I recently bought a Behringer Ultrabass Bx4500H tube amp. This is my first experiment playing through one (i.e., a tube amp). I play on an 5 string Ibanez SGR with active CAP pickups. I have been fiddling around with the settings to find the sound I like, and have found everything has more oomph and warmth if I run the active pickups through the passive input instead of the active input. Has anyone else had any similar experiences? And what are the pros of cons of running active pickups through a passive input?
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Running active pickups through passive input
- Thread starter Gil Fingers
- Start date
The two inputs are there more to control distortion at the input stage than anything else. The higher output of your active circuit might overdrive and cause distortion. I've used several different amps, where I ended up using the passive input with my active Roscoe bass. Let your ears be the guide!
"Active" and "passive" input labeling is a misnomer. The difference between the two is usually that the active input is padded, since the original intention, when active components became popular, was that they were going to be louder. In reality, the only real difference between active and passive basses is their output impedance, so you only use the active input if the passive input is distorting. If you choose to use the active input, you will usually get "tone suck."
Not only is labelling inputs Active and Passive misleading it's treating us like we're too stupid to comprehend that one has a typical -10dB or -15dB pad to accommodate for a hot signal and one doesn't.
- Active/Passive usually doesn't tell you how many -dB the pad is.
- Not all instruments with an onboard preamp necessarily send an outrageously hot signal and need to be padded.
- Not all hot signals come from an onboard preamp. Overdrive pedals, compressors, octavers.....any device with output gain control can deliver a hot signal you might want to pad...or not.
I think you're overreacting. Honestly, I think "Active" and "Passive" are perfectly good shorthand labels, and I think the manufacturers think you are smart enough to infer from them all the other stuff you said.
It's basically the same thing as tremolo vs. vibrato bridge, or input vs. output jack. Improper terms that no one cares to change. On the other hand, it is not harmless. Regardless of what the labeling implies in any technical sense, the average person sees the labeling and assumes that they should use the active input if they have an active bass, and the passive input if they have a passive bass, no matter what specific gear they are using. The reality is that active and passive have absolutely no relation whatsoever to which input should be chosen. This leads to either confusion, if the person stops to question their choice, or the possibility of inferior tone, if they don't.
Well you think wrong. Dumbed down terminology in lieu of accurate specs is not even close to "perfectly acceptable". Like line6man says it's harmless (you won't wreck your amp using the "wrong" one) but for less experienced players it creates the confusing and mistaken assumption that you should or even have to use a particular input when onboard active electronics are only part of a highly variable equation.
How many times has the OP's question been asked over the years?
Very many times.
If the exact specs were shown someone might still ask about it but the conversation would start with an explanation of what a pad is, what gain structure is, how ALL your gear is involved (not just some preamp you have onboard your instrument) and how a pad can be useful....or not. In other words it would inform rather than confound and mislead.
A great pro quality DI I've used a lot is the Radial JDI which has a -15dB pad that's labelled -15dB. I'm picturing the look on an experienced professional audio engineer's face if it were labelled Active/Passive instead. It's laughable.
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Agreed with Jeff. I never once used an active input with an active bass and think it's foolish to do so just because they're labeled that way. Only when you have distortion and can't make it go away no matter what do you use the active input, unless you like lame sound.
