DI Boxes: Do I Have This Right?

[Obese Chess]

Alright, so.

Right now, for just goofing around and casual recording and other things, I plug my bass directly into my Scarlett 2i4 and then I run through a Neural DSP Darkglass Suite or similar. This gets me perfectly serviceable and manageable tones, but they're not MY SOUNDS since I don't run direct into a Darkglass live or in rehearsal.

So let's say I want to get "MY SOUND," from my pedalboard or amp or otherwise. Assuming the final part of my signal chain does not have a direct/XLR out - either my dirt pedal or my amp head - I assume I would buy a direct box or mic preamp or something else, perhaps with an XLR out, perhaps not (in the case of something like a Sushi Box Slampegg, though maybe that has different intended usage?) and run that into the Scarlett 2i4 and then record from there. This is what I do live - the XLR out goes to FOH and then we mic up the amp. So I assume we do the same to record "my tone."

Do I have that right?

Thanks!

 

[Frank Tuesday]

Alright, so.

Right now, for just goofing around and casual recording and other things, I plug my bass directly into my Scarlett 2i4 and then I run through a Neural DSP Darkglass Suite or similar. This gets me perfectly serviceable and manageable tones, but they're not MY SOUNDS since I don't run direct into a Darkglass live or in rehearsal.

So let's say I want to get "MY SOUND," from my pedalboard or amp or otherwise. Assuming the final part of my signal chain does not have a direct/XLR out - either my dirt pedal or my amp head - I assume I would buy a direct box or mic preamp or something else, perhaps with an XLR out, perhaps not (in the case of something like a Sushi Box Slampegg, though maybe that has different intended usage?) and run that into the Scarlett 2i4 and then record from there. This is what I do live - the XLR out goes to FOH and then we mic up the amp. So I assume we do the same to record "my tone."

Do I have that right?

Thanks!

For most home studio recordings, DI boxes to convert your instrument to a mic level signal is unnecessary. The reason they are used live, is that you have a long stage run, with lots of potential electrical noise. In your home, it's probably relatively quiet (electrically speaking) and you have short cable runs. The chance of picking up noise is small. So just run your pedal board straight into your 2i4 via 1/4" cable.

Micing the amp is a whole other set of problems. If you want to mic your cab, go for it, but it's probably unwarranted, and almost definitely more hassle than it's worth.

 

[Obese Chess]

Yeah, I hit send before I could mention the fact that I have no interest in mic'ing up a cab in my home, haha. Okay, that makes sense. So a DI box with any sort of coloration of my tone would be unnecessary as anything other than a... tone... color...er... ?

 

[silky smoove]

So a DI box with any sort of coloration of my tone would be unnecessary as anything other than a... tone... color...er... ?

Correct. If you don’t want the added color of another device then the hi-z input on your interface is perfectly fine to use.

 

[Ender_rpm]

I used to go direct into my 2i4 from a pedalboard and have no issues. I generally had some kind of speaker/amp inline when I did so esp on dirty sounds. I did find it easier to control levels when I went to a DI though, not sure why, and it sounded a bit better, fuller, less noise. My bass board is tuner-comp-EQ- Khan DI split clean to one input then other output to dirt, octave, etc into a Tech 21 Leeds to a second input or out to an amp without the Leeds. Very flexible.

 

[tylerwylie]

Correct. If you don’t want the added color of another device then the hi-z input on your interface is perfectly fine to use.

So split between using the hi-Z inputs on my interface or my RNDI as a DI into the mic pres... lot of people like the Retrospec Juicebox, A Designs REDDI, and other large honkin tube DIs for this too.

 

[Marc Bobro]

Notwithstanding what others have said, I'm willing to bet that running a DI from a preamp pedal or your amp will give you better results than running direct into your interface. Or, as some have suggested, go through a pedalboard—though it helps if the pedalboard includes a buffered pedal. Sure, with bass guitar (unlike with guitar) you can get "serviceable" results going into your Scarlett directly, but you were right to think that by using a DI or pedalboard, not only will the signal be better, but also you will be able to attain "your sound." I've found that plug-ins alone in your DAW are never sufficient for a great bass sound, and certainly not your live sound. As for miking your bass, you don't need it if you have a good DI.

