How much of this is the DAW?

[marsquake]

In my never ending quest for a badass tone, I came across this video of a Tool bass cover. To me it sounds amazing. From reading the comments, he's not using a super high-end ba$$ and definitely not a Wal.

He stated his signal chain is:

• Squier bass
• Pedals ( Boss ODB-2 and LS-2 )
• Fender Rumble 100w Bass Amp ( from which I used the Line Out , as my signal for the sound card )
• USB interface
• Reaper DAW ( with some plugins )

How much of this is the plugins? I have no real idea what a DAW is, let alone how to use one, but damn it does make nice sounds from a $200 - $400(?) bass!

Right now I have a Spector Euro and a low-end Musicman I play through a GK 1x12 and neither sound as good as this. To my ears anyway.

Is this tone more from the Rumble, the BOSS ODB-2 or the plugins?

 

[MaHei]

The DAW has no part in coloring the sound you are trying to capture, but the plugins do.

 

[silky smoove]

The DAW is just a tool. Reaper in particular, along with most other DAWs, has no built-in color on its 2buss, so it's entirely down to how the tool is used.

 

[MCS4]

I'm not usually one to play the "tone is in the fingers" game, but IMO most of what you like about this is coming from the fact that the person plays the part well and clearly knows how to set up the various pieces of his gear to get the right sound. Nothing about it strikes me as any particular tone magic from a DAW. It is just a well recorded bass tone with enough distortion and attack to let the part ring through.

I would say that he might be blending in some clean signal with the distorted signal based upon what I can hear, although my guess would be that he is more likely doing that through the LS-2 rather than the DAW. It might be that this is what makes the part sound better for you.

 

[tothemax]

I didn't find a a 4 string version of that bass but here is the 5 string, active pup's make a big difference. You can do a lot with a clean signal and well played bassline. Squier makes decent products, just foreign built with medium(+) quality level materials and electronics (some are better than others).

Squier Deluxe Jazz Bass V Active (5 String) 3-Color Sunburst | Reverb​

Update, here is the 4 string model

- Google Shopping​

DAW or Digital audio workstation is basically just a multi-track recording board, Reaper is a brand - it's simply a recording application, like ProTools, or even Audacity (a free product). Good playing + good recording + good mixing and effects = good sounding music.