I rate both my VT Deluxe and MXR M80, plenty of control available and phantom power is a great thing imo. Beyond that in a live setting I do not get too bothered about what DI/pre I am using, most effort is expended on managing how the room. the audience and the pa impact on getting a reasonable bass tone in the room. Today, we did some live video recordings in our rehearsal hall, the light was way to bright so we pulled the blinds down. Sound was ok no more than that. Afterwards we lifted the blinds up, played same stuff again, no changes to the kit/settings (less mistakes though lol), the sound was way better - go figure. Recording otoh is a totally different matter.