Originally Posted by AlMus ➡️

In my experience changing a basic 100€ DI's to another is splitting hairs. But between the Avalon, REDDI and cheaper boxes it definitely isn't splitting hairs. Especially if the bass has passive pickups, the effect will be drastic. Here's a quite thorough shootout by Sweetwater. U5, REDDI and BAE 1073 are completely on another level from the others. Unfortunately, as they are the most expensive ones. I've compared all three to other basic choices before, and got similar result. The Avalon is crystal clear and captures stuff lower than anything else, and the REDDI and BAE have low mid girth no other box offers.

https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/di...n-bass-guitar/

I've tried few Warm Audio units, and dare to claim that anything they make will be a wild downgrade from the Avalon U5. Although if you're like Bono, still haven't found what you're looking for, I agree with Tymish that maybe it's the instrument you need to look at next.

Edit. Oh yeah, the U5 works as a preamp also, so if it's possible with your interface, have you tried going to the U5 and straight to converters?

Originally Posted by DistortingJack ➡️

Almost any DI that isn’t distorting will give you the same big transients you’re looking to smooth out.

People get super particular about the specific DI they use on bass, spending hundreds of pounds, but if you know what you’re doing at the mixing stage, you can use any interface DI and get great results as long as the bass and the playing are good. You’ll have to massage the signal quite a bit, though, as opposed to a classic recording where you raise the fader and it’s kind of there already if you did it right.

Someone posted this on another thread, and this is basically the standard “in the box” procedure for good bass tone.



One thing to note is that bass amp emulations tend to work really well; the distortion is mild enough and the frequencies are low enough in the body of the sound that there isn’t aliasing unlike on most guitar amp sims.

Originally Posted by muffegutt ➡️

Thanks! Really Informative! My plan is to even out those transients with the 76-kt.

What is aliasing (in audio)if you don’t mind me asking? I’ve heard about it, but never understood what it was.

Originally Posted by DistortingJack ➡️

Harmonic distortion (like that in an overdriven valve, or a distortion pedal) creates, well, harmonics of the original signal. You run a 1kHz sine wave through a saturation guitar pedal and you'll get 2, 4, 8, 16 kHz, etc. If the signal is made up of many tones (like most instruments do), then they will all get harmonics. The relative volume of the harmonics is what gives different types of distortion their "tone".

These are of course of much higher frequency than the original signal.

When you do this digitally, once you reach the highest frequency that can be recorded (half the sampling rate, e.g 24 kHz for 48 kHz audio), the digital algorithm messes up, and records the frequencies above that as frequencies below, like a mirror. You can get into the details but the point is that it makes the treble frequencies kind or ratty and gritty. Some people call this "digititis".

Most distortion digital effects will try to remove aliasing to a certain degree (by using filtering, or oversampling for example), but most will still have them if the signal has a lot of treble, and/or if a lot of harmonics are being created (like when using a lot of gain). Trebly guitar chords with tons of distortion would be the worst offenders, for example.

Other things that can cause this aliasing are pitch-shifting a sample up, creating synth signals, fast-acting compressors, and in general recording signals that might have ultrasonic content. It's a big topic but you don't need to think about it much in most situations; it really only features prominently in digital distortion effects.

Bass frequencies are lower than guitar, and you almost never want as much distortion, meaning fewer high frequency harmonics are created.

Originally Posted by muffegutt ➡️

Thanks! I follow you to a certain degree.
So in plain english aliasing is the unwanted digital artefacts you can hear when your digitally distort high frequencies?
Can you avoid this to a certain degree by recording at 24bit 192khz?
Is this the reason you are supposed to dither when mixing down to cd (16 bit) standard?
Is this the same effect bit-crushing utilizes?

Originally Posted by random musican ➡️

If you are happy with the sound, then perhaps start doing some music? If you can't, is this your preamp that stops you? If yes, then by all means get a new preamp. Rent 5 you like, test and pick the one that suits you the best. If not, stop worrying about preams and get at that thing that stops you from doing music instead.
https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-a...eed-mic-preamp

Originally Posted by Whoopysnorp ➡️

I was starting to answer this, but I thought better of it, and instead I'm going to point you to this video that explains it much better than I ever could.

Originally Posted by muffegutt ➡️

I get your point, sir! I am making music, every night.
[...]
Now I’m older, grumpier and more picky, and gear is more available plus I can afford luxuries I couldn’t before. Splitting hairs, indeed, but please humour a middleaged, bitter man. Isn’t that what this site is all about?

Originally Posted by random musican ➡️

Ah, so "the journey" is a part of the pleasure Well said, all the power to you

Originally Posted by muffegutt ➡️

Thanks! I follow you to a certain degree.

Originally Posted by muffegutt ➡️

So in plain english aliasing is the unwanted digital artefacts you can hear when your digitally distort high frequencies?

Originally Posted by muffegutt ➡️

Can you avoid this to a certain degree by recording at 24bit 192khz?

Originally Posted by muffegutt ➡️

Is this the reason you are supposed to dither when mixing down to cd (16 bit) standard?

Originally Posted by muffegutt ➡️

Is this the same effect bit-crushing utilizes?

Originally Posted by tymish ➡️

I've heard more than one bassist and engineer rave about the U5.

Originally Posted by AlMus ➡️

In my experience changing a basic 100€ DI's to another is splitting hairs.

Originally Posted by DistortingJack ➡️

Someone posted the FabFilter video, which explains aliasing in distortion very well. You should watch the whole video, but the distortion bit starts at 6:08 if you don't have the time.

Also, just quickly, here are quick answers to those questions. More detail can be found on the video.


