Behringer BDI21 - Any good as a basic DI? Anyone tried one?

[Moos3h]

Just need something in case my amp goes bump at a gig - i'd be going DI straight to PA in that case, so some tonal shaping would be good, but doesn't need to be hugely comprehensive!

Cheers,
James

[BigAlonBass]

I find mine surprisingly good value for the money, and it gets very close to 'my sound' when just put through the P.A. Worth a punt.

[dannybuoy]

Not tried one myself but have heard many report that it is one if the best things they ever made, and that it sounds very close to the Sansamp BDDI. For the price I don't think you can go wrong.

Edited December 1, 2009 by dannybuoy

[RussFM]

It does the job... but I wouldn't use it as a backup for anything, I'd want something reliable for that job!

[eightball]

mine is great. i originally got it to add some dirt to my lh1000 - gigged it numerous times, and it never let me down.

it does a fairly decent svt noise as long as you don't go mental with the gain. the track 'vengeance is' on our myspace was recorded direct with it (another story), 'in this life' and 'midas' were a mix of BDI - Hartke DI - SM 58 on the SWR 10". lives in my case now as a wee backups in-case i can't use my own rig/something breaks.

sat it on top of my rack though - no way i'd use it as a stompbox. every soundman i've used it with said it sounds great.

it's £30.

Edited December 2, 2009 by eightball

[yorick]

Used one live for a year to add a bit of grit to the sound. Not used it as a DI, but it's there if you need it, and the eq is very useful. Worth the money IMO.

[simon1964]

I'm not a huge fan of a lot of the Behrignger stuff, but these are very good for money sound wise. Straight forward to use, and does the job.

They're not as solid as a Sansamp or the EBS microbass, but at a fifth of the price you can't expect them to be. If you want a cheap DI that will give a bit of grit you can't go wrong.

[Bassassin]

I bought one when they first came out - great little DI box for recording & can beef things up a lot just used as a stomp box into your amp. Never gigged with it, but if I did, they're cheap enough to have a spare as backup.

Jon.

[Commando Jack]

I have one for my bedroom studio, and it sounds great for what it is. It's a direct rip-off of the Sansamp equivelant - the manuals are funny to compare. Our bassist has used one for DI-ing into the desk at live gigs for nearly a year now and it never lets him down.

Two things though:
[list=1]
[*]The stomp button is pretty shoddy plastic, and you have to really stomp to get it to work sometimes.
[*]The thing will go through batteries like popcorn, so buy in bulk from Tesco or get a power supply.
[/list]

However, I think it's the perfect backup, and for the price you can't beat it!

[bassninja]

I'd recommend it. I've used it as a DI for live work & recording and it has been fine. Probably the best £35 odd quid I've spent on bass tackle. It would be nice to have some mid control, but the blend control lets you dial in a bit of dry signal, which helps.

Build quality is not great; if you need to turn it on & off from a great height with your entire bodyweight, as some people evidently do, I'd go for a more sturdy alternative. For myself, I set it and forget it for the most part.

However, if you want a 'makes me sound better' flexibility box that won't get lots of physical abuse (maybe to sit out of the way on top of your amp), its def worth a punt for the price of a decent set of strings.

[dave_bass5]

I got one a few years ago for one gig where i knew i wouldnt have a a rig. It only cost £22 and i intended to throw it away afterwards. Im glad i didnt.
It worked really well and i didnt have any issues with it. The gig was in front of 2500 people so it was a big PA and the sound guys wanted to use their own DI at first but when i tried this instead they were won over. It didnt quite sound like a rig but it was certainly a good tone.

I got it out for the last two gigs we had over Christmas and i was very impressed with it. I used it on, most of the time, running the bass in to it and then in to my MB SA450.
I have been looking in to getting a new tone, probably a SR4 but i feel this pedal will give em enough to play with and so ill stick with my current basses.

I am thinking of getting something better though. While i can get by with out it, if im going to start using something like this full time i might try and get either a "real" one or Tone Hammer. just for a bit of variation.
Still cheaper than getting a new bass.