• 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.

FOTH Sound Peeps: Where to DI from?

W

weekendclimber

May 9, 2012
4
0
#1
First time poster who has been helped by a lot of the information on this website. I've built a bass rig and now have a question to the FOTH sound peeps out there. Where is the best place to DI this to the FOTH? I could provide a right and left feed straight from the SansAmp, but I really like the squashed and maximized sound coming from my cabs. Should I DI it from just in front of the AMP or from the SansAmp? I'm not sure what most sound guys prefer since they usually have more eq/comp/coloring options from the main board. Anyway, what do you think?

Bass%20Rig.jpg
 
#3
"most soundguys prefer" a cheap IMP DI box coming right off the bass, whether it sounds like you want it to or not :(

i'd guess maybe skipping the comp and BBE would give the house "your" sound without it being too over-processed.

do you have to have the L-R thing? are you doing a wet-dry deal between the two cabs?
 
#4
Mic'n it is always an option, but I'd like to have at least two options for the sound guy.

I use several panning and ping-pong effects, so (at least for the larger venues I play with both cabs) I would still like to replicate my on stage sound as much as possible.
 
#8
Your DI setup looks fine. It takes into account all your bass processing. Realistically, it maybe difficult to exactly replicate an Ampeg 810 cab sound through a FOH JBL system system as an example. And...

As long as the sound guys do their best to make it sound good for the show and work with you on your sound needs--the show will be good. Theoretically.
 
#12
If I'm doing sound and I see that rig it would go like this(follow the flow chart):

"Do you have a regular way you do this?"

yes ----> we do that.
no ----> "Is the same sound coming out of both boxes?"

yes ----> point an RE20 at whatever speaker looks like my best bet for minimizing bleed.
no ----> point an RE20 at each box, using whichever speakers look like my best bet for minimizing bleed.

If I see a rig like that I operate on the assumption that it sounds the way it does for a reason, I'm not taking a DI and building my idea of what a bass is supposed to sound like from scratch.

The SVT 810 is a pretty distinctive sounding speaker box. They also sound pretty good. You can sound 'good' with a DI, for any number of definitions of 'good'. If you want it to sound like what it actually sounds like the easiest course of action (by quite some margin) is to just mic it up.
 
#15
hey, we're out there!

in my occasional house club gig, a tricky bass rig (actually any bass rig from a band that remotely looks like they have their s**t together) is met by me holding an XLR cable saying "where do you want this?"

(if i had good bass mics i'd offer them, but a 57 is probably not gonna do the job as well as a good DI.)

if he needs more channels and i have more channels, i'll give him more channels.
 
#17
nashman said:
You don't need any FOH support with that rig. Wow.
Click to expand...
speaking to that, if the two cabs are strictly for "panning and ping-pong" effects as opposed to actual "processing"
(i.e., if it's just different volumes for each one, as opposed to different tones), then you might be wasting your energy, as most bass gets panned straight up the middle (assuming the PA is even stereo in the first place) for maximum low end fullness in the whole room.
 
#18
weekendclimber said:
First time poster who has been helped by a lot of the information on this website. I've built a bass rig and now have a question to the FOTH sound peeps out there. Where is the best place to DI this to the FOTH? I could provide a right and left feed straight from the SansAmp, but I really like the squashed and maximized sound coming from my cabs. Should I DI it from just in front of the AMP or from the SansAmp? I'm not sure what most sound guys prefer since they usually have more eq/comp/coloring options from the main board. Anyway, what do you think?

Bass%20Rig.jpg
Click to expand...
Jesus H Christ! Is it the 70's again? How many roadies do you have? :D

My SVT hasn't been out of my studio in 10 years and I (and my back) do not miss it.
 
#19
walterw said:
hey, we're out there!

in my occasional house club gig, a tricky bass rig (actually any bass rig from a band that remotely looks like they have their s**t together) is met by me holding an XLR cable saying "where do you want this?"

(if i had good bass mics i'd offer them, but a 57 is probably not gonna do the job as well as a good DI.)

if he needs more channels and i have more channels, i'll give him more channels.
Click to expand...

I was just poking a little fun at Jimmy, Walter. ;) I know, as Jimmy does too, that the majority of sound guys actually do want to make bands sound good and leave happy.
 
#20
When I see that diagram, I want my DI signal(s) coming off the SansAmp. The comp and BBE are set to work best with the SVT cabs, not the PA.

For example, an SVT810 doesn't have much happening below 60Hz whereas any reasonable PA with subs should be flat to 30Hz or lower. So the BBE will add a tremendous amount of subharmonic energy that the SVT cabs won't reproduce but the PA will. Not good. If I get a mess of low end from the bass player I'm going to eq or HPF it out anyways.

A similar rule applies to compression. The SVT810's eight identical speakers will respond to compression differently than a full range, multi-driver system, especially when it comes to noise. Since an SVT cab doesn't go much above 5kHz it doesn't reproduce the hiss (or noise floor) associated with higher levels of compression. The PA system on the other hand will reproduce everything, especially the noise. That's why it's important for the engineer to handle compression at FOH so he can optimize the settings for the best house mix and the lowest noise floor.

And while I like stereo imaging as much as anyone it's important to note that dramatic stereo effects rarely work in a live performance environment and are only effective for people listening near the sweet spot of the room. Everyone else hears a mess of reflections that distorts/cancels the stereo image or they end up missing pieces of musical information because they are too close to one side.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back