Help! bass too loud, DMP3 clipping!

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Halion

Halion

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So I finally got me a DMP3. Worth every penny. Ï love it! However, when I DI my bass through it, the level is so high, even on the lowest gain setting (+6db) it's clipping the input of my soundcard. And it's just a passive bass! It becomes even worse when I use my envelope filter infront of it, it can cause some big spikes.

Anything I can do about this? I noticed the DMP3 doesn't have a pad. Turning down the volume on my bass is not what I wanna do because I will lose tone (passive bass, not the best controls).
 
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have you try the hi / low gain knob??
seems you now in the hi-gain mode.
 
Have your sound card got a +4 / -10 switch on it? It maybe in the -10 setting,and the signal coming from the DMP3 is putting out +4. Just a thought. :) Actually, I hear this a lot lately where people are using outboard pres, DI, ect. and the soundcard converters can't handle the input signal. :confused:
 
if you don't have a compressor or limiter, having a pre with input and output gain helps tremendously!

Can't you buy line level pads or somethign for this purpose too?
 
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I'm using the Lo setting, and the +4dBu setting. Any other setting gives me even more gain.

I'm sure I could buy pads, but I'd like to see if I can do anything without spending money.
 
i don't think theres anything that you can do other than buy a pad, buy a compressor if you don't have one, or turn down the volume on your bass. If you have a mixer you could also do gain reduction on that.
 
it has to be in the stageing somewhere, there's no way the output of a passive bass is that hi.

seriously, no way.
 
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i know nothing of the dmp3, but how many ins does it have? it may be that there is a specific input for instruments that are "lined in" (I know my Q10 has 2 inputs made specifically for guitars and nothing else when I press a button)
 
Halion said:
I'm using the Lo setting, and the +4dBu setting. Any other setting gives me even more gain.
Click to expand...
I don't get that, that's the highest input setting on my soundcard. :confused:

What soundcard are you using?
 
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Kevin DeSchwazi said:
I don't get that, that's the highest input setting on my soundcard. :confused:

What soundcard are you using?
Click to expand...

I think he's saying that if he set it on -10 it would just clip even worse.
Am I right?

I agree with giraffe, there has to be another problem somewhere in the staging.
 
metalhead28 said:
I think he's saying that if he set it on -10 it would just clip even worse.
Am I right?
staging.
Click to expand...

Correct.

I'll explain my routing:
Peavey C4 passive bass -> Spectraflex TS cable -> Input channel A of the DMP3 -> Balanced TRS plug to unbalanced Cinch plug (tip to tip, ring+sleeve to ground) -> Terratec EWX 24/96 input 1.

Hi/Lo switch depressed (Lo gain setting)
Gain knob all the way counter clockwise (+6db)
The meter hardly moves. The input signal as seen in the control panel of the Terratec is really high. Average notes are ok, but any halfway heavy accents and it's in the reds. The Terratec has a software gain slider, but it is set to 0 (no software gain).

I do know that my bass has a pretty high output for a passive bass, but since the DMP3 is slowing little to no movement on the meters, I doubt the output of my bass is too high. It seems to be sending an awefull lot of juice down the line to my pc though. I don't have this when I'm using mics, they show as they should on the meters and show the same level in the computer.

Thanks for the help so far guys. Any ideas?
 
I just got my DMP3 and had the exact same experience with my bass, except that my bass is active. I ended up turning down the volume on the bass, and also modulating my RH plucking (fingers) technique. I do tend to pluck rather hard, though the DMP3 seemed to emphasize any variation, much to my surprise. I decided to work on my RH technique for now.

I think there is a tendency to play loud when recording the bass DI, but maybe it's just me. Turning up the monitor volume seemed to counter my tendency to play so loud.

FWIW, I was recording directly from the bass -> DMP3 -> Echo Mia soundcard.
[edit to add] I'm also using a TS cable from bass to pre, TRS cable from pre to soundcard.
 
Remeber that the meter on the DMP3 is an average meter, not a peak meter like on the soundcard.
 
INTP said:
Remeber that the meter on the DMP3 is an average meter, not a peak meter like on the soundcard.
Click to expand...

yea, but if the meter is just barely bumping, then the peaks aren't going to be at like +3.

i have no idea why this would help, but have you tried running the bass into a DI, then into the mic input?
i've never used the 1/4" input on my dmp3, maybe there's something there i don't know about.

i've recorded direct bass plenty with my dmp3, but always bass-DI-mic input.
i'll try to go bass-1/4" later and see what happens.
 
I don't have a DI box so can't try that, unfortunately.

The meter is definately not showing me what the soundcard is getting. I do not want to have to change my playing just because my preamp is about to clip. I have decent control over my dynamics and volume aswell, I don't pluck that hard so really, it shouldn't be a problem.
 
Perhaps I'm too quick to blame my own playing... ;)

I'm interested in what others say about the DMP3 for bass, though.
 
I played around with mine a bit tonight and noticed a few things. For all of the following, I had the DMP3 at the lowest gain on the knob and for the hi/lo gain range switch. For one thing, it only seems to distort with one of my basses (a Modulus with a 18v preamp), and the peaks are worse with the bridge pickup. To keep it from distorting, I either have to turn down the volume on the bass or play soft enough to negatively affect the tone.

The peaks are not a problem with my G&L L-1000 (passive humbucker) or my Pedulla (9v active), although I can get it to clip at the sound card if I play REALLY hard on the Pedulla.

As for the meters on the DMP3 and the MIA, I visually checked them with some sustained notes and the levels are about the same (e.g. both showed -10db) as near as my eye could tell. The range is vastly different, however, as the DMP3 only whows to about -25db, while the MIA goes to -70db. For peaks, the attack at the beginning of the plucked notes, there remains a fairly significant difference. FWIW, I was able to go above 0db on the sound card but never hit the 'clip' light on the DMP3.

I don't know if this helps, but I thought I'd follow up anyway.
 
goofed off with a fender jazz bass into 1/4" input.


low gain setting, knob at 50% for plucking or picking... a little less for slap.
no problems.
the input on my digi oo1 is set at -14

that's what i know.

p.s.

did a quickie bass di shoot out on all my crap pre-amps, i'm not going to post clips, just my opinions.
no di box used, fender jazz into 1/4" input.

lets just assume none of them sound like an Avalon.
dmp3- sounds good, very useable. not much in the hi's.... but that's true of this setup.

art tps- (set on bass, with impedance cranked up) slightly better bottom then the dmp3, something missing in the mids though. also kind of dull (true of all of them). the most hiss, also picked up slightly more rf interference than the others. (monitor buzz)

digi 001 stock pre's- 10 pound bag of ass. hell to pay in the low mids, the clear looser.

berringer ultragain pro- not enough gain on the 1/4" input to be useable. but with both the pre and output on 11, still sounded slightly better than the 001.
seriously.
 
Thanks for this thread! Actually, both an Avalon U5 and a DMP3 are in my lineup for purchase this month! ...been saving and have a session coming up. But I intend to use the DMP3 for drums, either on the kick and snare (421 and 57) or on the overheads (Samson C02's -all I have :( ).

Much love,
Cuzme
 
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