recording bass direct

[Rassoodocks]

Anyone got some ideas for recording bass d.i ?

I've got an aardvark 24/96... i've tried miking the cab but it's not present enough and sounds un-natural.. so i've decided direct is going to be best and i'll mic the cab if i need some more punch....standard practice...

So, i use the balanced d.i on my bass amp... whack it in the aardvark and everything should be great...nope.. the levels aren't high enough and it's muddy... now, i can't be the only one having problems like this.. bass is in my opinion, a really hard instrument to get right when recording... I've been told a sans bass preamp could be an option.. eliminating my amp all together.. i've also been told the bass pick ups could be ... garbage.

oh.. and the best levels i get is when i plug the bass straight into the aardvark.... that'd be almost ideal if i had active pickups... but... i'd love to get a preamp eq in there...


So.. because i'm not actually a bassist, i'm asking you guys who have spent a lot more time fiddling, no doubt.

What's the best option for direct input?
How much is it going to cost?

thanks in advance,
Rory.

jazz: The mothership

[Cyrokk]

i have had great success with a bass modeler into a mic preamp. I use a Zoom 506II into an ART Tube Pre.. Total cost was a little less than $200.

Cy

[Big Ted]

I go Sansamp Bass Driver into my mixer into my Echo MIA, which seems to work well. I've had issues using DI's on amps so I picked up the SansAmp, which also does a good tube emulation for playing live.

[nyaben]

Try mic'ing your cabinet and mixing that with the direct sound OR use something like a Sansamp Bass Driver DI. That lets you do the same thing with one box...and it delivers a really nice tone.

[6gun]

i was doing some scratch tracks the other day and plugged into one of my studio projects vtb pres to put some direct bass down.
it sounded very, very good. the tube was dialed in at 12 o'clock & i was using a fender jazz plus (in active mode).

the other box i use to like was the classic sansamp (the original with the dip switches). got a very thick bass sound out of that box. used many different basses with that and it always sounded great.

[kid klash]

Buy yourself an ART Tube MP for $70 - it's one of the fattest, roundest-sounding bass DI's I've ever used. Plenty of gain for your audio card input too.

[ALBERTPIKE]

You need to run the D.I. from your amp into a preamp to make the signal hotter before going into the Aardvark. The preamp on your mixer will do. The ART Tube MP acts as the D.I. and preamp and would give you plenty of gain to go direct in. But if you already have a mixer or preamp, try going through that to get the gain you need.