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Sansamp BDDI vs Behringer BDI21 BLIND TEST!!!!
- Thread starter Micolao
- Start date
The Behringer company has to love this thread. Either my ears don't work well or they both sound darn good... and at a 10 to 1 price differential, wow.
I meandered into the thread last week and ordered one. Should be here tomorrow. Can't wait to give it a go.
As to the message not getting through outside the thread...snobbery is the main reason I'd say. With a little bit of "wow, and I paid HOW MUCH MORE for a BDDI?". I hope I'm happy with the purchase. If I am I'll be sure to say so...outside of the thread.
As to the message not getting through outside the thread...snobbery is the main reason I'd say. With a little bit of "wow, and I paid HOW MUCH MORE for a BDDI?". I hope I'm happy with the purchase. If I am I'll be sure to say so...outside of the thread.
Thanks, but I've already read the specs and the manual which is why I asked the question of people who own the device. Seeing that most active DI's do work with phantom I thought this might.
I'll assume that it doesn't as it doesn't specifically day it does.
I'll assume that it doesn't as it doesn't specifically day it does.
Just to be specific, no, the Behringer cannot run off phantom power, only battery or power supply.
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I picked up the ADI21 after TECH21 discontinued the acoustic DI, because I wanted to get a spare for it, and it worked so well that I got the BDI21 as well and sold the TECH21 units, using the money for other things.
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I picked up the ADI21 after TECH21 discontinued the acoustic DI, because I wanted to get a spare for it, and it worked so well that I got the BDI21 as well and sold the TECH21 units, using the money for other things.
Thanks for that Explorer.
So I can gather from your comments that it's a decent unit, especially for the price. I managed to pick one up for $35 barely used so i'm looking forward to giving it a go. It'll mainly be used for small room rehearsals where it's not worth lugging an amp and I just DI. Hopefully this will give me better sound than a passive DI and cheap EQ pedal.
So I can gather from your comments that it's a decent unit, especially for the price. I managed to pick one up for $35 barely used so i'm looking forward to giving it a go. It'll mainly be used for small room rehearsals where it's not worth lugging an amp and I just DI. Hopefully this will give me better sound than a passive DI and cheap EQ pedal.
Well, it arrived and on first test there was a lot of what appears to be digital hiss which tapers off when a note is played and comes back as the note fades. I found that it was entirely due to the drive setting and on low to zero settings it has very little noise or hiss and does what I wanted it to do. I don't like much crunch or distortion so I just keep it down and get a decent sound for our small room rehearsals. It does the job for very little $$$.
For gigs and bigger rehearsals I'll still use my amp and its DI out to the FOH.
For gigs and bigger rehearsals I'll still use my amp and its DI out to the FOH.
Let's revive this one more time....Thinking about getting one of these just so I don't have to keep snatching the Sansamp bass driver I have on my pedal board off. I listed to the Youtube comparison today. Pretty doggone close. Long term users, how has it held up for you?
I have the ADI 21 (acoustic guitar version) that has a sweepable mids control that I have used (on bass guitar) for rehearsal for a few years with no issues other than there isn't always enough range in the mids level control for my taste. Overall I like mine and was using it as a backup (for my stage rig) until I learned how to dial a good sound in using a PA mixer mic channel (with sweepable mids) to get the same sound. If you practice with a mixing console use the channel insert (plug in only one click, not all the way)(plugging all the way in mutes the channel in the main outputs) to send signal to the stage bass amp. For rehearsals where we aren't singing run the ADI into your practice amp. The Behringer pedals do not have enough gain to drive a power amp to full power, however for $30 it is well worth it IMO.
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I have both the ADI 21 and the original Tech21 Acoustic DI. Bought the ADI 21 as a backup and have not actually plugged it in. But if it is anything like the Tech 21 original, then I already love it. Having a sweepable mid is pretty much crucial for getting "my" fretless tone. I call it my "Eli box" -- I can plug it into *anything* and make it sound like me.
@jimmykicker I have been using this unit for over a year now. No complaints. Of course there are some minor tonal differences between this and Tech21, but from my experience - when drums and guitar kick in - that won't matter anymore, that difference gets lost in the mix. What is not lost in the mix is your tone and that signature "clank" of Sansamp.
This unit is plastic, but I think it is sturdy enough. Never tried dropping it on the floor, etc. but never was afraid to stomp it in and out. Knobs are also nice, they have some resistance to it, like a smooth feeling when you roll it in, which I dig.
Also would mention that results vary from bass to bass - When Im using my passive Jazz Bass , I love this unit, and even choose to play through it vs Darkglass B7k. However I didn't like it that much with active Warwick.
But at such price point I would recommend getting this unit for everyone who either wants to try out the "Sansamp sound", wants a backup for their Sansamp, or simply needs a PRE/DI pedal.
@Stan_da_man Manual has a setting called "SVT style" - I would say that is a great starting point - and go from there depending on how much grit you want, what bass you use or into what sort of amp (and how you EQ it) you go in.
