This is great and all, but I want to know about stompboxes such as the M-80, Aphex Aural, and the Sansamp. I have a need to get one of these for live use. My main amp has died and I need something to work with until I can get the money to buy a new stage rig. My back-up doesn't have enough power so I need a box to PA. What "stage" DIs like the above are the best??
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Favorite D.I. Box
- Thread starter Aristotle
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For further reference, I play in a church praise band and another rock/acoustic rock band as well. I want a warmer sound. So far, I have been getting a lot of that trebly punk sound that I hate. My BassLines are outdoing my Hartke. I want to know out of the pedals which would sound warmer. Be reminded that I play through a PA and need something that will sound good direct to the board. Thanks for any help y'all.
-Nick
-Nick
South Town
Get a Sans Amp BDDI. If you have the luxery of trying things out then go for it. If not, the BDDI will be warm and have great resale value if you hate it, or if you replace your rig and don't need it anymore.
Good Luck.
Get a Sans Amp BDDI. If you have the luxery of trying things out then go for it. If not, the BDDI will be warm and have great resale value if you hate it, or if you replace your rig and don't need it anymore.
Good Luck.
maxvalentino
Endorsing Artist Godin Guitars/ Thomastik-Infeld
Way back at the begining of this thread I sorta spoke "down" on SansAmps...yet very recently some events have occured which completely changed my mind:
Recently I did a gig in suport of an acoustic act at a festival. For aesthetic reasons the promoters did not want any amps onstage (no racks either!), and the stage crew suggested I use their Sans Amp Acoustic DI. Being one to heartliy take the advice of house sound guys (after all, they DO have that "suck" button back at the board, so you wanna be on their good side), I did use it. And It sounded fantastic!
I was so impressed I ordered one the next day...and it now is a most valuable piece of my setup.
Even more recently, at a session, the engineer, seeking a more "driven" sound, suggested I go thrua SABDDI. Again, in situations such as this I ALWAYS defer to the knowledge of the engineer......the track sounded great!
Now, whatever "judgements" I may gave with SansAmps have been changed. Perhaps my "vision" was clouded by using my Avalon, JDI , ADL or Raven Labs DI's, and the SAADI and SABDDI are certainly different than any of those, but I will go on record as "corrected". Just goes to show......live and learn, and I must say much of my curiosity over SansAmps has been fueled by some of you, such as Munji, who have been very articualte in their praise of these units.
I have now found both Sans Amp units to be wonderfully uselful ( I recently bought a SABBDI and find it very useful as a tone cntl does wonders to "un-SWR" SWR amps :-0). And while a lot of talk was made of high priced DIs, for the money the SABDDI is quite a bargain and a wonderful tool.
For an "in the trenches" kind of DI it is really great. Bypassed it is pretty transparent, and much to my chagrin, QUIET. And, the option of using it as a tone shaping device makes it all more valuable. (for solo gigs I have been using it as a pre running into the fx return loop of a little SWR California Blonde Amp with some glorious results! So now I am not packing my Avalon around to gigs!).
Quite a uselful and flexible tool, and a worthy investment. All in all I think it has a more defined and warmer sound than the MXR, yet the MXR certainly exceeds the SABDDI in grind and distortion (That being said, my Jack Casady bass thru the SABDDI with the drive up is truely a thunderous sound!)
Humbly standing corrected on my "opinions"
Max
Recently I did a gig in suport of an acoustic act at a festival. For aesthetic reasons the promoters did not want any amps onstage (no racks either!), and the stage crew suggested I use their Sans Amp Acoustic DI. Being one to heartliy take the advice of house sound guys (after all, they DO have that "suck" button back at the board, so you wanna be on their good side), I did use it. And It sounded fantastic!
I was so impressed I ordered one the next day...and it now is a most valuable piece of my setup.
Even more recently, at a session, the engineer, seeking a more "driven" sound, suggested I go thrua SABDDI. Again, in situations such as this I ALWAYS defer to the knowledge of the engineer......the track sounded great!
