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Should you even use your amp when recording (Is DI better)

Damani311

Damani311

Sep 30, 2006
552
33
Asheville, North Carolina
#1
Howdy.

I am running an active electronic bass into an amp, then a line level XLR out to a Presonus Firebox, which reamplifies the signal.

Should I just cut out the amp? What are the pros/cons of using it....does it increase latency or add extra background noise?

What about the effect on my tone? It's a pretty clean sounding amp, but I was wondering if I just DI the bass for recording, will it sound different when played through the amp?

Thanks
 
#2
I almost never use a DI, some people almost never use a mic. Try it both ways and see what you like. To get optimal results from a mic requires a bit more work, you will need a good sounding room, a good sounding mic and a good sounding mic pre. None of those things are cheap. If you are using a very distinctive sounding amp you are probably going to want to use a mic, a DI will never sound like a vintage SVT. You will not get latency per se, although if the mic is not right on the speaker you will have a bit of delay, about a millisecond per foot or so. When combining a DI with a room mic it is sometimes a good idea to deal with this to avoid a comb filtering effect. If you are working on a computer just nudge one of the tracks in to place.
 
#4
totally depends on amp, axe, room and mic combos not to mention what you're looking for. If you have a good room, DI the bass, mic the amp and then you can play around at mix-down. I like to DI the bass, DI the amp, and mic the amp.
Often, I don't end up using all three. But they're captured anyway just in case.

JKT
 
#9
I use either or a blend of both depending on what's needed. A lot of the time what works for what I'm doing is the DI.

But what sounds good *is* good. If you get a better sound from micing the cab than running the DI, use that sound instead of the DI sound. Recording music isn't algebra, there are no absolute right answers.
 
#10
Since I do use effects then yes I need both ...

The DI runs straight in, and the effects through an amp and cab, mix comes later.

;) ... I prefer doing both even live, and will go so far as to bring by own AKG 112 and JDI if needed.
 
#11
What the op is describing is using your amp as a DI. I did this with an iamp 500 recently to great results ( I like what the preamp does for my sound). If one were to replace the amp with a DI, you would have a very similar signal chain and the only difference in tone would be the difference between the amp the DI. So it comes down to whether you have a better amp or DI.

The OP also misuses the term "reamping". Reamping is when one takes an already recorded track, runs it thru an amp and records it on a new track with a mike. This technique allow you to get that miked amp sound after the fact, which is very usefull if your band likes to record the instruments at the same time.;)
 
#13
hunta said:
The best sound is usually a blend of both. Or multiple mics and DI. Or multiple mics and multiple DI's.
Click to expand...
That's the approach I took recently. I think the engineer ended up with 2 mics on my cab and 1 or 2 DI tracks (although I suspect these all may have been sumixed down to 2 tracks). Since I like OD blended with a clean tone, I'll have him throw that on the DI tracks. IME they (DI + amp) have worked best together in a studio session. :bassist:
 
#14
Kenny Allyn said:
Since I do use effects then yes I need both ...

The DI runs straight in, and the effects through an amp and cab, mix comes later.

;) ... I prefer doing both even live, and will go so far as to bring by own AKG 112 and JDI if needed.
Click to expand...
You can use a DI anywhere in your chain. You can use multiple DI's in your chain. You can have a DI running right after your bass, and after your effects, and out of your head, and record them all!
 
#16
projectMalamute said:
And as to better, well I have my opinions, some will disagree with me. The most amazing rock bass sound you ever heard from a really well recorded album? That was a mic on an amp. The bass sound from the beer commercial that was just on TV? That was a DI.
Click to expand...

That is far to general a statement. There have been absolutely unworkable, horrible bass tones done with amps and some stellar ones done with DI ... and vice versa. As often as not, the best recorded bass tones I've heard came from a passive bass into a mic - pre to the recorder... Much of Steely Dan's Two Against Nature for instance ...

Personally I DI almost exclusively. Flat and uncompressed. EQ, compression, effects - all that should be dealt with in the context of a band mix IMO.

IF I had Fred Hammon's VersaTone - I might make more of an effort on the mic thing though ...
 

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