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Why do I see less DI than mics at local shows?

#101
Downunderwonder said:
Soundmen who give a damn about bass rig tone. Guitars are always mic'd.
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Maybe 20 years ago, but lots of guitar rigs are DI'd these days... It depends on the guitarist, the sound guy, and the various rigs... One of our guitairsts DIs into the board, while the other Mics, mostly due to his older rig with no DI...
 
#103
tfer said:
I don't mic 1" away.

My mic is 6" away and pointed at my 15" Hydrive speaker, approximately 1/3 of the way between the cone and the edge, favoring the edge.

I'm wireless, so I'm standing with the soundman as we are experimenting. It takes about 5 minutes to get it right.

And it sounds a lot more like my cabinet than some DI ever could.
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You are absolutely right, and that can be good, or bad. The guitarist we have that DIs is running a Behringer amp, and honestly, he sounds better DI'd than with a mic.
 
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#104
Big Hoss said:
You are absolutely right, and that can be good, or bad. The guitarist we have that DIs is running a Behringer amp, and honestly, he sounds better DI'd than with a mic.
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That all makes sense. I can see if someone really has a significant part of their tone coming from a cab, and you have a good enough mic, and have the time and have a sound guy willing to put in a little extra work, that it is worth it.

I have to admit that I think my live sound is fine and good enough and that I don't think that the nuances people are trying to capture make a difference live. But I could very well be wrong. I'm fine with fine/good enough. I get it. It's just not for me.

That being said, the DI out of the guitar players Peavey and Hughes and Kettner heads sound really good to me. Are trivial to set up, and help keep down stage volume. But, those aren't all important to others and I'm all good with that.
 
#105
FWIW, I recently had a house sound guy insist on taking a DI (fully modeled & cab emulated from my multi-fx modeler) and mic'ing my bass rig, which consisted of multiple full range coaxial speakers, being fed the same signal as the FOH. I caught myself in the middle of questioning him on this decision, and opted instead to let him just have his fun. Inevitably, I hit the mic stand during the performance, sending the mic totally off its carefully chosen placement. In the broader scope, none of it mattered for squat.

It did make the audience's skin crawl when this FOH mixer, during sound check, would painstakingly filter sweep the signal on every channel (think a narrow Q, +15db boost), evidently to establish a primary resonant frequency. This was just precious on my bass, which tends to have quite a bit of aggressive attack and upper-mid presence. Ahhh...life is good.
 
#108
jimfist said:
Sennheiser MD421, EV RE20, AKG D12E, Neumann U47 FET
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Will one of these work ?

Large Dynamics.JPG
 
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#114
Humbled said:
I expect you have an ear or two to match...
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Back in the day perhaps. Experiencing high end loss, so I need help in that department, but otherwise I haven't lost too much off the old fastball. I saw this coming years ago so I took a day job in an unrelated field. Now I enjoy playing and mixing on my own terms, not out of financial necessity. The distance created has been a good thing, I think.
 
#115
The Type 85s are still a standard in small active DIs, before you hit the boutique units like the Avalon and the REDDI, as well as the Sansamp preamp-style DIs. Countryman has the newer Type 10, which is a LOT more expensive than the 85, but I'm told it's spectacular-sounding, too.

I've grown to prefer the Radial JDI stuff because (A) they sound fantastic, and (B) they don't require phantom power.

And neither does the REDDI....:D (oops the REDDI requires 120V. But at least it's not phantom power...:thumbsup:)
 
#119
Geri O said:
The Type 85s are still a standard in small active DIs, before you hit the boutique units like the Avalon and the REDDI, as well as the Sansamp preamp-style DIs. Countryman has the newer Type 10, which is a LOT more expensive than the 85, but I'm told it's spectacular-sounding, too.

I've grown to prefer the Radial JDI stuff because (A) they sound fantastic, and (B) they don't require phantom power.

And neither does the REDDI....:D (oops the REDDI requires 120V. But at least it's not phantom power...:thumbsup:)
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I have two JDI's and that's what I use personally, for the reasons you stated. You can use one of them.


You still have to bring your own REDDI.
 
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#120
Something to consider. On our stage (I play at a church with a caged drum set that stays in it's place) my rig gets situated directly in front of the drums. Because of the size of the room, my rig volume is not too high, and most of the sound comes from the house speakers. The amp is really more for us on stage to hear the bass because being a church its usually not too loud in the mix, and strangely the rest of the guys like to hear the low end. When it was miced, it would pick up vibrations from the drums and cause feedback. I'm sure this is something a good sound guy could deal with, but we have a rotating group of 5 or 6 sound people who are volunteers with no formal training. The issue was resolved by simply going DI.
 
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