DI Boxes and Playing Through the PA

[Ant]

had to use my palmer DI without any on stage amp or cab the other week as we were told not to bring cabs as they were being provided (which then fell through the day of the festival but only on our stage or something hah)

so with my pedal preamps and my palmer DI i got the exact same sound i always get, stage sound wasnt as good (just a single monitor) but i felt at ease knowing the FOH was the same as always,

imagine if id just turned up with a big valve head and no way to run it.

[LewisK1975]

Noticed on a youtube vid yesterday that Geddy Lee's stage setup now does not include any cabs - his Orange AD200 amps go into the Rivera Rockcrusher load box and speaker emulator, I didn't even know such a thing existed!

http://www.rivera.com/product/attenuators-cab-sims/rockcrusher-recording/

[Skybone]

Quite a few years back, most sound guys I encountered would only let you play through their DI's, which where placed before your amp. They wouldn't even entertain using the DI on the back of my amp (an Ampeg combo), telling me that "If it goes down...blah-de-blah"

Hopefully, they're a bit more progressive now that amp modellers and tone shaping DI boxes are available.

[pendingrequests]

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1439204768' post='2840737']
Quite a few years back, most sound guys I encountered would only let you play through their DI's, which where placed before your amp. They wouldn't even entertain using the DI on the back of my amp (an Ampeg combo), telling me that "If it goes down...blah-de-blah"

Hopefully, they're a bit more progressive now that amp modellers and tone shaping DI boxes are available.
[/quote]

Thats very common and a good standard practice as if the worst case scenario that your amp does break on stage, they can still get sound out front heir DI.

And they can then just adjust your monitor, so you can hear your bass.

Edited August 29, 2015 by pendingrequests

[Skybone]

Pretty sure Geddy Lee's stage set up hasn't had any amps/cabs on stage for a good number of years, he's been a fan of the Sansamp BDI's for a long time.

IME, a bass amp "going down" is quite a rare thing, whether with or without a sound board DI. The point is, if you turned up with a DI capable box (BDI/preamp pedal/amp modeller/etc) and no amp, would the sound guy still insist on you going through their DI even though you brought your own?

[Monckyman]

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1440863736' post='2854416']
Pretty sure Geddy Lee's stage set up hasn't had any amps/cabs on stage for a good number of years, he's been a fan of the Sansamp BDI's for a long time.

IME, a bass amp "going down" is quite a rare thing, whether with or without a sound board DI. The point is, if you turned up with a DI capable box (BDI/preamp pedal/amp modeller/etc) and no amp, would the sound guy still insist on you going through their DI even though you brought your own?
[/quote]
Only if your DI was £3.99 from Argos.
If you are for instance using a behringer BDI pedal, you could take the DI xlr feed from that, OR, you could llnk that via a jack patch cable to another DI.
My drummer uses two behringer ultra DIs for his SBD pad sampler, and our FOH hates them to f*** and replaces them with much better Radial DIs. Drummer insists his are fine, FOH insists they sound sh*t.
Who would you trust?

I've been amp less for over a year now and have done pubs to major festivals either through my ipad/jamup/sonicport/LA audio DI box, or recently, just a TU2 and the LA audio DI.
FOH and I think it sounds excellent, and keeps the stage clean.
f*** carrying an amp and a cab, no way.

[Skybone]

But if you buy yourself a decent modelling DI box (which is highly more likely, being more aware of the various DI products available specifically for bass players), the PA/FoH guys would be relatively happy going through them then.