How has had experience with the SansAmp Bass Driver DI?

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frank_1

frank_1

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How is the SansAmp Bass Driver DI, is it any good? I'm thinking about getting one, and I don't want to spend $350 on a Line 6 POD or bass. Help me out here? I need to know about the sound quality.
 
I know they have a rackmount version (of the Bass Driver DI) that is just about in the stores. I think it will go for about $300 and offers more controls than the original.

Geddy Lee (Rush) used a Bass Driver DI a lot on his recent solo album, and I've heard some great recordings done with one. I've never used it though. I have a Sansamp PSA-1 and it's decent on bass IMO. I have a Bass Pod that I like more, but it's $300-350.
 
a sansamp will give you amazing amounts of presence and clarity.. I have a small studio and to get awesome bass sounds I take a bass pod (tweak to a sound we like) and then run it through the sansamp for presence and the big rig sound and run it straight to the board.

for live shows I always take the sansamp for backup. You could actually play a live show using the sansamp as a preamp/DI and actually sound as good as a full blown 8x10 overdriven cab


The pod by itself can not do these things. I would recommend buying the sansamp ($169 at guitar center if you talk them down) and trying it for a few days. If you dont like it take it back.

Just dont expect to use it for distortion ok. Use it to get THE big rig tone and added presence.. good luck
 
The SansAmp Bass DI, is not a amp modeling device. I have a solid state bass amp (Hartke B-90) and using the Bass DI with it makes it sound very tube like, as if I turned the B-90 into a tube bass amp. I like to use it as an EQ for the bass also. If you already have a good tube bass amp, the Bass DI might not be worth it. I have not tried running the XLR for direct recording but I have with the standard 1/4th which, for me, does not work well. Has anyone ran the XLR directly into the recording device? Does it have the output/volume?
 
The Bass DI does indeed simulate a mic'd amplifier.

It's a pretty good unit, but don't expect to be blown away immediately. Recording a bass directly never sounds impressive until your listening back to the mix anyways...at least not in my opinion.

Some tips if you get this unit:

1) It doesn't put out enough juice. It works best to run it into a decent preamp...even something simple like the ART Tube MP works great. It's XLR output is balanced.

2) Keep a good battery in it at all times, or use phantom power. I use phantom power from my ART preamp which works great.

3) The presense and drive knobs are what will give your sound a "realistic" quality. Presense will give your sound some "air" and the drive knob will give it that overdriven tube sound (to a degree).

4) This unit works pretty will with regular guitars also. In fact, running a six string into the Bass DI produces a more realistic "tubey" sound than the POD.

Anyways, it's worth a hundred bucks for running bass direct. A HELL of a lot better than just plugging your bass into the mixer.

Slackmaster 2000
 
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