How do you record bass using a passive DI box + a mic?

[AnalogAndyNYC]

Hey guys I'm wondering how to record bass using a passive DI box and a mic so that I can have 2 signals going into Pro Tools. I've never recorded with two signals before so I'm not real clear on how to hook everything up.

I'm using an Mbox with two inputs. So for one signal I go from the mic to the Mbox right?

And for the other signal I go from the bass guitar to the amp, out of the amp and into the DI box, and then from the DI box to the Mbox right?

And do you guys have any recommendations for a good passive DI box?

I have to try and figure this out by wednesday. Thanks guys.

 

[Mo Facta]

The DI box should have at least a hi-z input, a hi-z output (or two parallel hi-z outputs), and a low-z mic level output. The bass should be plugged into the DI box first, then from the hi-z output to the amp, and then the low-z mic output to the mic input of the MBox.

Hope that helps.

Cheers

 

[DrGonz]

I remember recording using a Bass DI & an amp at the same time and getting some phase issues. After tracking you might have to slide the timeline of the mic'd bass track a few milliseconds to get the two tracks inline with each other thus correcting the phase.

 

[Mo Facta]

Good point. However I find merely flipping the polarity on one of the channels (which ever one has the negative-going waveform) is often sufficient.

Cheers

 

[AnalogAndyNYC]

ok cool I think I got it! Thanks Mo!

 

[DrGonz]

Good point. However I find merely flipping the polarity on one of the channels (which ever one has the negative-going waveform) is often sufficient.

Cheers

Yeah great point, Mo. I was recording an Ampeg bass rig that had 6 10" speakers and I was trying different speakers, still had some phase issues. Best if you use a cabinet w/ one single speaker. In the end my machine created samples that were totally not phase linear and moving the track was the best solution. I had tried every single configuration w/ polarity and speaker selection. Personally now I only really use DI cuz it's the most reliable mode of recording the bass that I have used.

 

[BobRogers]

I use a DI exclusively as well, but I can see that if you've worked hard on your amp sound and really like it you want to add it to the mix. If you are close micing a single speaker cabinet there are unlikely to be any phase issues. (Sound takes .00074 sec to go one inch.) In any event, in PT its just as easy to blow up the tracks and nudge one into alignment with the other as it is to invert. I would not invert unless the polarities were, in fact, reversed. (This does not apply to playing live where inverting is the quick and dirty phase adjustment tool.)

 

[Mo Facta]

Personally now I only really use DI cuz it's the most reliable mode of recording the bass that I have used.

Me too, honestly. Nowadays I don't even use an amp sim if the bass guitar sounds good to begin with. Plus it eliminates amp/room inconsistencies.

Cheers

 

[AToE]

Also, I don't think anyone mentioned this yet (sorry if so) but I wouldn't go from the bass to the amp to the DI, I'd go from the bass to the DI to the amp, the DI should have both an XLR output for your interface and a 1/4" "through" output that can just go to the amp.