• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

more confusing DI questions

P

Patrick_65

Oct 3, 2009
42
0
Columbus, Oh
#1
I hate to ask, but I have looked here and am having problems understanding how this whole live sound thing works.

I am fairly new at playing. I am playing in church and plugging into a powered Yamaha mixer, 4 channels of mic and 2 stereo channels that Yamaha says to use for instruments. I am not using my amp.

We use 2 of the 4 mic channels for the mics. Acoustic electric plays direct through channel 3 and I plug the bass directly into channel 4.

I seem to come out ok over the main system but I am having problems hearing myself through the monitor speaker, it just sounds weak and over driven. Guitar comes through loud and clear.

Do I need a DI and any recommendations. If there are other threads that I should read please help point me in the right direction. It's tough to play when the piano and the guitar and the flute etc are playing and I can't hear myself! I have no idea as to what it sound like to the congregation. It would be nice to have this all sound good for Christmas!
 
#2
what you need is a bass amp. that little mixer head is too weak to make your bass sound good, and having it in the same monitor as everything else just makes it hard for anybody to hear themselves.

use a bass amp and don't plug into that tiny PA anymore.
 
#3
If your bass is passive, a DI will help. The hi-Z inputs on a mixer are usually high impedance... compared to a mic input. On a powered mixer typically 10k. If the acoustic guitars are active (most are now in my experience), 10k is fine. For a passive bass, 10k is low impedance and will mess up the sound.

If you have an active bass, then the PA is just too weak for bass. And the PA may be too weak anyway, but a good DI is something you should have anyway. :bassist:
 
#5
We have practice tomorrow night. I will get the exacts then. I just want to make sure I don't buy something and blow up the sound system!!! We also want to sound good. I don't believe we use this system to anywhere near its potential.

Thanks all for posting so far. Again, I will get back tomorrow night.
 
#6
Again thanks for helping. The mixer is a Yamaha EMX 640 powered mixer. It plugs into a CB-1 direct box that plugs into a microphone outelt that connects to a main system that was locked up. The speakers are EV's; 2 have 15" drivers and 4 have 4" drivers. All have some type of horn.

After doing some more reading it may be important to know that I have a passive bass while all other strings are active.
 
#10
Patrick_65 said:
The mixer is a Yamaha EMX 640 powered mixer. It plugs into a CB-1 direct box that plugs into a microphone outelt that connects to a main system that was locked up. The speakers are EV's; 2 have 15" drivers and 4 have 4" drivers. All have some type of horn.
Click to expand...
so that dinky mixer is not actually providing power to any speakers, but just a signal to go into a bigger system?

i guess you might indeed need to plug into it to get the bass into the bigger system. you should still be using your own bass amp, which will both serve as your monitor, so you can hear yourself and everyone else can hear themselves instead of you, and will likely have some sort of line out or direct out, giving you that "active" send to get to the mixer in the first place.

that countryman is indeed a top of the line box, but won't really solve your problem and would likely be wasted on this shoestring setup.
 
#14
Patrick_65 said:
Amp is an Acoustic B20 practice amp. Has a line in and headphones jack, no line out. Couldn't be that lucky!

Bought the LiveWire active DI from GC today. We'll see if it takes care of things on Sunday!
Click to expand...

Never heard of that DI, let us know how it works!

I notice it does accept phantom power. You might want to ask for that to be on, saves on batteries. And some actives like the extra headroom.
 
#15
Just an update on the weekend. The DI worked well, I am definitely throwing a proper signal to the system now. Volume picks up all the way through instead of at 9 - 10 of the guitar's volume knob.

Still couldn't get the monitor speaker to work, now it sounds like it might be blown. I am going to see if I can diagnose this at practice tomorrow. I printed the owners manual to the system and am working on trying to figure this out. The person who is in charge of the system has been some help but he has other issues to deal with.

Thanks to Sean and Walter for their help and encouragement!
 
#16
Patrick_65 said:
Thanks to Sean and Walter for their help and encouragement!
Click to expand...
we're all just trying to get better at this stuff, aren't we? :D

so you should be able to run another cable from the second 1/4" jack on that DI to your amp, which you can then use just for your own monitor.

also, you should probably leave your bass itself all the way up, and adjust the amp and the PA channel so that you're at the right level. on a passive bass you'll get a better sound that way.

i have to say, though, that a 20 watt bass amp is going to be worth little on stage. 100 watts will sound a million times better, especially if you can turn it down so it's not working hard.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back