Help me pick a good bass DI for personal use

[klaukholm]

I am contemplating upgrading my personal bass setup.
I currently use a Fender jazzbass (marcus miller) and a modulus (flea)
My upright pickup is the realist.

My current pre is the SWR studio 220 with a trace cabinet.

I quite like the Millennia TD-1, but it is on the pricey side.

It would be nice if the DI has a good micpre as I never have enough pre's.

Some options I have thought of are

A designs
REDDI
Pacifica
Grace M101
TD-1

A neutral DI into a TRP, or HV3d? If so which one?

I think I like a clean lowend, and I do not care for a trebly bass sound. anything metallic makes me shudder.

This is for personal enjoyment, but it is also typically used in front of 100 of my colleagues in the orchestra.

[Marlan]

I also play a Fender Jazz. Try the Radial JDV. Fantastic for the money.

p.s. I also have a realist pickup on my cello! I love it.

[klaukholm]

Answers from Houston carry extra weight, I am an Owl (Rice Alumni)

Do you know what the impedance of the realist is?
I know it is lower than typical piezos, but there is precious little info of that nature.

[Marlan]

I actually have no idea what the impedance of the Realist is (now I'm curious).

I actually live in New York but travel to Houston to record the opera for the national radio broadcasts. I moved out there in 97 for a couple of years to work as the head engineer for KUHF and the Houston Symphony/Opera.

Best,

Marlan

[7rojo7]

The TD-1 is a great studio tool and an EQ too, misses an insertion point in my opinion. Had 2 for years, just sold them to tide off a disaster.
Selectable impedance, sounds great on Active, Passive and Piezo pickups and has a mic pre too. Re amp through single coil or humbucking transformers, tube inst input and speaker soak. In my book you can't beat it

[klaukholm]

We have 24ch of millennia already and it feels a little over the top to buy the td-1, although it seems to be the sound I prefer.

Do you think I can get a similar sound by running it through a good di into an
HV3D?

Will a grace have a similar quality as a DI?

[fallforward]

IP-777 GALLERY

I picked up one of these on ebay for about $650. It is all tube and it sounds amazing. It sounds great on all types of bases acoustic and electric. It also sounds amazing on jazz guitar, and I did a project with a Jack Johnson type of song writer and his nylon guitar sounded awesome through the Kern. It's all hand soldered point to point. Every bass player that comes in and plays through it, loves it!

Good Luck man!
Robby

[mohthom]

Hand soldered point-to-point wiring

And the picture from the website?

[Recording David]

I can recommend the A-Designs REDDI for bass DI.

I also think the DI on the Avalon 737 sounds superb for bass.

[Studiodawg]

This thread can't go without the venerable Avalon U5. I prefer using it straight (without any of its tone curves).

[1/2 Normal]

I seem to always come back to my UA Solo-610 for bass.

[fifthcircle]

My two favorite bass di boxes have totally different sounds. The A Designs REDDI is pretty much the first one I reach for these days. It has a big fat tube sound that never seems to get that thin "wire" sound. The down side is on some instruments, I find a slight lack of attack (most often on upright basses, though).

The other that I really like is the ADL 200. It is no longer made, but it is a great DI. It was designed by the same person that designed the Vac Rac system. It is a half rack space stereo tube box. One of the cool tricks is to run through both sides and the different load can change the direct sound of the bass. Did this on a session with Abe Laboriel years back and I'll never forget how pleasing of a sound we got.

--Ben

[klaukholm]

Ben, thanks for chiming in!

Seeing as you have the pacifica, have you tried it's DI?

[fifthcircle]

You know, I actually haven't... Not for a lack of desire, just that my pres are usually with me and the performers are on stage. I also only have 1 Pacifica (for now) and I like it so much on other sources that I've never had a chance.

--Ben

[Recording David]

The Pacifica DI is fine also, but not as good as the REDDI in my experience (nor the 737 DI for that matter).

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by klaukholm

It would be nice if the DI has a good micpre as I never have enough pre's.

If you don't mind DIY you should check-out the Hampton HJFP2 (Hamptone Home Page) -- or you could pay $300 to have it pre-built.

I love it for bass DI (which bypasses the input transformer on the unit). I use mine for both recording and stage performances with one of my bands -- upright bass with passive pickup directly into Hamptone, and a single 414 into the other channel.

I've never used the tube version (HVTP2), but I bet it's DI is sweet as well.

Good luck!