Some Bass questions...

[Mull]

I'm using a 5 string Yamaha for my recording. I'm running it through a guitar effects processor into an ART project series pre amp and then through a mixer to my sound card. I have 2 questions. How would a DI box benefit and does anyone know of a great fuzz distortion plug in for bass? I can get a good clean sound, but I've yet to find an excellent bass fuzz distorion that doesnt blow the signal up.

 

[rayc]

A DI would mean you could go Directly In to what ever connects with your soundcard best.
The Behri BDI21 is VERY good & has a fair bit of sound sculpting available - more like a Sans Amp.
Bass Fuzz plug - I just use a guitar Fuzz plug in & tweak to suit.

 

[Mull]

So would the pre amp I'm going through be considered a DI? And what guitar fuzz plug in do you use? Thanks.

 

[rayc]

The preamp would act as a DI as it mods your signal to suit the requirements. The BDI21 is only about AUS$40 and can mod the signal to balanced or unbalanced as required.
I use & tweak voxengo boogex with the cab & mic sims - it's a free download.
I also use one that is part of the Cakewalk Pro Audio FX bundle.

 

[ggunn]

I'm using a 5 string Yamaha for my recording. I'm running it through a guitar effects processor into an ART project series pre amp and then through a mixer to my sound card. I have 2 questions. How would a DI box benefit and does anyone know of a great fuzz distortion plug in for bass? I can get a good clean sound, but I've yet to find an excellent bass fuzz distorion that doesnt blow the signal up.

There is no benefit in running a plain DI box for recording. DI boxes are for running long signal lines with low loss and noise immunity, like from an instrument on stage through a snake to a remote mixing board. For short lines, running a balanced line instead of an unbalanced signal does not buy you anything.

 

[Whale Bone]

As you are getting a good sound, as mentioned above, it sounds like there'd be no great benefit to using a DI.

Where one would be useful, though, is in matching your instrument's output to a preamp's input. A DI will take an instrument's signal and convert it into a low-impendance, mic-level signal which is what many preamps want to see. Some have hi-impendance inputs, but I've sometimes found I prefer a DI'd signal into a mic input over the hi-z input on a preamp.

Sounds like you're doing alright, but if you can borrow a DI, you might try it to see it sounds any different.

 

[ggunn]

As you are getting a good sound, as mentioned above, it sounds like there'd be no great benefit to using a DI.

Where one would be useful, though, is in matching your instrument's output to a preamp's input. A DI will take an instrument's signal and convert it into a low-impendance, mic-level signal which is what many preamps want to see. Some have hi-impendance inputs, but I've sometimes found I prefer a DI'd signal into a mic input over the hi-z input on a preamp.

Sounds like you're doing alright, but if you can borrow a DI, you might try it to see it sounds any different.

On most boards, the first thing a signal sees when it comes in on a balanced line is a transformer or chip that converts it to an unbalanced signal. Most of the time there is no reason to convert a signal to balanced on a short line where signal loss and/or RF noise are not a problem; connecting through an unbalanced input just bypasses that conversion.

One possible reason for coming in balanced, though, is if your signal is coming from a powered device which introduces a ground loop when its shield and the board's ground are connected. With most DI boxes you have the option to keep them isolated with a ground lift switch.

 

[bongolation]

The BDI21 is not so much a DI as a very good, subtle sound-shaping device that has a DI capability. I've seen these new for as low as US$20 new, online.

Great unit, similar -- but not identical -- to the SansAmp at a tiny fraction of the price. Someone here recommended getting one as the best cheap way to record bass a few months back and I did out of curiosity. Though I had to repair mine before using it -- -- Behringer final assembly being notoriously sloppy -- the BDI21 is probably the most useful analog effect I have ever owned. I have lots of other options, but just plugging the BDI21 into the board and dialing in a sound does it for me. It's particularly good for putting some brightness into flatwound-strung basses.

It's also probably the only product Behringer makes that people don't flame.

The guitar version, the GDI21...eh, not so much. Noisy, overdistorted.

 

[greyharmonix]

There is no benefit in running a plain DI box for recording. DI boxes are for running long signal lines with low loss and noise immunity, like from an instrument on stage through a snake to a remote mixing board. For short lines, running a balanced line instead of an unbalanced signal does not buy you anything.

i think it does give you more control over the tone and makes the bass signal less dynamic so you don't have to worry about clipping while recording.

 

[ggunn]

i think it does give you more control over the tone and makes the bass signal less dynamic so you don't have to worry about clipping while recording.

That's not so for a simple passive DI box. All it does is split the signal into a complementary/balanced line, which most boards immediately will convert back to an unbalanced signal for internal processing. It doesn't affect either the tone or the dynamic range. Most of them will allow you to separate the unbalanced shield from that of the balanced line, but for an instrument which has no other connection to earth ground you don't need that. If your instrument is also connected to an amplifier, then having that ground lift may make it worthwhile to use a DI.

An active DI with EQ/tone control will indeed boost (or cut) signal and enable you to shape the tone, but it's the preamp inside it that does all that.

 

[raven46]

I can get a good clean sound, but I've yet to find an excellent bass fuzz distorion that doesnt blow the signal up.

Great plug-in for bass
http://www.ikmultimedia.com/ampegsvx/features/

If you looking for a pedal check out the DigiTech Bass Driver X-Series
http://www.digitech.com/flash/BassDriverDemo.php

 

[greyharmonix]

Great plug-in for bass
http://www.ikmultimedia.com/ampegsvx/features/

If you looking for a pedal check out the DigiTech Bass Driver X-Series
http://www.digitech.com/flash/BassDriverDemo.php

I forgot to mention that if you got a good distortion pedal you can run the bass signal into a distortion pedal then into a DI box (to dampen the signal) then use a preamp to amplify the signal to a good level to track. it doesn't sound any better or worse than plugin stuff it's just another option.

 

[rayc]

Most bassists will tell you a blend of DI'd bass & a nic'd bass will get you tone & contro - (that's another use for the DI - splitting the signal so you can do both at once) - & they'll tell you that because it true.
I'm serious: the behri BDI21 is bloody good & bloody cheap.

 

[Mull]

Great plug-in for bass
http://www.ikmultimedia.com/ampegsvx/features/

If you looking for a pedal check out the DigiTech Bass Driver X-Series
http://www.digitech.com/flash/BassDriverDemo.php

Any good free bass fuzz plug ins seeing as how I'm poor and got laid off? I've been recording like crazy though.