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Direct Out - pre or post eq?

#101
Marcus Willett said:
One thing I've often asked but never been able to get anyone to respond to is a fairly simple question.

For those of you that feel that the signal sent to the FOH should be straight from the instrument and not post-EQ (the rationalization being that whatever EQ you apply only works for your bass cab and will more likely than not make things worse in the house): Wouldn't that logically mean that onboard EQ on your bass is a bad idea for exactly the same reason?

If EQ-ing for yourself is inherently a bad idea, it doesn't matter if it occurs before the 1/4" out or after; it's still before the DI.

Yet we're constantly sold the idea that onboard EQ is a good thing.....?

So, inside the bass good; outside in a box, bad? :eyebrow::D
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That's simple for me I like how my bass sounds with about 10-20% bass boost on the onboard pre, when I want that fat sound I will roll off some tone. Doesn't matter if I am recording, going direct or playing just through my amp.

The amps I own I run 100% flat at least to begin with, I use the amps EQ to compensate for whats going on on stage. And for me the adjustments I make to my amp on stage are for me and I don't want them effecting the FOH.

Again not saying my method is right and others are not that's just the philosophy I like to follow.
 
#102
rockstarbassist said:
It's actually an impossibly simple solution.
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Agreed. It's Amazing how much resistance something so simple encounters.


peterpalmieri said:
That's simple for me I like how my bass sounds with about 10-20% bass boost on the onboard pre, when I want that fat sound I will roll off some tone.
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Right, so you EQ your bass tone the way you want it to sound, then send that sound to the house. What a concept. ;)
 
#106
Ric5 said:
Direct Out - pre or post eq?

If you suck at setting your eq then send it pre eq.

If you are good at setting your eq then send it post eq.
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i would agree with that. however, let's throw a wrinkle into it...what if you THINK you're good at setting your eq, but the soundman thinks you suck at it?
 
#108
Count your blessings. I used to play with a distortion/overdrive on my bass 75% of the time. Back in the 80's I had a lot more trouble getting along with soundguys because of that. I actually have had sound guys tell me to turn it off!
Well a direct box is NOT the way to get a fuzzed out bass into a pa! they never listened when I insisted they put a mic, any mic, a 58 even, on the cab.
the hipper soundguys, or the ones I got to know would relent and throw a mic on the cab. Or they would DI pre fuzz and mic it. Blending the two so there would be a nice bottom end.
 
#110
I have a sansamp that is before my amp. 99% of the time sound guys are ecstatic when they see it. I try to be as nice as possible to the sound guy. Introducing myself/getting his name; letting him know i have a sansamp, a DI on my amp, and that ill happily use whatever works best for him. Usually they'll take the sansamp. I find the nicer, easier you are to work with the easier it is to get your way. Cause if you piss off the sound guy, he'll hit the "suck button" on the board real quick and no amount of eqing on your end is going to fix that.
 
#111
peterpalmieri said:
Yes did I say something wrong?
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Not at all, though some soundpeople would think you're just being difficult. I mean, a bassist insisting he get his own sound, even though that might create difficulty for the soundman and he might have to put more than 60 seconds into working on the bass tone. You're being a pain... ;)
 
#112
thebean said:
I have a sansamp that is before my amp. 99% of the time sound guys are ecstatic when they see it. I try to be as nice as possible to the sound guy. Introducing myself/getting his name; letting him know i have a sansamp, a DI on my amp, and that ill happily use whatever works best for him. Usually they'll take the sansamp. I find the nicer, easier you are to work with the easier it is to get your way. Cause if you piss off the sound guy, he'll hit the "suck button" on the board real quick and no amount of eqing on your end is going to fix that.
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Basically, by using a sansamp before your amp, you too are sending a post-eq signal to the board. :)

Marcus Willett said:
Not at all, though some soundpeople would think you're just being difficult. I mean, a bassist insisting he get his own sound, even though that might create difficulty for the soundman and he might have to put more than 60 seconds into working on the bass tone. You're being a pain... ;)
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What is it with all these bassists who want their sound out front to be representative of what they actually sound like? The nerve of them!
 
#113
Marcus Willett said:
Not at all, though some soundpeople would think you're just being difficult. I mean, a bassist insisting he get his own sound, even though that might create difficulty for the soundman and he might have to put more than 60 seconds into working on the bass tone. You're being a pain... ;)
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To be honest, I've got a nice bass and decent tone. I worry about getting a good sound through my amp (what I hear). I try to send what I think is a good sound to the FOH, then I focus on the performance.

Especially in clubs with monster DJ sub systems it is increasingly difficult I think to dial in behind the system what's happening out front. I leave myself to the mercy of the soundmans judgement....In many cases I need to account for an overwhelming FOH mix or the drummer getting to much or to little bass in his monitor, I make adjustments with my bass amp so I'm happy what we're all hearing on stage. Sometimes that's drastic and I don't want it effecting the FOH.
 
#114
In my grunge/alt band, I use a lot of effects, my basic tone is driven. I use my amp and speaker to get the sound I need. Me and the guitarist have spent quite some time to get our sound to be complementery, we know what we do. I do not change eq during a set.
So DI is always post, and if there's time to set up a mic as well, I'll ask for it (I'm buying my own mic and stand soon, so that they'll just have to run a cable). I'm extra nice to the soundmen, but firm enough so they know that we know what we're doing. After the show we 've gotten compliments about our group sound from the soundmen more than once, so we know we're doing it right.

now when I'm playing in an acoustic setting, with no effects and the amp set for a clean tone, I'll trust the soundguy to do whatever he wants. I imagine it hard to screw that one up.
 

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