Now, whatever "judgements" I may gave with SansAmps have been changed. Perhaps my "vision" was clouded by using my Avalon, JDI , ADL or Raven Labs DI's, and the SAADI and SABDDI are certainly different than any of those, but I will go on record as "corrected". Just goes to show......live and learn, and I must say much of my curiosity over SansAmps has been fueled by some of you, such as Munji, who have been very articualte in their praise of these units.
I have now found both Sans Amp units to be wonderfully uselful ( I recently bought a SABBDI and find it very useful as a tone cntl does wonders to "un-SWR" SWR amps :-0). And while a lot of talk was made of high priced DIs, for the money the SABDDI is quite a bargain and a wonderful tool.
For an "in the trenches" kind of DI it is really great. Bypassed it is pretty transparent, and much to my chagrin, QUIET. And, the option of using it as a tone shaping device makes it all more valuable. (for solo gigs I have been using it as a pre running into the fx return loop of a little SWR California Blonde Amp with some glorious results! So now I am not packing my Avalon around to gigs!).
Quite a uselful and flexible tool, and a worthy investment. All in all I think it has a more defined and warmer sound than the MXR, yet the MXR certainly exceeds the SABDDI in grind and distortion (That being said, my Jack Casady bass thru the SABDDI with the drive up is truely a thunderous sound!)
Humbly standing corrected on my "opinions"
Max
Great post, Max!
Yeah -- I keep coming back to SansAmp -- there are certainly DIs that are more luxurious, with a "clearer" tone, etc. But as soon as the guitarist and drummer get going, who can tell the difference anyway??? SansAmp are intuitive, and get you a good solid sound out of a tiny little inexpensive box.
If we all just used these things and stopped endlessly fretting about that last 2% of fidelity, perhaps we'd spend more time practicing and we'd end up actually sounding better to the *audience*.
(he says as he flips back to the "for sale" page...)
Yeah -- I keep coming back to SansAmp -- there are certainly DIs that are more luxurious, with a "clearer" tone, etc. But as soon as the guitarist and drummer get going, who can tell the difference anyway??? SansAmp are intuitive, and get you a good solid sound out of a tiny little inexpensive box.
If we all just used these things and stopped endlessly fretting about that last 2% of fidelity, perhaps we'd spend more time practicing and we'd end up actually sounding better to the *audience*.
(he says as he flips back to the "for sale" page...)
I've barely tried any DIs other than what studios have, but I do have a SABBDI and I love it! I use it live to color my sound going into my amp and I also run it direct for FOH sound. Nice and tasty. I recently [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] some songs and used the SABBDI as part of the chain. The engineer took a clean signal from my P, as well as miking the 4x10 and 1x15 cabs (bass->SAABBDI->Trace Elliot GP-12->4x10->1x15). I'm pretty happy with the results.
Thanks guys, you have so answered my questions. I really feel better about my "in-between" setup. For all of the studio guys, I really liked the comment made about how clarity won't matter in a band. Being a former lead player, the bass just sounded thumpy and that was its job in the band. Clarity is great on jazz and solo albums, but rock knows nothing of "bass clarity and true tones." I really doubt early P's sounded "true" through a cranked Bassman. Peace guys! 
Ok, so I've been reading through this thread, attempting to absorb it, but I realize I don't know the first thing about DI's, so I need some opinions please:
Assuming a PA system is being used, what would be the best DI Box in a performance art situation...say, at a rather small art gallery? I envision the situation as playing some quiet basslines behind some spoken word or dance, maybe a little classical, and some simple grooves (ambient, reggae, hip-hop...).
I was thinking the SansAmp when I can afford it, but I wish there was something cheaper. Any comments are appreciated.
Thanks,
Stephanie
Assuming a PA system is being used, what would be the best DI Box in a performance art situation...say, at a rather small art gallery? I envision the situation as playing some quiet basslines behind some spoken word or dance, maybe a little classical, and some simple grooves (ambient, reggae, hip-hop...).
