Ricklh
New member
I've been plugging my bass into my Behringer XENYX802 mixer and routed from their to my Fostex digital recorder. Should I be using a direct box or is it not necessary since I'm using the mixer?
bouldersoundguy
Well-known member
That depends a lot on the bass. Active pickups may be fine plugged into a mixer. Passive pickups may sound better into an active DI.
JG96
Active member
Do you have a bass amp? I know both of mine have DI's built in.
Ricklh
New member
The bass is a Squier Vintage 70's Jazz bass ($299.00 new).
Ricklh
New member
No bass amp currently. I think my main question is: does a mixer eliminate the need for a DI - does it do the same thing? Would there be any benefit by using a DI plugged into a mixer?
Mo Facta
Farts of Nature
What you're essentially dealing with here is an impedance mismatch. Your bass is a high-impedance device and since your mixer accepts only low-impedance signals at the line-in, there will be a tonal forfeit. Generally you'll notice a difference in the top and low ends of the signal in a case such as this. The XENYX 802 will indeed put out a balanced line level signal at the mixer outputs (which should not be plugged into a mic preamp, but a LINE IN), and in that way it becomes a pseudo-DI, but remember that a DI is a device that accepts a HIGH-IMPEDANCE signal, which it then converts to a LOW-IMPEDANCE signal to be accepted by a mic preamp. All of these aspects affect tone.
Cheers
Cheers
Ricklh
New member
What you're essentially dealing with here is an impedance mismatch. Your bass is a high-impedance device and since your mixer accepts only low-impedance signals at the line-in, there will be a tonal forfeit. Generally you'll notice a difference in the top and low ends of the signal in a case such as this. The XENYX 802 will indeed put out a balanced line level signal at the mixer outputs (which should not be plugged into a mic preamp, but a LINE IN), and in that way it becomes a pseudo-DI, but remember that a DI is a device that accepts a HIGH-IMPEDANCE signal, which it then converts to a LOW-IMPEDANCE signal to be accepted by a mic preamp. All of these aspects affect tone.
Cheers
So, I think what you're saying is although the mixer is useable as a faux-DI, it's audibly beneficial to use a DI box - this way, I can go from it directly into my Fostex recorder & bypass the mixer altogether and better/truer bass tones?
witzendoz
Senior Member
I would always use a DI, or an Instrument input (if your mixer or Preamp has one) never a line input as it effects the tone. With taking a DI direct to the Fostex, I don't know what model Fostex it is, but a DI cannot be plugged into a line input only a XLR mic input as a DI converts an instrument input to a balanced XLR with ohms to suit a mic.
Alan
Ricklh
New member
Thanks for the info! My Fostex is an MR-8MKII and it has both line level & XLR inputs. I'm going to try the Behringer G DI and see what sort of results I get with it.
bouldersoundguy
Well-known member
A mixer's line input will have an impedance around 10k ohms when you need something on the order of 10M ohms. An active direct box will have that kind of impedance.
YellowDwarf
Dismember
I plug my bass into my Crap-enger mixer via a DI box. I remember that I could hardly hear it without. Best to record a bass amp - you'll have to run the bass through bass amp simulators, which can be hard to get the sound you want.
My 2 cents.
My 2 cents.
M
moresound
Loud Sun Studios
Some of my best bass tracks are a combination of both micing the speaker and a Di input. 
YellowDwarf
Dismember
Cool. I was once advised to mic both the bass and the strings, but have never been able to try it.Some of my best bass tracks are a combination of both micing the speaker and a Di input.
