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DI Recommendations


steviedee

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Hi 

 

I'm looking for for a DI with some tone shaping, I used to have the EBS Microbass which was great but it's a bit overkill, I don't need overdrive or an extra channel. But the tuner in the Microbass III looks very useful and the the send/return.

 

I'm thinking of putting together a small analogue board which will go straight to the desk .... no amp. 

 

The Ampeg SCR-DI looks like a contender any recommendations much appreciated!

 

Cheers


S

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Has your bass a preamp or is it only vol + tone? If there's a preamp, is it enough, or what do you need from the tone shaping? An example: you can have parametric one channel Artec, which is dirt cheap and then use practically any DI after it.

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20 minutes ago, itu said:

Has your bass a preamp or is it only vol + tone? If there's a preamp, is it enough, or what do you need from the tone shaping? An example: you can have parametric one channel Artec, which is dirt cheap and then use practically any DI after it.

I'd be looking at using a few different basses, some with pre-amps and some without. it's really so I can have a bit more control over the EQ. It's just an notion to have an analogue board instead of always using a Helix ... I suppose something like an Origin Effects bass rig could be good but expensive.

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You say you want something small and you don't need overdrive but then you say you are looking at the SCR-DI, which is a large pedal (bigger than the MicroBass II) and kind of the point of it is that is has overdrive.  If you're interested in Ampeg, they do another smaller preamp pedal 'Classic Analog' with their tonestack but without the 'Scrambler' (overdrive) section.  For your setup, you'd use it in conjunction with a separate DI box.  Or if you were happy with the MicroBass II, how about MXR M81, which is a good quality, transparent EQ preamp with DI. I had one for a while and thought it was really good.  I saw that there's one for sale in the marketplace (no relation to seller).

Edited by jrixn1
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10 minutes ago, jrixn1 said:

You say you want something small and you don't need overdrive but then you say you are looking at the SCR-DI, which is a large pedal (bigger than the MicroBass II) and kind of the point of it is that is has overdrive.  If you're interested in Ampeg, they do another smaller preamp pedal 'Classic Analog' with their tonestack but without the 'Scrambler' (overdrive) section.  For your setup, you'd use it in conjunction with a separate DI box.  Or if you were happy with the MicroBass II, how about MXR M81, which is a good quality, transparent EQ preamp with DI. I had one for a while and thought it was really good.  I saw that there's one for sale in the marketplace (no relation to seller).

You just linked back to this thread!

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7 minutes ago, jrixn1 said:

You say you want something small and you don't need overdrive but then you say you are looking at the SCR-DI, which is a large pedal (bigger than the MicroBass II) and kind of the point of it is that is has overdrive.  If you're interested in Ampeg, they do another smaller preamp pedal 'Classic Analog' with their tonestack but without the 'Scrambler' (overdrive) section.  For your setup, you'd use it in conjunction with a separate DI box.  Or if you were happy with the MicroBass II, how about MXR M81, which is a good quality, transparent EQ preamp with DI. I had one for a while and thought it was really good.  I saw that there's one for sale in the marketplace (no relation to seller).

 

Cheers I must have been foxed by the size of the pic! Not that fussed re Ampeg but just looking for options. I just never used the EBS drive though I did use the 2nd channel. The MXR is good I had one before but I'm veering towards the bassbone which look enormous so maybe the EBS after all!

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3 minutes ago, steviedee said:

 

Cheers I must have been foxed by the size of the pic! Not that fussed re Ampeg but just looking for options. I just never used the EBS drive though I did use the 2nd channel. The MXR is good I had one before but I'm veering towards the bassbone which look enormous so maybe the EBS after all!

 

I had a MicroBass 3 for a while and it's also really good.  It's definitely handy that everything (tuner, DI, headphone amp) is contained in one unit.  If you use a separate power supply, check it will be ok with the MicroBass 3's quite high current requirement of 750mA.

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And if you like the second channel of MicroBass 3 but not bothered about overdrive, there is the EBS Stanley Clarke.  It doesn't have a tuner though.  They market it as an 'Acoustic Preamp' due to the features like 10 Mohms input impedance, mic input, and notch filter, but it's good on electric too.  It's my current preamp and I use my P bass through it.

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1 minute ago, jrixn1 said:

And if you like the second channel of MicroBass 3 but not bothered about overdrive, there is the EBS Stanley Clarke.  It doesn't have a tuner though.  They market it as an 'Acoustic Preamp' due to the features like 10 Mohms input impedance, mic input, and notch filter, but it's good on electric too.  It's my current preamp and I use my P bass through it.

 

Could double in the upright and get rid of my Headway maybe.

 

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27 minutes ago, steviedee said:

 

Could double in the upright and get rid of my Headway maybe.

 

 

Ah great you play upright.  I had a Headway (EDB-1) in the past but I found it a bit clunky, and it felt more suited for the studio than to put on a pedalboard.  Even more reason to definitely consider the Stanley Clarke then!

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The Ampeg SCR-DI is nice, it’s pretty much the only preamp/DI pedal I’ve had where increasing the low end doesn’t result in major boom. The option of adding in (in my case a small touch of) drive without changing the volume is nice as well.

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Tech 21 VTDI is versatile and about as compact as these things get. I mainly go straight to the sound desk with this by XLR unless practicing at home. The magic with this is in a full band mix. I'm not crazy about it during solo practice, but the band mix is where it really shines. The key is to take your time figuring out how the Blend, Character & Drive knobs interact. It can get grindy & aggressive if you want it to, especially with the Bite switched pressed in. You can also turn the Speaker Sim off if you want. Basic EQ controls, ground lift & more. The only thing the Tech 21 options lack for me is the option of plugging headphones in for quiet practice. 

Edited by dmc79
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  • 1 month later...

The Radial Engineering OD is excellent if you have a couple of basses, or even an electric and Double Bass/Piezo driven bass. The HPF and filters on individual channels also work well. I use it for practice to running an audio input in one channel, bass in the other and the headphone out. Oh, it’s a radial DI too and will drive a power amp.

 

For reference I have other preamps; Tonehammer, Bassics, Mesa 800+, which all have DI’s but none as flexible as the Radial.

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