• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

DI or mic'd your opinion

#41
I would argue that the cab plays a huge roll in a mic'd setup. Most cabs have a natural top and bottom rolloff that can really impact what gets recorded, regardless of the type of power section being used, or how hard it's being driven.

When mic'ing, everything from the amp, to the cab, to the room, to the cabs position within the room, to the position of other random items in the room, to the mic, to the mic position, to the... Ahem... It's all very important, and every piece should be considered carefully.
 
#42
For most of these posts, I would just like to point out that the OP wants HIS sound, not yours.

Also sure the cab may add, but that doesn't seem to be much of an option. As JimmyM pointed out, he could use DI just like they want, but do it from the speaker out to a speaker level DI and should get much closer to his sound than before anyway.
 
#43
I like to DI. I think rock bass can benefit from a mic'd cab but I don't play in a rock band, I prefer to DI into a good valve pre to fatten it up and compress it a little.

I think it depends what sort of bass parts you play too. My parts are usually there to be heard, I pretty much never double the guitar, I'm usually embellishing the vocal, so my bass needs to have its own place in the mix rather than just rumbling underneath the other stuff.
 
#44
funnyfingers said:
Also sure the cab may add, but that doesn't seem to be much of an option. As JimmyM pointed out, he could use DI just like they want, but do it from the speaker out to a speaker level DI and should get much closer to his sound than before anyway.
Click to expand...

Taking a DI after the power stage is definitely an option, and frequently a more "colorful" one than going from the preamp. That said, it doesn't necessarily get you any closer to the sound of a mic'd cabinet. It leaves out the room, the response of the mic, and the response of the speaker. These have major impacts to the recorded tone. The impacts may be good or bad, but they are there and DI'ing at any point negates them, again, for better or worse.
 
#48
In the studio I've always DI'ed, one time we tried a mic but the studio's lame ampeg cabinet was totally ratty and sounded terrible.

My favorite tones were going in through a nice pre-amp, rather than just DI. The best was the Avalon vt737sp. Sounded amazing. None of those recordings used effects though, just clean bass.
 
#49
My name is Mudd said:
DI'ing only right now, but that's due to not having mics yet...the plan is to DI and have at least one mic per cab.
Click to expand...

At least one mic per cab? that insinuates you would "like" to use more than one mic per cab... How many cabs do you use? and how many channels are you expecting for bass?

Maybe I am misunderstanding you, but that sounds like overkill...
 
#53
fishtx said:
At least one mic per cab? that insinuates you would "like" to use more than one mic per cab... How many cabs do you use? and how many channels are you expecting for bass?

Maybe I am misunderstanding you, but that sounds like overkill...
Click to expand...
Apologies for not seeing this earlier...what I'd like to do is run both a DI and experiment with different cab mic'ing setups; an example would be using a CAD M179 for my 1260 (12", 6", tweet) and a kick mic for the 15" below it...the idea being that I'd record the track 'live', as opposed to just a DI and then (again, example) re-amping it via software in Reaper.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back