I was thinking the SansAmp when I can afford it, but I wish there was something cheaper. Any comments are appreciated.
Thanks,
Stephanie
maxvalentino said:
I take my hat off to you sir for a great post! Takes a lot to do a 180 (ish) in public!
Yeah, sounds like you could do well with a Sansamp BDDI -- check e-bay, they're usually around $125 used. You can get them a bit cheaper (I got mine for $100) via TB classifieds, or Harmony Central, etc.
You can't get a DI with EQ cababilities for much cheaper than that, anyway.
You can't get a DI with EQ cababilities for much cheaper than that, anyway.
stephanie said:
maxvalentino
Endorsing Artist Godin Guitars/ Thomastik-Infeld
Stephanie: One of the wisest, and "soundest" (forgive the pun) investment you can make is in a good, quality DI..and as you now know there are a lot to choose from. Lotsa of price ranges, lotsa features....
You must, of course,examine your finances, a look at the range you can afford and then look at features you need.
Someone posted a blip about the Whirlwind IMP, which is a ridulously cheap passive DI..no bells and whistles at all. Yet, you will find these used by a lot of sound companies for a number of reasons (clean, cheap, simple and sturdy)...are they as "transparent" as the Avalon or JDI? No. Yet, Michael Manring has two in his set up (and was using these as his primary DI's prior to getting a Raven Labs....if I remember correctly). And, no one is ever gonna complain about his tone!
So here is a short breakdown by price range..with a few comments.
Under $100:
Whirlwind IMP..as I said pretty simple, not too elegant or "true", but it gets the job done nicely, and being passive there is little to go wrong with it (Whirlwind also has the active model of this...again fairly inexpensive)
Behringer (there are a couple of models, I think)..alot of folks use 'em just 'cos they are affordable (like a lot of folks use a lot of Behringer stuff for this reason), but I cannot really bring myself to buying gear from a company who pays workers around 17 cents a week to make their stuff. Affordable or not, somewhere a line must be drawn.
$100-250:
Countryman Type 85: an industry standard. Well built, great sound. I know a fellow session player who uses one of these in his live rig BEFORE his amp just for the way it "tightens up " the very low end. Great boxes.
Sans Amp BDDI: I made my revised comments about this. If you are not using an amp for the gallery shows, this would be a great choice to run straight to PA, as you get amp emulation (which, btw, is nopt modeling) and eq. Quiet..clean...versatile.
Sans Amp Acoustic DI: I REALLY like this. The sweepable mid range makes it very useful for bassists, and the sansamp emulation is not as edgy as on the BDDI..more like the emulation of a good microphone. Easily used with or "sans" amplifier..and really makes a great recording DI
MXR M80: my experience with this is brief, but it seems to work best as an OD/Dist unit. For rock stuff it is great, but definately has its' own "character" as a DI
LR Baggs ParaAcoustic DI: tho designed for acoustic gtrs, it really is excellent for bass. Parametric eq, fx loop, phase reverse (which can be handy for taming a boomy room), notch filter (ditto). Very quiet and clean.
Raven Labs APD1: amazing sound. Thicj and rich..just like a bass should be! sidechain aux loop and variable output means you can use it as a "no-frills" preamp (for the true sound of your bass. I use mine to go straight to tape in sessions. fantastic!
...and someone should chime in on those new BBE DI's which I have had precious little time to check out! The one with the Jensen transformer really intrigues me. Both have the BBE process included (if that is to your liking..)..and while your at it, anyone us ethe Sadowsky outboard pre DI?
$300-500
Radial JDI: WHEW! One great DI. Truely transparent (what goes in is just what comes out). Some rather advanced circuitry...and massive headroom. Diming out 18v active systems on a low B still puts you light years from clipping the input of this DI.
