is this bass DI ok!?

[FIXXXER]

BASS WAV TRACK@DROPBOX

bass: schecter stiletto custom 4, passive EMG's, active tone controls
stirngs: brand new daddario pro steels
settings: bridge pickup, tone controls bypassed
preamp: great river me-1nv

the DI sounds very dull and lifeless IMHO!
sure the bass part itself is not really innovative,
ia am also not a bass player but i think that it should
sound better with my setup.

what do you think?
any hints!?
do i expect too much, does it sound OK actually!?

desired tone:
fat and clean bass, without annoying high and boomy low frequencies.
i have softube bass amp room but it doesn't work on this. deep notes fuck everything up and
the higher notes dissapear as soon as i eq te bass to sound anywhere close to good.
compression does not help also. ideas?

cheers
S.

 

[LeSedna]

From what I have heard, and from what my opinion is worth, I'd say it's an okay DI. I've heard way worse DIs than that, on some of them you could barely distinguish notes. It lacks lows for my taste though, not sure, it's like it's quite mid/high orientated, with a slighty "farting" character. It's still probably sounding way better than my own DIs (I'm using an ltd B50 with stock pickups, and which cannot be properly intonated for C standard tuning)

Playing is strange though, did you copy notes for the machinegun riffs ? It sounds very "midi like", heavily edited, but it would work in the mix, and volume seems quite stable, or maybe your playing is very consistent ? On my own music and setup, I found out that playing by raping the strings is what gave me the best result. I'm after a gritty tone, though, and quite a natural feel, but overall I find that the playing is extremely important and hitting the strings hard sound better, just like on guitar (unless specifically needed).

Can't tell about the actual result though softube and all. Does your workflow work well usually on other bass Dis ?

EDIT : I like how you organize your query-posts nowadays, makes them easy to read !

 

[FIXXXER]

thanks for the fast reply!

i recorded the bass in a few parts then i did some
copy and paste just to repeat parts like chorus, bridge etc.
needed a few takes until it was on grid though.

i played the verse part light the other parts hard but then i
adjusted the levels manually. i always compare the different
events and drag them up/down until i get everything about
the same level, makes it easier to compress this way i think.

i always struggle with bass but usually i can get good heavy bass tones.

here's what it sounds in context:
THREAD

cheers
S.

PS: post organization FTW!

 

[JakeAC5253]

Hey ST. Tough to judge without a mix to reference, but I tried to match the description of the tone you wanted and added a bit of color to it. I blended the original DI in with just a hint of clipping to bring out the even harmonics on harder picked notes. Even harmonics sound a bit brassy on their own, but in a mix they can really help something stand out when they jump.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8838613/Bass Test A2.wav

 

[Headof75]

Yep that sounds pretty much like I would expect an isolated bridge pickup to sound on a bass. The best way to get a fatter tone would be to use an even blend of both pickups.
The only basses I can think of that achieve fat sound from the bridge position are Stingrays or Ibanez ATK which use a two or even three coil pickup to get it.
Listening to it in the mix you definitely need some deeper tone/subs on that to make it warmer.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Sounds decent. I'd use a mb comp on the DI, taming the mids.
Also, I'd tighten up the lows with an mb comp [before] sending it into an amp/sim.

I wouldn't loose sleep over it. Just... blend it in

 

[JakeAC5253]

Now I see the mix you posted. My last bass tone posted may have been a bit dark, so I tried to fix that with this bounce, clipping may be a little more audible though.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8838613/Bass Test B.wav

 

[FIXXXER]

@JakeAC5253
what did you do exactly, copy the drack, clip and then mix with the original track!?
it actually does sound like it was played harder, that's really cool man!

@Headof75
i tried the 50/50 position but it sounded a bit too dark,
i thought it would be better to ass some bass frquencies
afterwards than to cut them, maybe i was wrong,
now i wish i had more bass i could cut out

@Maamar Huq
i only have the cubase stock MB comp, don't like it really but i'll try it out,
maybe i can get the higher notes come out better this way.

can't mix right now, it' a bit too late here, i have to work over
the weekend so i can try it in a few days at the earliest.

i'll report back of course!

cheers
S.








thanks guys, ok so at least i did it right with the DI, now i need to tweak it to sound right.

 

[FIXXXER]

Now I see the mix you posted. My last bass tone posted may have been a bit dark, so I tried to fix that with this bounce, clipping may be a little more audible though.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8838613/Bass Test B.wav

i'll try it in the mix ASAP, thanks!

 

[JakeAC5253]

@JakeAC5253
what did you do exactly, copy the drack, clip and then mix with the original track!?
it actually does sound like it was played harder, that's really cool man!

I sent the DI out to a JFET signal boost/harmonic saturator that I built, it's great for adding some feel and juice to a guitar or bass DI. Then I put a medium comp on the dry DI with a medium to slow attack and a slow release and mixed the two tracks in parallel so that they summed nicely. The first mix has a LP on the JFET track at 3k to tame some of the clipping sound, but I removed this LP for the second bounce. On top of that, just conservative HP/LP, getting rid of some mids and honk, and boosting the bass frequencies a bit... all of this is tweakable though so if you need anything to help your project let me know.

 

[FIXXXER]

i'll try out how the DI works in the mix. do you have any pics of the saturator box thing,
sounds interesting, i bet it works great on heavy vocals!

 

[JakeAC5253]

do you have any pics of the saturator box thing,
sounds interesting

It doesn't look like anything special, but since you asked here is a pic.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8838613/JFET Boost.JPG

i bet it works great on heavy vocals!

Hmm, interesting idea. I've never tried it on vocals, but I could if I get the time