Is a tube di with the $?

[TonyP-]

A tube DI/preamp will make a difference in your tone. I use a Noble every time I play whether or not there is an amp. Yes it sounds better, thicker, creamier, better texture, fuller, etc., versus a non- tube DI.

In all reality is the difference always going to be noticeable and will the noticeable difference be worth the money? Maybe. Only you will know if adding $500-$1500 to your signal chain is going to fix everything about your current issue.

A really nice tube DI probably will not solve volume inconsistencies in different venues. You mention sometimes it’s fine and sometimes it’s too low in the mix. A tube DI won’t stop the FOH guy from turning down the bass in the mix. And if it sometimes sounds thin or much thinner than you’d like, a tube DI won’t stop the FOH guy from high passing the signal more than you’d like.

What I do and I suppose this is my recommendation to you, it to make sure that the signal that you send to FOH is exactly what you want. Work on that signal and get it as close to perfect to the sound you’re wanting to provide FOH. I’m sure you can get that close to perfect sound with or without a tube DI. Once you’re there, communicate with FOH and somehow tell him or her that you don’t want them to do much of anything to your signal. Tell them please minimal low cut, minimal eq shaping, minimal compression, and let them know where you want the bass to sound in relation to the kick drum. Many times priority is given to the kick and the bass gets drowned.

Having said all that, there are times the rooms or venues aren’t perfectly treated/tuned so those FOH guys have to do magic for the mix to be great. Sometimes that means they’re forced to eq more than one wants them to. It’s just the nature of their work- sometimes.

Lastly, which I maybe should have touched on earlier, if you’re looking to replicate the sound coming out of your amp, then maybe the cheapest and most effective solution is to buy a decent microphone and mic your amp.

Well said and great points.

Its tough to get a mic on your amp in most venues for bass, but I totally get it.

 

[wolfkeller]

A tube DI/preamp will make a difference in your tone. I use a Noble every time I play whether or not there is an amp. Yes it sounds better, thicker, creamier, better texture, fuller, etc., versus a non- tube DI.

In all reality is the difference always going to be noticeable and will the noticeable difference be worth the money? Maybe. Only you will know if adding $500-$1500 to your signal chain is going to fix everything about your current issue.

A really nice tube DI probably will not solve volume inconsistencies in different venues. You mention sometimes it’s fine and sometimes it’s too low in the mix. A tube DI won’t stop the FOH guy from turning down the bass in the mix. And if it sometimes sounds thin or much thinner than you’d like, a tube DI won’t stop the FOH guy from high passing the signal more than you’d like.

What I do and I suppose this is my recommendation to you, it to make sure that the signal that you send to FOH is exactly what you want. Work on that signal and get it as close to perfect to the sound you’re wanting to provide FOH. I’m sure you can get that close to perfect sound with or without a tube DI. Once you’re there, communicate with FOH and somehow tell him or her that you don’t want them to do much of anything to your signal. Tell them please minimal low cut, minimal eq shaping, minimal compression, and let them know where you want the bass to sound in relation to the kick drum. Many times priority is given to the kick and the bass gets drowned.

Having said all that, there are times the rooms or venues aren’t perfectly treated/tuned so those FOH guys have to do magic for the mix to be great. Sometimes that means they’re forced to eq more than one wants them to. It’s just the nature of their work- sometimes.

Lastly, which I maybe should have touched on earlier, if you’re looking to replicate the sound coming out of your amp, then maybe the cheapest and most effective solution is to buy a decent microphone and mic your amp.

Well that's another one of those tricky situations we have it in our contract and our Tech writer and all that fun stuff that they need to do ADI and Mike the cabinet as well but when we get there afthey're half the time they don't have the a Mike or they don't have enough channels or they just don't want to do it et cetera you know how it goes so more than off more often than not it ends up being just ADI and I have to live with it. I say I've got these nice cabinets that are completely removed from the sound it's kind of moronic in my opinion but I've also played in places where they'll run a affected Di line a clean di and put a mic on the cabinet without me even Asking

 

[bucephylus]

Clearly, a topic with multiple perspectives.

My $0.019:

First, get the “best” quality DI you can identify. “Best” can mean a variety of things. But, it is important to recognize and accept the fact that the sound engineer will determine what goes out front. So, my opinion is to send them the cleanest signal possible as their starting point. Trying to send them some kind of signal to force them to use “your” sound is more than likely to just muddy the waters.

I use the Jensen transformer DI’s, either on my Demeter amps or self standing JDI whenever possible.

Second, try to work constructively with the sound engineer as much as practical. There will be times that is possible and times when it is not so. You may have SE’s who try to reinforce your sound, and you may have SE’s who enforce their own ideas. Taking a longer view sometimes requires a lot of patience.

 

[wolfkeller]

A ton of really good info and insight here, I appreciate everyone's thoughts, opinions and advice.

At the end of the day we're all just bassists trying to make the music sound good, ourselves be heard and have fun! Many different ways to achieve the same results

 

[paskisti]

Let me guess the actual problem of OP. You have dirty bass sound tailored to your bass cab that sounds beefy and grindy. When you send that signal to FOH you will get too thin and overly treble sound. Unfortunately bass cab and PA system has very different response.

No tube DI will make magic things. You need to tailor your sound separately to FOH and bass system and this is important if you use reasonable amount of dirt. Adjust sound with outboard preamp after the dirt and effects, send it to FOH, and validate that either with headphones or FOH system, then send same signal to bass amp and adjust it there (in amp) for taste. Now you can do whatever you like with amp settings and FOH signal keeps steady and predictable, but don't touch to outboard preamp settings.

All above IME, and I may be wrong in your case.

 

[wolfkeller]

Let me guess the actual problem of OP. You have dirty bass sound tailored to your bass cab that sounds beefy and grindy. When you send that signal to FOH you will get too thin and overly treble sound. Unfortunately bass cab and PA system has very different response.

No tube DI will make magic things. You need to tailor your sound separately to FOH and bass system and this is important if you use reasonable amount of dirt. Adjust sound with preamp after the dirt and effects to get good enough FOH sound, and validate that either with headphones or FOH system, then send same signal to bass amp and adjust it there (in amp) for taste for stage purposes.

All above IME, and I may be wrong in your case.

That is EXACTLY the situation. I always just ran the di off my svt4 what has the gain high and a sansamp into the front of it.

So, I was thinking of doing 1 if a few different things. 1) run a line off my bass driver, post pedals, from the thru, so no samamp coloring and send that to a dedicated di which goes foh. 2) I have an RBI which has the wet and dry xlr outs so I can sent dry to front of house.
3) I can run the di off my bddi or RBI wet as it is. This will take the svt head out of the foh signal and perhaps be better suited. Either way, my plan is to send foh a different sound that what I'm using on stage. Active basses-Sansamp- 2 svt4s-2 810s.

 

[SamuelSandoval]

I agree with the guys above. You need to send FOH a specific signal, tailored for him. I think it very well could be "your" sound, but it does have to be a "your" signal that makes it possible for FOH to use.

I also agree with the above comment from @bucephylus that you should work constructively with the sound engineer as much as practical. Not all sound engineers are the devil, I promise.

 

[paskisti]

One option could be to run post effects signal to sansamp and tailor your FOH there. Send signal from sansamp (parallel to input, non-sansamp tone) to SVT 4 pro and to cabs.

Most important thing is to check sansamp output sound with FOH or with studio monitors/headphones that it is usable.

I'm not sure but maybe you already described the same thing .