|
DI BOX Page 2 of 6
2. DI BOX
Fourth, recording a bass guitar with a direct box sounds differently than recording the bass by miking the amp. Let's start with a direct box. There are many different brands. Some sound better than others. Do your homework. Ask your friends or engineers you know which they prefer. Try to find the brand and model which gives you the most bottom end, while also giving you the most definition or attack on the mid range frequencies. Sans Amp makes my personal favorite at the moment.
I've also noticed that many direct boxes don't have a very fast slew rate. In plain English, that means the signal's rise and fall time is sluggish. What that means to the sound is the attack of the top end is often diminished, not due to the tone of the instrument, but the inadequacies of the box. Keep your ears open, and try several models. You'll be surprised at the wide range of sounds.
 DI means direct injection. This is a fancy term for plugging the bass directly into a mixing console. To do this we use things called DI boxes, which are great items of kit. A standard DI box has numerous connections on it including jack and XLR. Now essentially what a DI box will do is convert the high impedance unbalanced line (guitar lead) into a low impedance balanced line (mic lead).
It means you can now use a microphone cable (balanced XLR) and have an extremely long cable run all the way to the mixer. For example you can't use a standard guitar lead and expect to get a healthy signal through the desk. For one there will be an impedance mismatch, and for two the signal will be noisy as hell. Get a D.I. box.
Without a D.I. you could not send the signal from a bass guitar or keyboard (any electric instrument) that is on stage, all the way to the mixing console at the back of the stadium. The studio is the same just not quite as far.
Balance the signal and lower the impedance and you'll get a workable sound. This is easy as you simply plug the bass into the DI box and the DI box, with a microphone lead, into the desk.
Virtually all active-DI boxes that feature an instrument input fulfill this requirement, and a number of passive transformer-based models are also suitable. Passive DI Box usually cost cheaper (less electronics and battery/power) BUT the impedance is dependent on the connected device’s impedance. When the impedance of mixer side of passive DI changes, so does the impedance of the input. Hence the frequency response changes too. Passive DI only works well at specified connected impedances.
Active DI, in the other hand, doesn’t have that weakness. Signal from input buffered with an amplifier, input impedance usually so high so it doesn’t affect signal thru or direct out of DI (for example tapping thru/direct out of DI into speaker cabinet as outlined in the picture). The output is balanced and low impedance makes it less susceptible to hum/noise pickup.
More information about the D.I Box and/or Bass Pre-amp for low budget musicians, click on the price link for latest price, detailed specifications, and user rating on each product:
Tech21 BSDR SansAmp Tube Amp Emulator Bass Driver DI Preamp $189.95
SansAmp Bass Driver DI gives the warmth, presence, and punch of a miked-up bass tube amp system in a conveniently portable direct box/pedal format. SansAmp Bass Driver DI can be used as a preamp or stomp box with your existing stage rig. You can drive a power amp and speaker cabinets. Or go direct into the mixer of a recorder or PA. You can also plug into a power amp or conventional bass amp and a PA system simultaneously.
The controls offer meaty styles as Bassman and SVT, as well as raunchy, crunchy overdriven sounds that would typically require a multitude of effects units. 3 outputs: an effected XLR, and effected 1/4 in., and a parallel, uneffected 1/4 in.
Behringer DI100 Active Direct Box $34.99
The active Ultra-DI DI100 sets the signal buffered by an amplifier to get a clean, pure, powerful signal, which is immune to interference and therefore free of noise and hum even with extremely long cables.
Features:
Gold-plated XLR and 1/4" input/output jacks (XLR balanced)
Direct connection of amplifier outputs with up to 3,000 Watts
Switchable input attenuation allows input levels of up to +50 dBu
Ground Lift switch isolates grounding circuit for hum elimination
Freq. Response: 10 Hz-93 kHz, Noise Level: -110 dBu, THD+N @ 1 kHz / 0 dBu: <0,005%, Input Impedance: >250 kOhm, Load Impedance: >600 Ohm, Inputs: 1/4" jack unbal. In/ Link Out XLR unbalanced In, Output: XLR balanced Out, Maximum Input Level: +10/+30/+50 dBu. Battery or Phantom-powered.
Behringer GI100 Ultra G Active DI Box $34.99
GI100 features a switchable speaker simulation designed by Juergen Rath that so realistically emulates 4x12" cabine.
Internal battery automatically shut off when phantom power is connected. Direct connection of amplifier outputs with ratings of up to 3,000W. Switchable input attenuation allows input levels of up to +48 dBu. Ground lift switch. Behringer OT-1 output transformer for full galvanic isolation and S/N ratio of over 100 dB
Behringer BX3000T Ultrabass Bass Amplifier Head (300 Watts) $229.99
300-Watt Bass Amplifier with Dynamizer Technology
The Ultrabass BX3000T is a 300-Watt bass amp head with patented Dynamizer technology, boasting a switchable Ultrabass sub-harmonics processor for low-end power and a Shape filter for extreme sound range. DI Box is included within!
An extremely musical 5-band EQ with “Bright” and “Deep” functions gives you the ultimate in tone-shaping. There is an integrated limiter and an active, temperature-controlled cooling system for ultimate protection. You also get a vintage-style VU meter for precise signal level control. A dual footswitch for Ultrabass and SHAPE functions is included, and there are 3 speaker outputs on 1/4 in. jack and touch-proof SpeakOn® connectors.
|
Recording Tips 
Friday, 25 July 2008
/ 4 
Home | News | Events | Band | Gear | Album | MP3 Download | Recording Tips | Community | Directory | FAQ | Contact Us | Site Map |