Do bass guitars sound better plugged straight into the console as opposed to mic-ed?

[mbengs1]

I know some people who don't mic a bass cab. they just plug straight into the mixer. does this sound better?

[WRGKMC]

Depends on how good the Bass, Amp, Mic, Room and Performer and performance are.

 

Also what console? A cheap vocal mixer or a top of the line nerve. If the bass going through the Mixers EQ channel or is it just being preamplified.

 

I don't use either of the above myself. I use a bass modeling preamp run into my interface which has cabinet modeling, EQ and compression. It has effects too but I never use them. I may use some reverb if the drums have it but I usually use a mixing buss plugin for that.

 

Playing live recording a band I don't mic the bass amp either. My amps have line outs for recording so the amp is acting as a preamp and the cab is a monitor for the player.

 

I have done live recordings from the heads preamp and a dummy load instead of a cab without the cab running and using headphones to monitor the sound. I did my first pro studio recording that way. Battling bass bleedover through drum mics is always a major concern getting a clean live recording.

 

Open mics invite phase cancellations unless you have the instruments separated by barriers or put in separate rooms. This phasing can destroy frequency response of an instrument recorded through a mic. Of course recording instruments one at a time multitracking can be done is a single room, but then it wouldn't be live and you'd miss the interaction between players. Recording bass direct allows the bass and drums together in close proximity like they normally play without the bass amp infecting the drum mics. This is why its used most often.

 

You simply have to try all the methods and see what works best. Plugging straight into the interface or a mixer, especially a vocal mixer is not the best solution. Using a bass DI/Preamp has an EQ tuned to the instruments frequency response in the bass frequencies. Using a Guitar DI/Preamp doesn't sound as good because they have EQ stacks of higher frequencies. Vocals mixers can be way off to because they are used to make vocals sound good which usually means rolling off bass to prevent feedback.

 

There are several very inexpensive solutions out there too which are like night and day for bass. I have used dozens of DI methods including amps heads. My Ampeg Portaflex head is actually an excellent preamp when I use it as a DI. I used Rack units, preamps, EQ's and compressors of various types too. Lately I been using the Vox Stomplab for bass. Picked one up for $39 on sale and it blows away all the rack units I paid hundreds for back in the 80's and 90's.

 

These small efficient units have gotten so good now, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell you what sounds good in a comparison. They have so much variety too, its hard to run out of creative applications for them. For me I can mic an amp up with a good ribbon or condenser mic in a matter of seconds and be recording it. Then I may have to spend an hour or more mixing it so it sits well in the recording. It still may not sound as good as a direct recording because there are frequency losses by the head, speaker, air and mic. Why would I waste that time trying to make a miced recording sound good if I don't have to? I can record direct with ideal settings finely tweaked for a specific bass guitar and not have to touch that track mixing at all.

[Mr.Grumpy]

A lot of recordings are made with a "SansAmp" Bass driver D.I. It's basically an effect pedal that models a bass amp, cab and microphone, and has an XLR output to feed directly to a recording interface, recording console or PA mixer. There's also a cheap copy of the SansAmp made by Behringer, the V-tone BDI-21. I have both and they sound the same. I prefer to use one of these for recording bass, it's simple, there's plenty of adjustments to dial in a sound you like.

 

I recorded some bass parts for a musician friend of mine at his home studio, and even though I brought my SansAmp DI, he preferred to record my bass by plugging it into a studio mic preamplifier. So, yes, you can record bass direct in if you'd like.

 

 

[isaac42]

I don't know if it's better, but it's sure easier. I get a full range sound that few bass amps can even come close to. If you want a bit more tonal control, using a SansAmp or a preamp, then direct into the board from there works.

 

Speakers are inherently band limiting devices. They also have other characteristics that color the sound. If that's what you want, then micing the speaker makes sense. So really, it's not a matter of what sounds better. It's more a matter of what sound do you want? Figure that out, then use the technique that gets you that sound, or closest to it.

[Mikeo]

I don't know if it's better, but it's sure easier. I get a full range sound that few bass amps can even come close to. If you want a bit more tonal control, using a SansAmp or a preamp, then direct into the board from there works.

 

Speakers are inherently band limiting devices. They also have other characteristics that color the sound. If that's what you want, then micing the speaker makes sense. So really, it's not a matter of what sounds better. It's more a matter of what sound do you want? Figure that out, then use the technique that gets you that sound, or closest to it.

 

 

This

 

 

[DeepEnd]

"Sound better" to who? Are you recording? Playing live? What cabs to you have?