Cheers
This unit is plastic, but I think it is sturdy enough. Never tried dropping it on the floor, etc. but never was afraid to stomp it in and out. Knobs are also nice, they have some resistance to it, like a smooth feeling when you roll it in, which I dig.
Also would mention that results vary from bass to bass - When Im using my passive Jazz Bass , I love this unit, and even choose to play through it vs Darkglass B7k. However I didn't like it that much with active Warwick.
But at such price point I would recommend getting this unit for everyone who either wants to try out the "Sansamp sound", wants a backup for their Sansamp, or simply needs a PRE/DI pedal.
@Stan_da_man Manual has a setting called "SVT style" - I would say that is a great starting point - and go from there depending on how much grit you want, what bass you use or into what sort of amp (and how you EQ it) you go in.
Cheers
Love my BDIs!
SVT setting is basically
Drive 50
Level 50
Presence 75
Blend 100
The rest is personal pref.
SVT setting is basically
Drive 50
Level 50
Presence 75
Blend 100
The rest is personal pref.
Many years have passed. I bought a BDI this week because of that youtube comparison video and found this thread afterwards.
What supprised me even more - got my BDI in Germany at Musicstore.de for 19€. Shipping included. No special offer, just regular price.
Did the Sansamp also drop in half during the years? Doubt that.
This piece is a super bang for the bug.
What supprised me even more - got my BDI in Germany at Musicstore.de for 19€. Shipping included. No special offer, just regular price.
Did the Sansamp also drop in half during the years? Doubt that.
This piece is a super bang for the bug.
There's definitely a distinct difference between the two pedals although far from a fundamental one, and the overall quality the two pedals compared sounds the same to me.
Commenting on round one the original Sansamp definitely has a lot more zing and upper frequency presence in it's tone compared to the BDI, but that doesn't make the BDI sound worse in any way because of that, in fact I might prefer the bit rounder tone the BDI produce in this first round to the Sansamp's zing.
Still more an opinion based on personal preferences and taste than saying anything about the quality of either of the two pedals though.
Commenting on round two it seems from your notes that they were not really set to the same settings, but you instead tried to approximate the BDI to the Sansamp's flat tone by adjusting it.
To me it sounds like you really didn't succeed very well, here it is the BDI that has a little too much zing while the Sansamp sounds a bit more focused and articulate. This round the Sansamp wins for me, though given that it might as well have been your fault for not being able to dial in the BDI precisely enough I would say that this doesn't really bring any proof regarding difference in overall sound quality between the two pedals either.
Finally comenting on round three, the dirt round, the favor flips back to the BDI, as it sounds a bit more focused and less fizz covered, this could be explained with the Sansamp perhaps having a bit more gain though, bringing more fizzle into the tone of it, and if that is in fact the explanation to that I guess no real conclusion regarding the respective sound quality of the two pedals can be made either based on this.
Also some might even prefer the less focused fizzy tone the Sansamp has in this clip over the more focused tone of the BDI.
I guess all that can be concluded from this is that the two pedals does sound slightly different and then let it be up to people's personal preferences and how high they weight those against their economy to chose which one they get in the end.
Also I heard a comparison video on YouTube a while back, it might have been fake, but to me the two pedals sounded much more similar there than it appears in your example, though the BDI still won by a hair in that video according to my personal taste.
There's no doubt I would get the Behringer if I happened to actually be interested in acquiring one of these pedals.
Anyway, interesting comparison and experiment you conducted here.
Commenting on round one the original Sansamp definitely has a lot more zing and upper frequency presence in it's tone compared to the BDI, but that doesn't make the BDI sound worse in any way because of that, in fact I might prefer the bit rounder tone the BDI produce in this first round to the Sansamp's zing.
Still more an opinion based on personal preferences and taste than saying anything about the quality of either of the two pedals though.
Commenting on round two it seems from your notes that they were not really set to the same settings, but you instead tried to approximate the BDI to the Sansamp's flat tone by adjusting it.
To me it sounds like you really didn't succeed very well, here it is the BDI that has a little too much zing while the Sansamp sounds a bit more focused and articulate. This round the Sansamp wins for me, though given that it might as well have been your fault for not being able to dial in the BDI precisely enough I would say that this doesn't really bring any proof regarding difference in overall sound quality between the two pedals either.
Finally comenting on round three, the dirt round, the favor flips back to the BDI, as it sounds a bit more focused and less fizz covered, this could be explained with the Sansamp perhaps having a bit more gain though, bringing more fizzle into the tone of it, and if that is in fact the explanation to that I guess no real conclusion regarding the respective sound quality of the two pedals can be made either based on this.
Also some might even prefer the less focused fizzy tone the Sansamp has in this clip over the more focused tone of the BDI.
I guess all that can be concluded from this is that the two pedals does sound slightly different and then let it be up to people's personal preferences and how high they weight those against their economy to chose which one they get in the end.
Also I heard a comparison video on YouTube a while back, it might have been fake, but to me the two pedals sounded much more similar there than it appears in your example, though the BDI still won by a hair in that video according to my personal taste.
There's no doubt I would get the Behringer if I happened to actually be interested in acquiring one of these pedals.
Anyway, interesting comparison and experiment you conducted here.
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