At my last gig I had the sound man tell me to roof my line out. I'm new to this kind of set up. For untold years I've been only involved with playin toons at private parties and the odd club. Any recommondations for a signal level?
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How much gain do you give the house board?
- Thread starter Dave44
- Start date
Well, exact output voltages are hard to say, since I have no way of measuring it. When you have a variable DI out that isn't dependent of your master volume, I just plug it into a mixer at home/practice and try to set it up so its at unity gain (0) when the trim knob on the mixer is at noon. That way, any sound guy should be able to boost/cut a little and be happy with that I send him. I have had lots of amps that are fixed level when sending a pre-eq DI signal, and will crush a mixer's XLR input, which is generally a mic input. Those really need to be plugged into the amp's line input, but most cheap mixers don't have XLR line inputs and that is what I am sending him. They are generally 1.4" inputs. I seldom go pre-eq anyhow, so it isn't an issue.
Wes
Wes
Sounds kind of extreme but if the sound guy can take a dimed line ouput and manage it to the point it doesn't clip the board, more power to him! Not exactly sure what that does to the signal / noise ratio, though. I run mics and rigs through the board, and believe me, each has its own special quirks and pecularities when establishing gain structure.
Riis
I really suggest you just go pick up an inexpensive passive DI box (like rapco or proco...but not a Behringer) and run the DI before your amp's input.
Your sound man will be happier...this will make you happier... At this stage in your career, you will make yourself easier to work with. I've been doing this for 40 plus years, both as a bassist and as a live sound guy and as a guy who makes his living designing large sound and video systems for performance venues and churches. Your live audience at your level, will not ever know the difference between your bass sound through a cheap DI or a $500 mic... or the line out of your amp.
Often times the line out of a bass amp is not a great sounding signal, and since you have some control of what is sent to the house mixer, this relieves your concern with how much bass signal the FOH guy is getting. Much easier at your stage of the game.
Does your line out have a volume control independent of preamp gain and power amp gain? If so, it's not surprising that the sound guy told you to dime it. Oftimes the line out of an amp has some 60Hz hum in it that doesn't change volume with the setting of the volume control, so turning it all the way up maximizes the signal to noise ratio.
Depends on the amp and bass - IME, the passive DIs you described don't sound nearly as good as the DI on the two amps I currently own(Mesa M-pulse 600 and G-K 700rb-II), nor the 4 or 5 other amps I owned before those... Furthermore, *some* passive basses just don't sound that great thru a passive DI -so that factors into things as well...
I would think that you'd know this after 40 years experience - after all, I've only been at it for 30+...
- georgestrings
Sending a post EQ signal to FOH is ok if you run your EQ close to flat. If you use a lot of EQ you WILL be giving the FOH guy headaches. Let him EQ the FOH it's his job, and if you have a lot of EQ he may NOT be able to get a good sound in the mains and be asking for a pre EQ signal so he has some "wiggle" room to get you sounding good.
FOH mains rairly use the same EQ settings as a stage bass rig. They are different types of speakers and need to be EQ'd accordingly.
FOH mains rairly use the same EQ settings as a stage bass rig. They are different types of speakers and need to be EQ'd accordingly.
whats the point of having an eq on your amp if your not going to send that sound to the board? if you shape your sound with the eq and send the pre-eq signal to the board no one will hear what you are trying to sound like.
i will never believe that. i use tons of eq and have gotten nothing but compliments from soundguys. sure if you use lots of eq to make your bass sound like crap theres nothing a sound guy can do to fix that. sure a sound guy should make adjustments to eq to the room, but i will never let myself be at the mercy of a soundguy to let them decide what i will sound like.
Not true. Unless you use the same types of cabs for stage bass rig that the PA uses (not common) the EQ will need to be different. You will have some engineers saying f*#^ it and you WILL NOT sound good no matter what. Give him a near flat signal and he can work with it. THAT IS HIS JOB not yours.
total BS. a sound guy should work with you, not make the judgement of what he thinks you should sound like.
Lots of EQ is a subjective term. You obviously have a decent sound or you would be hearing about it. I'm saying this is not the norm. YMMV
Nice hearing from you. These are my experiences. If it works for you go for it. My experience differs.
IMO it's not a good idea to use a lot of pre DI EQ, you never know what it will sound like to the audience.
I didn't say he shouldn't work with you. I'm just saying IF your signal is jacked up to far he won't be able to.
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