How to record bass with Steinberg UR44C

[OsoPinone]

Starting to try to do some recordings of my bass guitar playing, so I asked a friend, who's a Sound Engineer, and he suggested me to buy a Steinberg UR44C (well, he suggested the smaller model, but I decided to go big, after checking with him again ), which works out of the box on my Mac. But I'm having issues being able to record a good sound, I get the highs too high and the lows some don't even sound at all, or just not enough.

I also bought a condenser mic with the UR44C, and can record through that fine, but of course the sound is not as clean as, I guess, it would be with a direct connection of the bass to the audio interface. So, what I have is the bass plugged to an amp and then the amp plugged to the UR44C, and I've tried EQ'ing all sides (bass guitar, amp, EQ in GarageBand/Audacity), but even though I got some success in, at least, getting the low strings to sound and the high strings to sound a bit less high, the sound is still quite bad.

So, is this the correct way to record? I've been looking for info and most people don't do that, they either have a DI box or other gear, so yes, please, some advise on what to buy next, if this setup is not going to work

Have to say my bass guitar is both passive/active, but I have no batteries right now, so haven't tried recording it in passive mode directly through the UR44C, would that work?

 

[Jazz Ad]

You don't need an amp or mic. Plug the bass straight into the interface. The EQ and amp plugins linked to the interface are awesome you won't really need anything else for a standard bass tone.

 

[OsoPinone]

You don't need an amp or mic. Plug the bass straight into the interface. The EQ and amp plugins linked to the interface are awesome you won't really need anything else for a standard bass tone.

I get no sound at all if I do that, in active mode, so yeah, I guess I should buy the batteries and try in passive

 

[hbarcat]

I get no sound at all if I do that, in active mode, so yeah, I guess I should buy the batteries and try in passive

Based on the limited information given, it seems to me that you need to get your bass output sorted out first before you even begin to consider recording options.

I would suggest you replace the batteries in your bass to allow it to work in active mode (or else just use passive mode without battery power).

Once that's done, simply plug your bass directly into the Steinberg as @Jazz Ad said. That's what it was designed for.

If your active bass is working properly (with fresh batteries) then you should be able to get premium sound from the Steinberg interface.

 

[pfschim]

I would agree with what's been posted already ... but also would add some other advice/insights

If you have a bass that has both active and passive modes, you should get decent tone WITHOUT batteries in passive mode as the batteries are there to power the preamp in active mode. Most modern basses will work without batteries in passive mode if that's an option. So, you need to sort the battery thing and active/passive mode out before anything else.

Another thing is that when players first hear their bass tone recorded, it's often a shock because it CAN sound kind of sterile without any added processing (either on the input side .. like an amp/preamp, or in the DAW). Recording also really reveals your playing technique ... which can be kind of covered up using an amp/cab and playing "live". So you may just be hearing how your really sound. It also matters how you are hearing the recorded tone .... cheap/bad speakers or headphones can deliver poor sound quality even if you have solid recorded tone.

So, as has been suggested, try plugging your bass into the Steinberg directly, make sure you're getting plenty of signal (not too much, but not too little ... should be some kind of metering to tell you that) ... and then look for FX that you can add to the bass track ... EQ, Compressor, Speaker Sim ... etc. play around a bit and you should get perfectly good recorded bass tone.


good luck!

 

[OsoPinone]

Ok, bought new batteries and can now plug directly to the Steinberg and I get sound, from all strings/anywhere on the fret!!! Sound is still not perfect, but much closer to how (bad still) I play.

 

[OsoPinone]

If you have a bass that has both active and passive modes, you should get decent tone WITHOUT batteries in passive mode as the batteries are there to power the preamp in active mode. Most modern basses will work without batteries in passive mode if that's an option. So, you need to sort the battery thing and active/passive mode out before anything else.

As I mentioned before, no sound at all until I replaced the batteries, so I might be wrong in how my (new, bought it recently) bass works. It is this one:

And see this switch close to the knobs (sorry for the dust, didn't see it until I saw the photo ):

This is what, I think, makes it switch from active to passive, right? And in passive mode (or with the switch down as opposed to what's in the image above (it's up)) I got not sound at all neither via the amp nor via the Steinberg. Now with batteries, it sounds ok both on amp and through the Steinberg and in both positions. So yeah, am I completely confused about my bass being both active/passive? and why I get no sound at all via the Steinberg when the batteries were exhausted?

Sorry for the maybe obvious questions, still a newbie

 

[Jazz Ad]

Did you instal dspMixFx ? It comes with the interface and lets you control the dsp directly.
It comes with excellent presets that can serve as a basis to deliver great tones.
It also lifts work off from your computer and reduces latency.

 

[pfschim]

As I mentioned before, no sound at all until I replaced the batteries, so I might be wrong in how my (new, bought it recently) bass works.

Sorry for the maybe obvious questions, still a newbie

no worries, its a journey for sure, keep at it and you'll get where you want to be eventually.

Looks like you have a Marcus Miller Sire bass.