aardvark direct pro user.... Advice on recording DI Bass needed

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Rassoodocks

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okay, so as the subject says.. i'm a direct pro 24/96 user...

It's a great little unit, i love it to death, perfect for my semi jazz songs... However, i'm having real trouble recording bass guitar... the bass in question is a spector with active circuitry and passive pickups...

i've tried to following methods to capture the bass..

1 - Direct from bass into aardvark, using the basses preamp/aardvark preamp... The results have been a fairly 'thick' tone and rumble on the low e.

2 - Di from bass amp(swr goliath) into aardvark... The results have been a little more compressed than straight from the bass, but still, lacking power and, rumbles on low e.

3 - Mic'd cab... I've tried a combination of my mics, single rode nt1000, dual rode nt1000, rode nt1000 as a room mic, i've also tried my shure bg4.1 dynamic mic, and my akg d550... The best results i've got are with the dual nt1000's... however, they're not really made for recording bass, they too have trouble holding the power of the bass...



So, that's what i've tried... i'd really like to hear from people who have had similar problems recording bass into an aarvark, it seems a common theme... I've been looking at getting a DI box... maybe the behringer di100... which i've seen mentioned on here before... or maybe a sansamp, or even a bass pod...

Mister bass player is buying the behringer UltraBass BX1200 bass amp, which has a DI output on it, which may or may not be of any use. Considering behringer are a company closer associated with studio applications i'm hoping it's better than the swr output... This said, i'm really just looking for a known solution to this problem...How can i get that powerful bass without the rumble? How can i get it to sit in the mix without shitting over everything else? i'm prepared to go for whatever will fit the bill...

I'm thinking i need some kind of Di/preamp/compressor... bass effects i'm not keen on, i write jazz, i go for the natural sound in most cases... i just need something that will get a big hefty bass signal in there that sits in the mix nice and tightly...

Thanks in advance,
Rory.
 
Ok first of all this is not an Aardvark issue so forget about that.

Those mics will all be able to handle the power of bass, they may not be the ultimate but they should work fine.
The two tricks are tuning the bass amp placement in the room and mic placement. Move the mic back at least a foot or even three from the speaker. But first find a spot in the room where the bass is not causing the E string to boom or build excessively, don't be afraid to use the bass amp EQ.
It's ALL about placement. I find my best way is to tilt the amp back at an angle in the left off-center of the room with a mic off axis almost two feet above and away from the bass amp...I use a beta 57.

A really great mic will do wonders but will still have many of the same issues. I'm trying to pickup a Sennheiser 421 for bass now. I used it once and was completely blown away by it.
 
ok.... i'm following you on that one... thanks for the suggestion... My bassist plays very delicately... he's a jazz bassist essentially and very subtle... so what i need is something i can really turn up and not worry about him going to loud... As far as the tone goes.. i like the mic'd cab, but i'm thinking for my application a di would be somewhat better... Have you got any ideas for bass di's that would help me ?

Rory.
 
Personally I would turn the amp up and back the mic off and compress the signal a bit to get it more present.
 
I've had experience with SWR DI's and they are very clean indeed and should sound pretty good and clear when DI'ed. I have since went from using SWR, then went to Carvin for a short period of time, and now I'm using a preamp/poweramp rig with a Sansamp RBI as a preamp. I can say that the Sansamp is one of the sweetest things I've played through...and the DI sound is incredible as well. You can actually alter the tone of the DI sound (and the sound of your rig obviously) with the EQ and tone setting...from very clean, to very heavy and distorted. So being a fan of Sansamp, I'd obviously recommend them. ;) I'm still working on my original material with the Sansamp...and what I have done I can say that it sounds great. I do have some clips of the Sansamp here though if you'd like to hear em (keep in mind I'm a rock guy too).





On both, I am using my 79 Fender Precision. The RBI runs about $299 but the Bass Driver pedal (same thing as the RBI mostly, except it's in pedal/DI form) usually runs about $150. Oh the Sansamp does have a tube amp speaker emulation knob on it.
 
awesome bass lord... ive heard only good things about the sansamp.... However, this rbi you speak of, is that just a sansamp stomp box? ... i'm only looking at getting the di unit... however, it'll probably be used for live shows eventually, so it could be an option...

Thanks for those links too... i'll have a listen asap.
 
Nope, the RBI is a rackmountable unit...the bass driver is the pedal but it also functions as a DI. You can go to their site:

http://www.tech21nyc.com

to get more info. I can actually run direct from my RBI as well, it seems you want more of a direct box which is basically what the Bass Driver is...well that and then some. :) These products are versatile...they can serve as a preamp, DI, and make jullienne fries. :rolleyes: :D
 
basslord... yeah, i know what you're talking about with the stomp box and rack moutable rbi.. i want the bass driver... = ].... just a quick question about your bass recordings, they're really good, nice and smooth, especially walk.mp3... however... just so i'm not getting the wrong idea... is that you plugging into the sansamp, then the sansamp going straight into the mixer, or in my case, the aardvark.. without any compressors in the signal chain? basically, i don't to get it and find out i need a compressor to get a good sound... i compress afterwards, in my recording program...

much appreciated...

Rory.
 
yeah...just bass-->RBI-->direct out of RBI-->mixer-->soundcard.

Wow, never realized the signal chain is that long. :rolleyes: :p :D

I didn't compress anything on those recordings.

Now that I think about it, it's possible I could have recorded those tracks on our previous computer which in that case it was just:

bass-->RBI-->direct out of RBI-->soundcard

And it wasn't a good soundcard either. :rolleyes: I don't know, I can't remember which computer I did it on. All I know is that I didn't use compression. Maybe normalizing a bit, but no compression.
 
basslord - man, you've been an absolute gem... if those recordings weren't compressed and were just the raw sound of the sansamp, that's made my mind up...

just to clarify... the rbi and the bass driver di are the same things, except the rbi is a studio rack version?

that is a real dumb question, i'm pretty sure i'm right... just trying to eliminate reasons for me to kill people if i don't get what i want : )

thanks again for all the input...

Rory.
 
Glad I could be of assistance. ;)

Believe it or not, there is actually a difference between the RBI and bass driver (besides the obvious). The RBI has a mid level EQ control whereas the Bass Driver does not. And the RBI has more connectability (is that a word?) options. Other than that, they are basically the same unit. I've heard the bass driver a couple times and it sounds great...as does my RBI. In the event you get the bass driver and need some mid adjustments then I'm sure you got an EQ laying around somewhere. :rolleyes:
 
EQ. Use your ears. Thats all it takes.

I am sure thats not the answer you wanted.
Beez
 
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