Bassist - DI Out issues with IEMs

FarleyUK · August 2022

Hi all,

We're having multiple issues with the bassist in one of my bands, and a major one is not being able to hear him in our IEMs.

He uses a MarkBass amp with a DI out, which is fed into a Mackie DL806 digital mixer. The signal is hot, and I set it so it's touching amber on the input.

However, it just always sounds very, very quiet, and basically like a wet fart. We have everything else low in the IEM mix, and the bass as high as we can get it - but it just sounds crap and still too quiet.

Is there anything out there that he could go through into the mixer to make his sound actually sound like a bass, and therefore help with the volume?

He really is not tech proficient at all, so something like a Helix would not be suitable at all (put it this way - he wasn't sure how to turn his bass amp up last night...).

mart · August 2022

If it's an XLR out on his amp then it may be wired wrongly for the desk - I have some bass amps where the XLR out is compatible with the PA desk, and some where it's not.

If he has a jack output, it might be better to take that into a regular DI box.

Musicwolf · August 2022

Is the DI out pre or post eq? Have you run this rig, using the same IEMs, successfully with another bass player?

FarleyUK · August 2022

Musicwolf said:

Is the DI out pre or post eq? Have you run this rig, using the same IEMs, successfully with another bass player?

No idea, TBH. Have asked him for the amp make and model so I can check.

Not used this rig with another player, no; and as for the IEMs, that's another sticking point with him.... he keeps losing the overall volume etc., but that's due to his crap equipment I think.

maltingsaudio · August 2022

What iEMs ear pieces are you using? Possibly they don’t actually have the frequency response required to reproduce bass frequencies

Stratavarious · August 2022

For this case I use an active DI box and intercept my bassist’s signal before it hits his amp, rather than use the amp DI out. Gets a pristine bass sound for recording as we multitrack many gigs and it lets me use amp sims after. I always find the amp or processed DI sound crap and often lacking in true bottom end.

You can try a DI box with a pass thru, I use a Radial Stagebug Active for bass and the tuner out goes to the bass amp, This eliminates any crap bass gear / eq issues.

Do you have live drums and a lot of onstage volume? It is hard to get much clear bass in IEMs if you are already loud. Can you go all silent stage?

Alternatively, just close mic the cab.

Musicwolf · August 2022

FarleyUK said:

Not used this rig with another player,

maltingsaudio said:

What iEMs ear pieces are you using? Possibly they don’t actually have the frequency response required to reproduce bass frequencies

This is why I asked the question. Bass response of the IEMs is down to the drivers and, crucially, the fit. If you are using single driver generic fit ear pieces then don’t expect to get good bass response.

Danny1969 · August 2022

Have you accidentally set a hi pass filter on the bass channel or on the aux send ?

Plug the bass straight into the desk and see what it's like ... if that's fine then it's the Mark Di, if it's not then it's processing on the desk

FarleyUK · August 2022

Thanks all!

the drummer and bassist have crappy headphones- however, I’m using Shure SE846s and the bass sounds crap in those too, so don’t think it’s a monitoring issue.

I’ll try plugging him direct into the mixer and see if that changes. If it doesn’t, I’m assuming I’ll need some kind of Impulse Response pedal for him to feed into from the amp DI out…? Or (as some of you mentioned) would a separate DI box be enough for it? I’m just not sure if that would help as there’s still no ‘cab’ connected in any way.

Apologies if I’m over thinking this!

mart · August 2022

A bass doesn't really need the cab simulation, since most of the sound colouration comes from the amp, not the speaker. Very different from guitars in that respect.

steamabacus · August 2022

Is the bass sound really clean? You could try adding a touch of drive to the sound (if the amp can't provide that, the Behringer BDI21 is cheap and sounds good).

I don't think any in-ear monitoring will provide any fundamental low bass (because physics) but the ear is very good at 'filling in' the fundamental frequencies from the upper harmonics. A touch of drive on the sound will accentuate those upper harmonics and will not be overtly noticeable as 'distortion' when heard in the mix.

John_P · August 2022

I regularly di bass players from markbass amps so it should be fine.

If you are seeing plenty of signal when setting the desk gain on that channel, then it isn’t signal strength.

Two thoughts
- check the amp eq isn’t really muddy and bassy and do the same on the Pa channel eq, is it coming through Pa speakers ok? You need some higher mids and top to help hear a sound so it needs to have enough to help you pick it out.

- if the sound in the amp and Pa is ok and the incoming level is ok then I’d look at the desk routing and double check it’s sending to the aux ok. It’s so way to misroute something in digital desks and waste time looking for a fault in the wrong place. (as I’ve learned from many head scratching moments in rushed setups)

fretmeister · August 2022

The Mark Bass di is really good so that shouldn't be the issue.

shufflebeat · September 2022

FarleyUK said:

...I’ll need some kind of Impulse Response pedal for him to feed into...

This ^^

From experience.

Also, if your bass signal is peaky with a strong initial transient then that will take up all your headroom, send your meters into red very easily and dictate your ability to turn up the gain. Limiting/compression and adjusting pickups so strings are not touching them is worth exploring.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

Bassist - DI Out issues with IEMs

Comments