RedSub/HB DI-2000 Bass DI + Drive

[discreet]

[b]RedSub/HB DI-2000 Bass DI + Drive[/b]

The blurb for this effect/pre-amp/DI/drive claims it produces 'vintage tones, bright warm sounds, modern distortions and excellent frequencies'. Excellent frequencies..? [size=4]This unit is exactly the same as the Harley Benton BDI-2000 (except it's £10 more expensive, d'oh!) but with a RedSub logo on it. RedSub are gear4music's brand name. [/size][size=4]This is what it looks like:[/size]

It has 6.3mm mono jack input, output and parallel outputs and a balanced XLR DI output. The controls are as follows: CONTOUR (which supposedly works a bit like Markbass's VPF filter), COLOUR (which supposedly works a bit like Markbass's VLE filter), TREBLE, MIDDLE and BASS (self-eplanatory), LEVEL, BLEND AND DRIVE. The LEVEL control does not only set the overall level of the unit, it also has a bearing on the DRIVE control. I found this annoying. BLEND sets the amount of effected signal to clean signal. At least that's what I thought, as the maximum effected signal seems to happen when this control is in the centre of its travel. No idea what's going on there.

The unit has a heavy steel case with rubber ends and feels like a quality item, and the controls are positive and give confidence. But in practice the contour and colour controls cover their whole range within a quarter-turn of the controls, making them difficult to use - and they are just nowhere near as effective as Markbass's VPF and VLE filters in operation. Which is what you'd expect at this price point.

The bottom line is that it sounds [i]really[/i] terrible. The drive in particular is harsh, unmusical, and in no way emulates any kind of 'vintage tone' whatsoever. The bass, mid and treble controls don't seem to cover the full audio bandwidth. The bass is 'boxy' and unnatural and never seems to go low enough; the mid control makes this worse and just adds what I'm going to call 'honk'; and the treble control does not add a lovely ethereal sparkle as it should - it is digital, tiring and strident. I found that it was impossible to get [i]any [/i]kind of useful sound out of this unit. Whatever you do to it, it sounds like a morose goose lost in thick fog.

Because this item cost nearly £60 posted I naively imagined I'd be getting something twice as good as Behringer's BDI-21 V-Tone; in fact the RedSub unit is [i]way, way[/i] less than half as good as the BDI-21, and it's [i]twice [/i]the price. For £26 or so, the BDI-21 is a true bargain and sounds great!

I have taken advantage of gear4music's 14-day returns policy and they are sending a courier to collect and giving me a full refund. Which is as it should be. I haven't tried any of RedSub/Harley Benton's other bass pedals, but I would certainly avoid this one!

Edited March 16, 2013 by discreet

[Beer of the Bass]

A very useful review. Thanks for taking the hit so that we don't have to!

[discreet]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1363459151' post='2013051']
Thanks for taking the hit so that we don't have to!
[/quote]

You're welcome.
I decided to stop beating around the stupidity bush and picked up a DHA VT1 EQ today, which I'm having great big fun with.
It is totally the business and doesn't sound like any species of waterfowl whatsoever.

Edited March 16, 2013 by discreet

[Marvin]

DUCK!!!!!!!

[discreet]

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1363461060' post='2013092']
DUCK!!!!!!!
[/quote]

That joke was paltry (geddit??)

[paul_5]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1363461211' post='2013096']
That joke was paltry (geddit??)
[/quote]

Not just paltry, it's foul.

Congrats on the DHA kit, I absolutely love mine!

[discreet]

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1363465433' post='2013154']Not just paltry, it's foul.[/quote]

Eggsactly.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1363465433' post='2013154']Congrats on the DHA kit, I absolutely love mine![/quote]

Thanks, I'm still finding my way round it somewhat. It's definitely a beast though, no doubt about that.
The EQ seems extremely powerful... a small change can make a big difference! [size=4] [/size]

[Dave Vader]

The contour and colour controls are there on my HB promethean clone amp as well. I have found the best settings for them are to push the little button above them that turns the twatting things off.
Looks like that option isn't there on this though.

[neepheid]

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1363622424' post='2014875']
The contour and colour controls are there on my HB promethean clone amp as well. I have found the best settings for them are to push the little button above them that turns the twatting things off.
Looks like that option isn't there on this though.
[/quote]

Respectfully, I disagree. I find the contour works best if it's on and set about 12:30, because it's a harsh, mid heavy beast without it. The colour is great if you want a quick, footswitchable change to some old school thump, as it's just a treble cut. Each to their own though

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1378378963' post='2199309']
Respectfully, I disagree. I find the contour works best if it's on and set about 12:30, because it's a harsh, mid heavy beast without it. The colour is great if you want a quick, footswitchable change to some old school thump, as it's just a treble cut. Each to their own though
[/quote]

Very true, i like a harsh mid-heavy sound anyway, which probably explains a lot. plus i use it with either a dirty old P-bass with flats and the tone wound right down, or my EUB, both of which could do with being harsher and more middy.
I've played Gibson basses, they are not lacking in mids or harshness (which is why I would like another one)