Recording: Plugging In vs Mic'ing the amp

[wintremute]

When you record, do you usually plug straight into the board, or do you mic your amp? Since we don't always get what we want, is what you Usually do what you Prefer to do? So I guess this question is really 2 parts. What do you Usually do when you record, and, ideally, what would you Prefer to do when you record?

 

[seamonkey]

Don't sweat it, do both, channels are cheap these days. Take your pick after you record.

 

[Timi]

As above, just do both if you aren't sure. There's no right or wrong, whatever sounds good to you is good.

You will find that most engineers go direct only or a blend of the two. Also going direct with a Sansamp is common, kinda gives you the sound of a miked amp but with that direct "in your face" placement. I generally don't like direct bass and find it hard to fit into the mix, to me (just like guitar) I think the amp is part of the instrument unless I'm going for a weird effect. I work on a fairly wide range of styles and almost always prefer to mic, but I still take a DI which rarely gets used.

When I do use the DI it's because:
I want to reamp to change the sound I originally recorded.
I want more sub low end.
The main amp I record is a B15 and sometimes I want the mids to knock a little harder in the mix, blending in a really midrangey DI compressed with a slow attack can bring it forward.

 

[wintremute]

I'm going to probably do both. I was just curious what other people did and what other people prefer.

 

[NKBassman]

Almost entirely DI in my past experience, usually with a Sansamp if I want added color.

For my most recent session we tried micing up a cab for an overdrive portion, but couldn't get the mics to sound the way we wanted them (ie. good), so I ended up sending the overdrive channel through a Radial JDI with the "Speaker" filter engaged and it sounded great.

And like Seamonkey said, channels are cheap. We're running 3 channels with the bass on this session...
1) Clean DI direct to board. (Countryman Type 85)
2) Colored tube DI with compression (Universal Audio M610 - dbx 160a)
3) Overdrive DI with EQ filtering (Fuzzrocious Demon - SWR Interstellar Overdrive - Radial JDI w/ speaker filter - GAP Pre 73)

 

[strictlybass_ic]

I usually just run DI. Micing brings with it a whole new set of challenges. If you already have a nice isolation/mic/booth setup it's probably not too bad. But in improvised studios its easier to just DI it and go.

 

[Furious_Man77]

Depending on the song requirement, either 2 or 3 tracks. Typically a clean DI straight in, a DI from the amp or some type of warm DI, and a mic on an amp for some speaker color. From there I'll work with each track individually (comp/eq/etc), then blend them together until I get a good mix that I like, then one more light comp of the summed tracks and done. If for some reason you need to go back, always save an original unaltered DI track that can be used for a reamp, etc.

 

[rob2966]

Generally just bass -> Avalon U5 -> interface for me in my home studio. I have used that a fair bit in other recording studios. In one studio the engineer dropped his go-to 1176 in line after the U5 with very nice results.

Later
Rob