 

[tylerwylie]

Notwithstanding what others have said, I'm willing to bet that running a DI from a preamp pedal or your amp will give you better results than running direct into your interface. Or, as some have suggested, go through a pedalboard—though it helps if the pedalboard includes a buffered pedal. Sure, with bass guitar (unlike with guitar) you can get "serviceable" results going into your Scarlett directly, but you were right to think that by using a DI or pedalboard, not only will the signal be better, but also you will be able to attain "your sound." I've found that plug-ins alone in your DAW are never sufficient for a great bass sound, and certainly not your live sound. As for miking your bass, you don't need it if you have a good DI.

I’ve mentioned over on the Amp side of TB that I’m using my Mesa amps as preamps/DIs because the front of these amps sounds great for what I’m doing.

 

[Marc Bobro]

I’ve mentioned over on the Amp side of TB that I’m using my Mesa amps as preamps/DIs because the front of these amps sounds great for what I’m doing.

Definitely awesome to do this.

 

[Obese Chess]

it turns out that a big part of the problem is that the Scarlett 2i4 just sounds bad. I've tried plugging direct into other interfaces and it sounds way better, doubly so when running through the direct out on my B7K.

 

[tylerwylie]

it turns out that a big part of the problem is that the Scarlett 2i4 just sounds bad. I've tried plugging direct into other interfaces and it sounds way better, doubly so when running through the direct out on my B7K.

Are you monitoring through headphones or monitor outs? I’ve found the Scarlett to be a fairly decent sounding interface, though my gripes with most of them are the quality of the headphone outs.

 

[Obese Chess]

Are you monitoring through headphones or monitor outs? I’ve found the Scarlett to be a fairly decent sounding interface, though my gripes with most of them are the quality of the headphone outs.

Headphones sound better but still not great. The Scarlett has honestly given me nothing but problems since I bought it - I have to uninstall and reinstall the drivers about once a week and even then it's very hit or miss in terms of its recording and playback quality and consistency. I plugged into a friend's Audient iD4 a few days ago and it was night and day.

 

[Frank Tuesday]

Notwithstanding what others have said, I'm willing to bet that running a DI from a preamp pedal or your amp will give you better results than running direct into your interface. Or, as some have suggested, go through a pedalboard—though it helps if the pedalboard includes a buffered pedal. Sure, with bass guitar (unlike with guitar) you can get "serviceable" results going into your Scarlett directly, but you were right to think that by using a DI or pedalboard, not only will the signal be better, but also you will be able to attain "your sound." I've found that plug-ins alone in your DAW are never sufficient for a great bass sound, and certainly not your live sound. As for miking your bass, you don't need it if you have a good DI.

But running your pedal board into the 1/4" input on your interface will sound the same as if you put "a DI" between the pedal board and interface. There is no need to convert the signal to balanced mic level unless you have serious electrical noise problems.

Now I put "a DI" in quotes, because I'm just talking about a generic DI box (input/transformer/output). If you're talking about a DI box that has a circuit that is specifically designed to modify the sound (REDDI, Noble, SansAmp, etc) that's different. That is a preamp with a built in DI. And in those, it isn't the DI part of the circuit that is changing the sound, it's the preamp. People don't love the REDDI because it gives them mic level XLR. They love it because of the circuit before the transformer which makes their bass sound amazing.

 

[Obese Chess]

Alright, I am bumping this because I'm revamping my recording and pedal setup after the purchase of an Audient id4 and a handful of plugins. I sold my amps because I just moved into a small apartment and am not currently playing shows.

If I want further tone sculpting options minus just the plugins and those on my pedalboard, without purchasing an amp, not only is there nothing wrong with buying some sort of preamp pedal (regardless of whether it has a 1/4" out or an XLR out) but this would in fact be advised. If I were going to purchase an amp I would simply run a cable from the XLR/direct out on the amplifier into the interface and proceed as normal.

I am 100% confident I am overthinking this. But even so, do I have it right?