we have.

For the extragain, I am using a Sadowsky PJ, I hope it will pass enough gain.
 
#10
bongomania said:
Go in like a professor and a warrior and tell them if they think bass guitar can work through just a subwoofer they are absolutely mistaken. Typical church amateurs trying to figure out the PA.
Click to expand...

Yeah I need to talk with the guy in charge, we have a great sound equipment but just doesnt make sense run the bass through a subwoofer only, also drums go to the same subwoofer.
 
#11
I don't know why they would run it through the sub only it would be more work for a crappier tone. If you have a quality board you ought to have enough gain there for you. Although if you go with an active DI you don't have to worry about it. If it's a church and they don't have anyone who knows how to run the equipment then the installers probably put some limiters/compressors in front of the mains and they should affect your tone hardly at all. If they have then inserted on some or all of the channels they could be used to add some gain to your signal.
 
#12
BetterBottomEnd said:
then the installers probably put some limiters/compressors in front of the mains and they should affect your tone hardly at all. If they have then inserted on some or all of the channels they could be used to add some gain to your signal.
Click to expand...

We have a presonus compressor/limiter for drums, vocals and bass..

Seems that I only need to worry about the lack of highs and mids, I will check this Saturday.

Thanks all
 
#13
pedroims said:
I have a suttle 6.0. Can I use it as DI? I mean without cabs plugged in , if so, how much will affect the sound? right now in my church, the bass goes to a subwoofer that is powering by a crown power head, we adjust the sound in the mix.

Thanks
Pedro
Click to expand...

You can use your shuttle as a preamp DI. Make sure you set the DI to post. Also check with the FOH to see if they want line or mic level.

I bet it would sound great.
 

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