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Going in Direct with a BBE BMax

xMaxBASSx

xMaxBASSx

Mar 6, 2009
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#1
does anyone know if a BBE Bmax would work going direct live, instead of using it with a poweramp and cabs. my band is going to start playing shows and the guitarists are both using axefxs direct and i dont have an amp big enough to play shows yet. it would be simpler and cheaper for me if i can use the Bmax direct
 
#2
Yes, you can use the balanced out straight to the snake with a caveat: Make certain that phantom power is off on the bass channel of the mixer. As the most common mixers have global phantom, you'll likely be out of luck there, and need to use a DI after the BMax - I recommend passive, and feed it with the loop out.
 
#5
Your BBE should work fine running direct to the PA, as long as your PA can handle the volume requirements for bass in your band's setting.

I use a BBE DI-100X Direct box, and it does a great job with my band.

But to ramble on, without knowing your detailed situation, a junior sound person may not be able to deal with the hot signal and increased dynamics that using a preamp brings to the table.

I play bass at my church every week, and I have always been a bass gear geek. We don't use amps. The first rig I tried to use was a great sounding Sansamp RBI using a Symetrix compressor. Then I scaled back to a Sansamp BDDI. Then I used an Eden WT400 as a preamp. Then the Eden WTDI. All sounded great, but the bass channel always ended up being distorted beacuse the dummie sound person(s) didn't know how to set gain structure.

So now at church I just put my bass into a Mark Bass Compressore into a Radial JDI then straight to the mixer. I keep my output pretty tame, and my channel seldom distorts.
 
#7
xMaxBASSx said:
does anyone know if a BBE Bmax would work going direct live, instead of using it with a poweramp and cabs. my band is going to start playing shows and the guitarists are both using axefxs direct and i dont have an amp big enough to play shows yet. it would be simpler and cheaper for me if i can use the Bmax direct
Click to expand...

The preamp will work fine. BUT, you need to be aware of 2 things:

first, the phantom power problem. Phantom power is a voltage sent from the mixer through the microphone cable primarily to power condenser microphones. Top shelf mixers allow the phantom power to be switched on and off for each channel. Less expensive mixers have a global phantom power switch that sends this voltage to every single channel. Here's the problem: phantom power can damage your preamp. So unless you can guarantee that every mixer at every venue you play can shut the phantom power off for your individual channel, you need to use a DI box between your preamp and the PA. Simply use the 1/4" line output of your BBE into the DI and plug the XLR cable from the PA into the DI. Now everything is safe.

Second, you need to consider how the sound is eventually going to reach your ears. Assuming you don't have in-ear monitors this means you will be relying on the venue's floor monitors. These will not sound very good or get very loud for bass. Also, you may have to share a mix with another member of the band.

Now, here's the good news: if your bandmates are using AxeFx units through the monitors and no amps on stage, your amp will probably work just fine as a stage monitor and you can use the DI to send to the PA. Then you will be able to hear yourself on stage since you're not competing with 100 watt Marshall stacks and the PA will make sure you're heard out front.
 

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