Avalon U5: a preamp and DI........outstanding quality, outstanding sound. Avalon's reputation puts them head and shoulders above most companies, and their gear is truely "audiophile" quality. OK..it is big (you will want to rack it), but it is amazing..you can take a feed off a speaker's parallel output to DI both an amp and speaker sound. Vairable preset gain and eq curves are al extremely musical.
Retrospec Squeezbox; outof production, but if you find one...grab it. Twin tube topology; circuit based upon the LA2A...very cool for bass. I have one, but don't gig it (something about tube DI's....Di's are "thought" to be built like tanks, and they take a lot of onstage abuse(kicked, dropped, tossed in gig bags..). A Di which is filled with glass (tubes) can't take that abuse...so it stays at home.
this would go for the Aguillar Tube DI also....nice unit tho.
Above that range you get to Milennia MEdia, Anthoiny Demaria Labs, Avalon vt737..other high end mic pre's ( ost of which are also glass-filled, expensive, and fragile).
Max
You must, of course,examine your finances, a look at the range you can afford and then look at features you need.
Someone posted a blip about the Whirlwind IMP, which is a ridulously cheap passive DI..no bells and whistles at all. Yet, you will find these used by a lot of sound companies for a number of reasons (clean, cheap, simple and sturdy)...are they as "transparent" as the Avalon or JDI? No. Yet, Michael Manring has two in his set up (and was using these as his primary DI's prior to getting a Raven Labs....if I remember correctly). And, no one is ever gonna complain about his tone!
So here is a short breakdown by price range..with a few comments.
Under $100:
Whirlwind IMP..as I said pretty simple, not too elegant or "true", but it gets the job done nicely, and being passive there is little to go wrong with it (Whirlwind also has the active model of this...again fairly inexpensive)
Behringer (there are a couple of models, I think)..alot of folks use 'em just 'cos they are affordable (like a lot of folks use a lot of Behringer stuff for this reason), but I cannot really bring myself to buying gear from a company who pays workers around 17 cents a week to make their stuff. Affordable or not, somewhere a line must be drawn.
$100-250:
Countryman Type 85: an industry standard. Well built, great sound. I know a fellow session player who uses one of these in his live rig BEFORE his amp just for the way it "tightens up " the very low end. Great boxes.
Sans Amp BDDI: I made my revised comments about this. If you are not using an amp for the gallery shows, this would be a great choice to run straight to PA, as you get amp emulation (which, btw, is nopt modeling) and eq. Quiet..clean...versatile.
Sans Amp Acoustic DI: I REALLY like this. The sweepable mid range makes it very useful for bassists, and the sansamp emulation is not as edgy as on the BDDI..more like the emulation of a good microphone. Easily used with or "sans" amplifier..and really makes a great recording DI
MXR M80: my experience with this is brief, but it seems to work best as an OD/Dist unit. For rock stuff it is great, but definately has its' own "character" as a DI
LR Baggs ParaAcoustic DI: tho designed for acoustic gtrs, it really is excellent for bass. Parametric eq, fx loop, phase reverse (which can be handy for taming a boomy room), notch filter (ditto). Very quiet and clean.
Raven Labs APD1: amazing sound. Thicj and rich..just like a bass should be! sidechain aux loop and variable output means you can use it as a "no-frills" preamp (for the true sound of your bass. I use mine to go straight to tape in sessions. fantastic!
...and someone should chime in on those new BBE DI's which I have had precious little time to check out! The one with the Jensen transformer really intrigues me. Both have the BBE process included (if that is to your liking..)..and while your at it, anyone us ethe Sadowsky outboard pre DI?
$300-500
Radial JDI: WHEW! One great DI. Truely transparent (what goes in is just what comes out). Some rather advanced circuitry...and massive headroom. Diming out 18v active systems on a low B still puts you light years from clipping the input of this DI.
Avalon U5: a preamp and DI........outstanding quality, outstanding sound. Avalon's reputation puts them head and shoulders above most companies, and their gear is truely "audiophile" quality. OK..it is big (you will want to rack it), but it is amazing..you can take a feed off a speaker's parallel output to DI both an amp and speaker sound. Vairable preset gain and eq curves are al extremely musical.
