When I was young I used to carry my whole rig to the gigs and took the Di signal from the bass head. In my early 40's I used to go lighter but still carrying a bass amp. Then I decided to get a Sansamp to send the signal foh and then use whatever bass amp in the venue as stage monitor. There are some cheap options out there to get a good bass tone without diggin a hole in your bank account.
Great video, very useful, but as a clueless person it poses a few questions. You're talking about gigging and getting a signal to front of house. But if you're practicing at home then you can't use the DI without a PA so you might as well get a giggable amp? The reason I say giggable is because I'd imagine you'd get familiar with the sound you've practiced with and turn up to gig knowing the sound you want? I'd imagine practicing at low volumes and then going to a gig with a DI box you rarely use and you could find yourself totally lost? Another question would be about the cab sim. If you've a DI without cab SIM going to front of house is that going out to PA speakers without ever hitting a cab SIM? I'm more informed by your video but think I'm leaning to giggable amp.
Hi. Thanks very much for watching. You are right, for home use, a DI isn't much help unless it is part of an audio interface for recording, or, like I use, an amp sim (Line 6 HX Stomp, etc). If you are looking for an amp for practice and gigging, I would recommend looking for one that has an balanced (XLR) output that allows you to connect to front of house, or into a recording interface. Saves you carrying a DI with you. As an example, my Markbass amp has a balanced out. No need to mic the cabinet and I can set the tone from the amp, not just a clean signal from the bass.
Hi. I rethought my previous answer overnight. While I use a Line 6 HX Stomp for a consistent rehersal, practice, and gigging sound, as an alternative, you could get a DI with a preamp in it. A number of them include a cab sim option and many of them also have a headphone out. The Ampeg SGT DI is getting lots of really great reviews.
Great video, very helpful. I was thinking about getting a behringer ULTRA-DI20, because I need to split my signal and already have a bass preamp, do you know if it's a good DI?
Hi. I have not used one, but they are very inexpensive. I prefer the Radial gear as I have found them really reliable but have used other Behringer gear in the past. I have found that the lower priced gear can be a bit "crackly" or "hissy", so just watch out for that.
I have 3 options on my pedalboard to go out via di xD First is my usual xlr out on my 2notes opus with amp and cab sim. Second is the two xlr outs on my ebs microbass 3 preamp (pre and post preamp section). Usually i only use the first option, but on my last gig the mixing guy wanted a post preamp signal also to use his plugins on a later live-mix-video of the venue. why i do this? Because i just don't like having to carry heavy amps with me.
Thanks VERY much for your feedback. I am with you 100%. The 2notes Opus is an awesome approach. If using a pre-amp DI (SansAmp, Helix, etc) works for Geddy Lee, instead of a large amp system, then it can't be too bad.
@twistieonbass True :) And the bass preamps in the opus are good too. If someone is quite a purist and does want to go for a sound without pedals it's even greater. The only drawback of it is its overwhelming options. You can use it for years and still experiment with new sounds, cabs, amp combinations etc :)
DI pedals/boxes are really handy, but as a bass player, do you really need one?
Very well explained, will be useful to many 🙂 Greetings from Finland! 🇫🇮
Thank you VERY much for watching and taking the time to comment. Greetings back from Oz!!
When I was young I used to carry my whole rig to the gigs and took the Di signal from the bass head. In my early 40's I used to go lighter but still carrying a bass amp. Then I decided to get a Sansamp to send the signal foh and then use whatever bass amp in the venue as stage monitor. There are some cheap options out there to get a good bass tone without diggin a hole in your bank account.
I'm with you. I moved away from a really heavy Eden with 2 4x10 cabinets and am now pretty well just using a HX Stomp. And my back loves me for it 🙂
Very informative and well put together video. I've been confused as to whether I need a DI for various situations and this has helped.
Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment. I'm glad it was of help.
Behringer BDI21 = CHEAP. I opened for Immolation with that pedal. The soundman was super happy with less stage noise. I still use it.
Awesome! Good to know. Thanks for the feedback.
i think this is an important video for a lot of bassists who are starting to look into their pedalboard, great stuff!
Thanks very much for watching, and your feedback.
Great information! Thanks
Thanks for watching.
Great video, very useful, but as a clueless person it poses a few questions. You're talking about gigging and getting a signal to front of house. But if you're practicing at home then you can't use the DI without a PA so you might as well get a giggable amp? The reason I say giggable is because I'd imagine you'd get familiar with the sound you've practiced with and turn up to gig knowing the sound you want?
I'd imagine practicing at low volumes and then going to a gig with a DI box you rarely use and you could find yourself totally lost?
Another question would be about the cab sim. If you've a DI without cab SIM going to front of house is that going out to PA speakers without ever hitting a cab SIM?
I'm more informed by your video but think I'm leaning to giggable amp.
Hi. Thanks very much for watching. You are right, for home use, a DI isn't much help unless it is part of an audio interface for recording, or, like I use, an amp sim (Line 6 HX Stomp, etc). If you are looking for an amp for practice and gigging, I would recommend looking for one that has an balanced (XLR) output that allows you to connect to front of house, or into a recording interface. Saves you carrying a DI with you. As an example, my Markbass amp has a balanced out. No need to mic the cabinet and I can set the tone from the amp, not just a clean signal from the bass.
Hi. I rethought my previous answer overnight. While I use a Line 6 HX Stomp for a consistent rehersal, practice, and gigging sound, as an alternative, you could get a DI with a preamp in it. A number of them include a cab sim option and many of them also have a headphone out. The Ampeg SGT DI is getting lots of really great reviews.
Awesome video Steve!!!
@@ryansnydercg thanks very much for watching. Glad you liked it.
Great video, very helpful. I was thinking about getting a behringer ULTRA-DI20, because I need to split my signal and already have a bass preamp, do you know if it's a good DI?
Hi. I have not used one, but they are very inexpensive. I prefer the Radial gear as I have found them really reliable but have used other Behringer gear in the past. I have found that the lower priced gear can be a bit "crackly" or "hissy", so just watch out for that.
Actually, DI stands for Direct Injection
Really? I didn't know that. Thanks for the feedback.
I have 3 options on my pedalboard to go out via di xD
First is my usual xlr out on my 2notes opus with amp and cab sim.
Second is the two xlr outs on my ebs microbass 3 preamp (pre and post preamp section).
Usually i only use the first option, but on my last gig the mixing guy wanted a post preamp signal also to use his plugins on a later live-mix-video of the venue.
why i do this?
Because i just don't like having to carry heavy amps with me.
Thanks VERY much for your feedback. I am with you 100%. The 2notes Opus is an awesome approach. If using a pre-amp DI (SansAmp, Helix, etc) works for Geddy Lee, instead of a large amp system, then it can't be too bad.
@twistieonbass
True :)
And the bass preamps in the opus are good too. If someone is quite a purist and does want to go for a sound without pedals it's even greater.
The only drawback of it is its overwhelming options. You can use it for years and still experiment with new sounds, cabs, amp combinations etc :)
@@michisauer And there starts the never ending chasing of tone 🙂
Dorothy Plains
THanks.
Buy a $29 BDI21 or a $39 Wine Cellar and get on with your life
Thanks for watching and your feedback. The wine cellar's look cool.