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DI or MIC it up
- Thread starter rich007
- Start date
Hi.
to Talkbass.
As for the thread itself:
It's understandable though, this is a topic that is almost impossible task for the search engine.
Regards
Sam
As for the thread itself:
It's understandable though, this is a topic that is almost impossible task for the search engine.
Regards
Sam
Honestly, a combination of both gives you the most options. It also depends largely on the size of the room that you're playing in.
I just went back to a mic after a few months with a DI. There are certain aspects of a DI I like better than the mic, but overall, I thought the mic was more ballsy. If you can get 2 channels (I often can't), blending is the way to go. But if I have to pick one, it's the mic.
I like simplicity and fewer haggles with sound guys..
I understand mikes.. it's just more stage clutter to get knocked around and create unnecessary phantom noise.
DI -- your audience can't hear the difference and wouldn't pay you more if they could..
I understand mikes.. it's just more stage clutter to get knocked around and create unnecessary phantom noise.
DI -- your audience can't hear the difference and wouldn't pay you more if they could..
Come on, Airhead! Haven't I taught you better?
It ain't the audience's job to care. It's your job. Therefore, I nitpick aspects that are lost on the audience because they're not lost on me. The audience doesn't care if I show up with Behringer amp either, but I'm certainly not going to.
However, I will totally agree that a good DI can sound great to an audience. And I did knock my mic onto the floor once last night.
If you're going to use a DI, then don't even bother bringing anything but the amp (or if you have a preamp, just bring that). I find it renders speakers pointless...and I paid money for my speakers so I mic mine up ALL THE WAY =)
if you're going to go DI, keep in mind that there are aspects to a speaker that arent being reproduced, and on a full range PA system, you will be able to hear the difference. unless you've got a bunch of EQ options, you're not going to be happy.
30 hz uncut is annoying. 10khz is annoying.
30 hz uncut is annoying. 10khz is annoying.
Last night for the first time in a while we gigged and I wasn't going through the P.A. - so I just had the amp to work with...actually didn't need it on full blast, but to get what I call a "nice tone" from the amp I had to use my pod. Did I just not bring it coz the audience wouldn't know the difference? NO...I brought it for self-satisfaction, to get a vintage 60's style tone which I'd call acceptable (which I've found on a Trace 7-band is near impossible to eq in)
Come on, Airhead! Haven't I taught you better?
It ain't the audience's job to care. It's your job. Therefore, I nitpick aspects that are lost on the audience because they're not lost on me. The audience doesn't care if I show up with Behringer amp either, but I'm certainly not going to.
However, I will totally agree that a good DI can sound great to an audience. And I did knock my mic onto the floor once last night.
You're right.. I have learned that loving up the front line and overall marketing have a bigger impact..
The can feel groove but can't distinguish nuances in the lower register..
It's sad to realize all the heavy bulky gear we own that nobody cares about.
At times I feel like the tallest midget.
Timmy
Many want a mic, so they get "their sound". A worthy goal. But:
Often the mic'd sound does not work in the mix - usually owing to too much top and too little mid (lots of attack, but poor pitch definition). You cannot EQ into the mic's output what's not going into it's input. And, there are usually one or more frequency ranges in which the bass is too loud in the room just from the bass rig. This makes it very hard to get a workable bass sound and even harder to get a good mix at a proper level (as opposed to too f***ing loud). A pre-EQ DI usually gives the mixperson more of what s/he needs to add to the bass rig's sound and get a tone that works in the mix. (In short - how your bass rig sounds where you are is usually nothing like how it sounds where the crowd is - out there, it sucks.)
Bass cabinets have very poor performance in the first octave (30Hz-60Hz). A DI will give you everything the instrument is capable of. There's a lot of fun to be had down below what a bass cabinet can do.
Often the mic'd sound does not work in the mix - usually owing to too much top and too little mid (lots of attack, but poor pitch definition). You cannot EQ into the mic's output what's not going into it's input. And, there are usually one or more frequency ranges in which the bass is too loud in the room just from the bass rig. This makes it very hard to get a workable bass sound and even harder to get a good mix at a proper level (as opposed to too f***ing loud). A pre-EQ DI usually gives the mixperson more of what s/he needs to add to the bass rig's sound and get a tone that works in the mix. (In short - how your bass rig sounds where you are is usually nothing like how it sounds where the crowd is - out there, it sucks.)
Bass cabinets have very poor performance in the first octave (30Hz-60Hz). A DI will give you everything the instrument is capable of. There's a lot of fun to be had down below what a bass cabinet can do.
I'm a listener.
And a person who often has to put together a working mix.
Even if we accept that a "tube sound" is better, it matters not, as such nuances are way down on the order of importance when one is trying to get a good mix.
The best three bass sounds I've heard were from guys who's bass rig could not be heard in the house (or there was no rig). Superior sound in the house is why they relied on their rig as only a personal monitor.
Tubes are not better than ss, it's just different. Some guys prefer one or the other. Micking a tube amp is not better than a DI, it just different. Some bassist are fine with a DI and others aren't. Micking a tube amp is not any harder than a DI and you can get a good working mix either way.
Maybe what you consider best would not be considered that great by someone else.
i call shenanigans.
mics give too much HF content? really? cause a bass speaker will barely go over 6khz unless you mic the tweeter. the DI will give you bass up to 20khz untamed. do you plan on making a speaker like roll off to make it SOUND like a cab? doubt it. just going to let 10khz in your bass fly out of a full range system.
too little mid? with what mic? certainly not with a 421, or even the lowly 57.
below what a cab can do? good. because every show ive ever been to with a mediocre+ PA cranked a bunch of sub frequency that left my ears ringing. that stuff is dangerous, and its not fun to listen to. i dont want 30 hz ringing out of my amp at full blast. i cut that for a reason.
i havent met a sound guy yet that tried to emulate my sound. just scooped my mids, buried me in sub low end and made me completely worthless in the mix. had he listened, he'd know that i was a crucial part of the mid section. you wouldnt scoop and bury justin chancelor, would you?
and above all, theres that nasty DI rubber bandy sound. ew.
