I am getting serious about my amplified upright sound and need to invest in a good DI to get a nice amplified sound...I am also serious about doing some jazz session work and i have been conversing with my brother about a studio upright setup....From what he has told me , upright bass usually uses whatever transducer/mic. setup into a DI into the track...Does anyone know of a good DI box for under 300$ with a good amount of tonal possibilities...(EQ and such)
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Double Bass Good DI box
- Thread starter MerryPrankster
- Start date
The Fishman Pro EQ Platinum Bass is pretty good for under $200. It's not the best, but I like it, and it's nice and pocketsized. I use a Realist into the Pro Eq.
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Not a lot of people mention this one around here, but I am getting wonderful results with a Sansamp Acoustic Driver DI. I had previously used my Bass Driver DI, and it worked well also, so I just bought the Acoustic DI, which has mid control and lacks the drive functions. I know a couple of sound companies who like this unit for URB DI also.
JJBluegrasser said:
JJ, can you tell us what you don't like about the Platinum Bass? I'm thinking of getting one. I usually hate mucking with EQ or any tone controls or filters that alter the sound but it does seem to have some useful feedback fighting stuff and I do use a mic (AMT) only. Right now I go into AI amp and use it's built-in preamp. However I'm shortly going to try the Schertler speakers that don't have a preamp.
My other problem is that I do need a separate mic input to allow me to address the audience and this means I need something with another channel and independent level controls. I think may have to go with a small mixer with mic preamps but it's a matter of finding one that is transparent and doesn't add noise.
Hi Adrian,
Well, I should be honest, and say that I haven't had alot of patience with EQ-ing the Pro-Eq with my Realist. I just haven't been able to EQ a sound that is as good as just flipping the bypass switch on the thing. I've wanted a little more of this or that occasionally, but every time I switch the EQ in, I am unhappy with the sound. I'm probably being picky and impatient.
All of that said, it does work great in bypass mode. No complaints at all. I think in bypass, it is just matching the input gains. I'm not really sure what else it is doing.
Jason
Well, I should be honest, and say that I haven't had alot of patience with EQ-ing the Pro-Eq with my Realist. I just haven't been able to EQ a sound that is as good as just flipping the bypass switch on the thing. I've wanted a little more of this or that occasionally, but every time I switch the EQ in, I am unhappy with the sound. I'm probably being picky and impatient.
All of that said, it does work great in bypass mode. No complaints at all. I think in bypass, it is just matching the input gains. I'm not really sure what else it is doing.
Jason
Hmmm, I didn't see any bypass switch in the manual that I looked at on the Fishman site. Have you had any reason to use the filter or compressor at all?
you can also look to the guys at www.bassnw.com for the sansamp. i have been very happy with mine (for both my upright's and electric's tone). the xlr output has been great in theater gigs so i can run a line to the sound guy. with him doing most of the volume i have less to worry about with feed back. ooo, and the "drive" knob (there to simulate a tube amp sound) does wonders for cleaning up/hiding the nazzle sound of the underwood i got...
-keiran
-keiran
i too enjoy the fishman preamp. don't use the compressor much-seems like bass transducers compress anyways... there is a thing called a PAMM that ultrasound makes you might want to check out - it has at least 3 channels. it's only like 180$ or something - they are being discontinued and are cheap right now. might fit your situation.
BTW how do you like the AMT? Had any feedback problems?
PAMM---www.ultrasoundamps.com
I think ZZounds.com has them or Music123
BTW how do you like the AMT? Had any feedback problems?
PAMM---www.ultrasoundamps.com
I think ZZounds.com has them or Music123
I use a Raven Labs PMB-II and it works fine. I use it with my SWR Super Redhead or a cheapo active monitor - when I'm too lazy to cary the RH ;-) I'm savin for a new rig, but for now that will have to do.
I have no experience with any other DI boxes so I can't compare it to other brands.
I have no experience with any other DI boxes so I can't compare it to other brands.
The original post solicited suggestions for getting a good amplified sound and for recording. A lot of the responses addressed one or the other of these concerns. Isn't a DI used specifically for recording? As I've seen them used the instrument goes into the DI and comes out as a mic which is patched directly into the board. An additional mic can be used to record what's coming out of the amp or instrument to create another track that can be mixed with the direct-in track. Having said that, is a DI going to give you a better sound thru an amp? I know people use them to patch in to the house. Is there any benefit other than that? I'm not concerned about recording, just getting a better amp'd sound from the Realist so it seems like an EQ is what I need, not a DI. Please clarify.
kwd said:
Here's the deal in a nutshell: no DI's are not used just for recording. In fact, they are just as often used for live sound and to improve the sound out of your rig. But whichever application they are used for, a good DI has the main impact of putting the outgoing signal at the proper impedance for its desination - and also outputting a balanced outgoing signal. A lot of upright bass pups in particular don't have the proper impedance for amps designed for electric bass - a good DI rectifies this. Also, a good DI, like someone else said, is great to go in before your amp so you can give a live sound person a good clean pre-amp signal to go to the house. And finally, like you said, a DI for recording is often a good idea. To address your main concern though, yes, a DI will *often* give you a better sound through your amp, but not always ;-)
Lermgalieu is spot on 100% from my experience. I will add that a DI box with good tone controls, like my Baggs Paracoustic, will also help you fight feedback in a live environment and help fatten up the thin spots in your amplified sound.
The person running the sound board will love you too.
The person running the sound board will love you too.
Just did a gig subbing with the Moonlighters in NYC. They don't like to use any amps; all acoustic onstage, only vocals in monitors, but you have to provide signal to house so I used my Sadowsky outboard preamp. I had to switch a lot between pizz and arco and an upright player in the audience was telling me the sound was really nice in the house. He restores uprights so I took this to mean the bass sounded good. The Sadowsky is not one I would have thought of using but it was very even between pizz and arco with really good fundamentals.