If you digitally distort without taking care of aliasing, then yes. However, almost every single digital distortion attempts to remove aliasing, so you probably have never heard a distortion that completely let aliasing happen. Probably a late '90s distortion plugin bundled with some cheap software, or a cheap digital pedal from the time.


The recording isn't the issue, but rather the processing itself. You don't need to record at high sample rates for this, you just need the distortion effect to tackle aliasing. However, yes, oversampling (which means converting to a very high sample rate, often higher than 192) inside the plug-in, letting harmonics happen in ultrasonic frequencies, and then converting it back down, is a valid way to reduce aliasing.

Using a very high recording rate isn't actually worth the processing power and space; it's easier to go back up and down only on the plug-ins that need it. The video goes into great detail about this specific fact.


Dithering isn't related to the sampling rate (which is the quantisation of time) but rather to the bit depth (which is the quantisation of amplitude value). The counterpart type of distortion that happens is called quantisation distortion. Dither is a frankly magical process that prevernts the digital amplitude errors from even existing, but it's another story.


Bit crushing is quantisation distortion, not aliasing. Again, it's about quantising signal value (y axis) not time (x axis).

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn ➡️

With an active source (something with a battery, or a synth or a rompler) you're right. With a passive source like a P or J bass, or a Tele or Strat or an acoustic guitar with a K&K Pure Mini... rabbit hole.

Originally Posted by muffegutt ➡️

Haha, I’m nothing like Bono. I can’t sing like him, but I pay my taxes

I think you’re right about the U5, though. I have been getting some really deep and sweet tones from it. I was lucky and got it real cheap too. I will keep it.
My instrument is stellar too, ‘68 P.

To be honest I may have had a beer too many the other night, and was slutting out looking at gear after ordering a 76-kt compressor. Anyway, as I said I sing a bit (not like Bono) as well as track bass in my modest home studio setup, and my drunken self was thinking about how I could simplify my chain for both bass and vox using a sole preamp into the 76 for both, without having to disconnect one or the other when switching tasks.

I do have line inputs on my interface, but to simplify the workflow maybe I’ll just connect the pre (wa12) into the comp, DI (u5) into the hi-z of the pre (wa12) as well as mic into mic in, toggling between them with a switch of a button.

I think you might have saved me from the mistake of letting the u5 go. Thank you for that! I do however wish to try out a 1073 for vocals down the line. Actually I believe our northern irish friend uses one, but having stashed a penny or two in the Caymans he just might be able to afford a BAE instead of the Warm, don’t you think?

Originally Posted by AlMus ➡️

Here's a quite thorough shootout by Sweetwater. U5, REDDI and BAE 1073 are completely on another level from the others. Unfortunately, as they are the most expensive ones. I've compared all three to other basic choices before, and got similar result. The Avalon is crystal clear and captures stuff lower than anything else, and the REDDI and BAE have low mid girth no other box offers.

https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/di...n-bass-guitar/

Originally Posted by Whoopysnorp ➡️

"The differences I heard between the DIs were not subtle."

Hmm...Lynn Fuston and I might have different definitions of the word "subtle". Yes, sure, the Behringer passive unit sounds noticeably worse than the others, and the U5 really sticks out in a different way, but in the context of a mix, I still think the difference between something like the JDI and the BAE is something you have to work to notice. The fact that these are all different performances makes it even harder to be certain about the comparison (although I understand why they felt that was the best way to go about it).

Originally Posted by AlMus ➡️

In my experience changing a basic 100€ DI's to another is splitting hairs. But between the Avalon, REDDI and cheaper boxes it definitely isn't splitting hairs. Especially if the bass has passive pickups, the effect will be drastic. Here's a quite thorough shootout by Sweetwater. U5, REDDI and BAE 1073 are completely on another level from the others. Unfortunately, as they are the most expensive ones. I've compared all three to other basic choices before, and got similar result. The Avalon is crystal clear and captures stuff lower than anything else, and the REDDI and BAE have low mid girth no other box offers.

https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/di...n-bass-guitar/

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn ➡️

If you have a 5-string, the U5 or the 2022 will deliver the fundamentals of that low string like nothing else I've heard, not that I've heard everything. But other pres are good at other aspects.

Originally Posted by mrufino1 ➡️

Lightning Boy Audio...

Originally Posted by AlMus ➡️

Are you listening on the website or did you download the wav files? I found the differences even more obvious in a mix, how the bass sits or don't, and how low it goes. There's no other way to compare DI's on an instrument with passive pickups except to record different takes.

Originally Posted by Whoopysnorp ➡️

"The differences I heard between the DIs were not subtle."

Hmm...Lynn Fuston and I might have different definitions of the word "subtle". Yes, sure, the Behringer passive unit sounds noticeably worse than the others, and the U5 really sticks out in a different way, but in the context of a mix, I still think the difference between something like the JDI and the BAE is something you have to work to notice. The fact that these are all different performances makes it even harder to be certain about the comparison (although I understand why they felt that was the best way to go about it).

Originally Posted by muffegutt ➡️

When i say transients I'm not talking huge peaks. Just looking for something to smooth things out a bit, like an amp and cabinet does.

Originally Posted by AlMus ➡️

It seems I'm listening and considering different things than those, who consider the differences in the test negligible. Listening the wavs with Sennheiser HD600's, the differences in that test are no smaller that eg. the differences between many preamp tests posted on this site.

Originally Posted by Whoopysnorp ➡️

I was listening on the page's built-in player. Honestly, if a 320 kbps MP3 is enough to smear over whatever differentiates one DI from the next to that degree, I could never justify dropping a grand on something that's going to be just a little better than my trusty JDI.

Originally Posted by monkeyxx ➡️

Well... the JDI is already very good.

Some of the other ones in that shootout might not be "very good" in the same manner.

But yea, the Jensen DI is a great bang for buck!