Use of DI box on stage

[revamp]

Hi guys,
Looking for a bit of help and guidance here on the use of a DI box. I've read some of the other postings but would to clarify a few points. We've a few gigs coming up where the floor space shall we say is a little 'cramped' so rather than take my rig along would it be feasible for me to go through our PA via a DI box? If it is are there any pros and cons? can I use it with my effects? and lastly are there any recommendations on which box to buy?
Over to you

[Stewart]

That depends entirely on your PA - more info required...

[bassicinstinct]

[quote name='Stewart' post='428681' date='Mar 8 2009, 04:41 PM']That depends entirely on your PA - more info required...[/quote]

+1.

[revamp]

Fair comment, is there anything specific I need to find out? it's just that I don't get involved with the PA so would have to find out

[Stewart]

The make and model of the speakers would be a good start

I play in two bands - one has a pair of Mackie SRM450s - (they're self-powered - 300W for the bass speaker - which is 12"), the other uses a pair of RCF ART-310As - (also active - amp is also 300W - bass speaker is 10")

Both are good general-purpose cabs (they make good monitors too), but neither setup would acceptably ampilfy bass at a gig (except in emergency, in a very small venue). To do so, you'd need to add on another powered (or another amp and crossover) bass cab (bin) - or two/three/four...

So essentially, if you've got bass bins, you're probably OK - if you've only got 'boxes on sticks' you're not.

[dannybuoy]

You'd be better off going in with some kind of preamp / amp-sim too, like a Sansamp, EBS Microbass, Tonehammer, Line6 POD, Zoom B2.1u, etc. Most of these have an XLR output on them so can be used in place of a DI box. If you're going direct, you may not like the sound of your overdrive/distortion/fuzz pedals as they will have a lot of high frequency content that gets rolled off by a typical bass amp, but will be heard through a PA. For that reason, an amp-sim can be great as they typically roll off the highs to simulate a speaker.

I have a Sansamp VT Bass which I recommend to you if you like the traditional Ampeg sound. It doesn't have an XLR output but you'll get away with just hooking it up to the PA without a DI box.

[Silent Fly]

Providing the PA can manage the lower notes of your bass, I would connect an EQ and a compressor (preferably multi-band) before the PA. The chain I would use is:

Bass->[effects]->EQ->Compressor

The main reason I would do this is because PAs have a very fast dynamic on the higher frequencies. Moreover, because PA speakers are usually very linear and point directly to the audience, there is no ambient filtering (i.e. the air and natural obstacles between bass amp and the audience).

In a nutshell, a bass connected directly to a PA it is likely to sound a little bit too aggressive on the high frequencies especially if you play slap or with a pick. In order to smooth this effect, I would cut some of the higher frequencies with the EQ and maybe boost [i]slightly[/i] the lower frequencies in order to compensate the low frequency cut of the PA.

The compressor would also help in giving a more bass-speaker tone and dynamic to the sound. In other words, it controls the high freq content without dramatically change the tone.

I hope this helps.

[Dosi Y'Anarchy]

+1 to all that.

I posted a similar question to this on TalkBass a few months ago, regarding using effects through a DI.

I play though a 1x15 cab (and sometimes with an added 2x10 with the horn turned off), when I played a gig with a house rig (2x10, with tweeter that i didnt know was on till after the gig) and DI'd through the PA, my distortion sounded horrible, just plain wrong. After beating myself up over the lame sound of my awesome pedals i realised what it was: playing through a 1x15 is very different to something with horns. The high frequencies that these things can produce can be amazing, but not for distortion, which i guess is why guitarists are always mic'd up. really for DI and horn purposes i think you need something that'll roll off from about 4-5khz, which im pleased to say the Sansamp pedals do.

In my experience (with my old band that I always got DI'd at gigs with), something like the sansamp is a great idea coz essentially you'll sound like your playing through a tube amp when you're DI'ing even when using effects - the sansamps also add a little compression. Soundguys love it too coz the tone is more pleasing and they dont have to sod around with another mic for the band.