Retrospec Squeezbox; outof production, but if you find one...grab it. Twin tube topology; circuit based upon the LA2A...very cool for bass. I have one, but don't gig it (something about tube DI's....Di's are "thought" to be built like tanks, and they take a lot of onstage abuse(kicked, dropped, tossed in gig bags..). A Di which is filled with glass (tubes) can't take that abuse...so it stays at home.
this would go for the Aguillar Tube DI also....nice unit tho.
Above that range you get to Milennia MEdia, Anthoiny Demaria Labs, Avalon vt737..other high end mic pre's ( ost of which are also glass-filled, expensive, and fragile).
Max
Wow. Lots of food for thought there Max, thanks. I only have a budget of (not even) $150 at the moment, so I may have to wait a little longer for a good DI and maybe borrow one from somewhere for now lol.
By the way, does the kind of bass I have matter? I play a Musicman Stingray (active bass).
Thanks again,
Stephanie
By the way, does the kind of bass I have matter? I play a Musicman Stingray (active bass).
Thanks again,
Stephanie
maxvalentino
Endorsing Artist Godin Guitars/ Thomastik-Infeld
Stephanie: it shouldn't make a difference what type of bass (active/passive) you play...unless you are just cranking the hearoom right out of the eq on the "ray 
I would look into the SansAmp DIs.... either would offer you some tonal flexibity, and SABDDI really does sound good with those Ampeg combos
save your paper route money 'cos you are just about there. I got mine from the classifieds here at TB for 150.
Max
I would look into the SansAmp DIs.... either would offer you some tonal flexibity, and SABDDI really does sound good with those Ampeg combos
save your paper route money 'cos you are just about there. I got mine from the classifieds here at TB for 150.Max
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Hey Max, I noticed you left out the Fishman Pro Bass EQ out of this list. You originally seemed pretty happy with it, any second thoughts?maxvalentino said:
maxvalentino
Endorsing Artist Godin Guitars/ Thomastik-Infeld
arggh! Just an oversight...too much coffee..not enough coffee
I dunno...
In bang for the buck the Fishman ranks quite high. A very verstile and musical device with a controllable HPF and nicely set graphic eq. The opto-compressor is a very nice feature which is just great for mild "smooth-in" of bass transients.
Sorry I overlooked that one, especialy since one is sitting right in fron t of me!
Max
I dunno...
In bang for the buck the Fishman ranks quite high. A very verstile and musical device with a controllable HPF and nicely set graphic eq. The opto-compressor is a very nice feature which is just great for mild "smooth-in" of bass transients.
Sorry I overlooked that one, especialy since one is sitting right in fron t of me!
Max
I use my Fishman daily as part of my practice rig. The 10 megohm input impedance makes a world of difference with my piezo equipped bass. For gigs I really like the "depth (boom) control" and a little of the compressor.
For my louder gigs I do find the EQ points a bit limiting. I need a mid control in the 600-800Hz range to bring out some bite and find that the 1.2 kHz mid doesn't really do it for me. If I could have a sweepable mid and separate volume controls to the XLR and 1/4", this one little box would do it all for me. As it is, I'm still toting an additional EQ to most gigs.
Anybody got any good updates? I am deciding between the Raven Labs APD-1 and the Avalon U5 for my new fodera, anyone care to compare specifically these two?
are the other Raven Labs DIs just as good? Te APD-1 is now discontinued...Thanks, Marc
are the other Raven Labs DIs just as good? Te APD-1 is now discontinued...Thanks, Marc
Are many people using the DI on their amps (if they have one)?
I have had great success in the studio and live with the DI on my SWR SM 900. A tiny bit of EQ and a hint of limiter usually handles the job to get a good solid sound.
I have had great success in the studio and live with the DI on my SWR SM 900. A tiny bit of EQ and a hint of limiter usually handles the job to get a good solid sound.
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