[onelife]

I use a SansAmp Bass Driver DI - sometimes with a dbx compressor inserted in the mixer channel - and usually run the parallel output of the DI into some kind of amplifier and mic it. I'll record two tracks and combine them (or not) when mixing.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mr.Grumpy]

"Sound better" to who? Are you recording? Playing live? What cabs to you have?

 

He's recording. AFAIK, he doesn't have either a bass guitar nor a bass rig.

 

ALSO, if you record bass direct to the console "dry" (no amp emulations or other signal processing) you can always run an amp/cab simulator on your bass track after it's recorded.

[WRGKMC]

I bought one of those Behringer BDi which is a sans amp clones. It actually works quite well. I'm not super happy with the results tough. it doesn't have any compression or amp modeling like my others do. I have an older Morley JD1 which is an excellent DI too. I bought that one for guitar over the sans amp a long time ago. It works for bass too but its voiced more for guitar.

 

The Vox unit has like 20 different amp and cab models to choose from. it really helps out for getting the bass to match the kick drums. You can switch from a Fender bass amp to A Vox, Marshall. The SVT tone is my favorite. I love that big 8X10" sound and EQ curve.

 

Being able to dial up a little compression helps plying with the fingers too. Noise gate, EQ are all right there so you can get the best from the pickups before you track. I dial up the right levels and tone so it sounds good playing through the studio monitors with the drums and guitar. Its pretty tough to miss getting a good frequency balance that way. Could use headphones too but why bother.

 

I have another Korg Bassworks I bought used for like $10. Just looking at it quick its about the size of the old Boss tuner, made of plastic and you'd think it was a toy just looking at it. The built in effects are absolutely horrid. Some really bad low sample rate DSP effects I believe. As you can guess I don't use those.

 

The modeling consists of two knobs, one for cab types and one for head types. Its got a compressor, 3 band EQ, Volume and two memory slots for settings. I went from having bass parts sounding pretty good to killer bass tones. I was able to quit using most plugins mixing stop using EQ tweaks all together. I show people what's giving the bass that tone and they cant believe it. It ran on three AA batteries too so finding the 4.5V adaptor was a challenge. I've used it on maybe 200 recordings so I know its versatility pretty good.

 

I have been using the vox more lately though. It has 20 memory slots so I can craft a bunch of settings and save them. I can say the synth bass tones you can get from it are pretty impressive. I'm not into that stuff but its much better then older pedals I've tried. I prefer just meat and potatoes most of the time and so long as it sounds good on the final mix its all I need.

[DeepEnd]

He's recording. AFAIK' date=' he doesn't have either a bass guitar nor a bass rig. . . .[/quote']

Yeah, I was aware of that. I simply wanted him to be aware that "better" is subjective. Besides which, what is he going to mike if he doesn't have an amp and cab?

[UlfHansson]

Most of the time the engineer will want both a clean DI signal and one or a few mics somewhere near your cabinet (if you have an amp and speaker that sounds good and colors/forms the tone in some interesting way. Just give him/her what is needed to make their job easy.

 

​If recording yourself, track both DI and mic and experiment with the different sounds in the mix.

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

^^^ We have a winner!

 

I usually like to track both. For going direct, I usually use a Groove Tubes Brick as the DI. The mic(s) will depend on the cab and the room; I tend to like large diaphragm FET condensers on bass cabs, and usually set back from the amp a bit, if the room will allow it. Large diaphragm dynamics like the E/V RE20 can also work well. Oh, and don't forget that many cabs have a tweeter that's contributing to their sound too… you want to try to capture that as well. Ditto that for multi-cab bi-amped setups with different drivers. For compression, I like the LA-2A, WA-2A, the RNLA, TLA-100 and similar leveling amp / opto compressors, and only a touch - it's as much for color and character as it is for leveling. I can always beat it up later if I feel it's musically appropriate.

 

Having both a mic and DI gives you the ability to blend the best of both in the mix… or use one or the other if it sounds better on its own. You can also use the DI as a source for reamping, and/or software / amp sim processing. Pros usually track bass both miked and direct because of the options and flexibility it provides. If you do use them together, experiment with the relative amounts of each track in the mix, as well as different EQ and effects processing for each. Try heavily compressing the amp and leaving the direct alone, or vise-versa. If you like the lows you're getting from one, and the highs better from the other, then try setting up a virtual crossover in software and using different frequency ranges from each… And don't forget to align the tracks, or at least check their phase.

 

For those who want something that's quick, inexpensive and easy to get good sounds with, check out the Tech 21 VT Bass.