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I’ve had to use a DI box recently, it was an old passive one I’ve had for years, as my amp and the house pa didn’t want to play nicely. It seemed to suck the fullness and tone out of my 4003. Any suggestions from any of you nice people?

JimmyN2 wrote:I’ve had to use a DI box recently, it was an old passive one I’ve had for years, as my amp and the house pa didn’t want to play nicely. It seemed to suck the fullness and tone out of my 4003. Any suggestions from any of you nice people?

What brand and model DI do you have. They are not all the same in how they are built and what they sound like (I'm talking passive, as active DI can and do offer lots of different options so they be compared with passive DIs).

jps wrote:

JimmyN2 wrote:I’ve had to use a DI box recently, it was an old passive one I’ve had for years, as my amp and the house pa didn’t want to play nicely. It seemed to suck the fullness and tone out of my 4003. Any suggestions from any of you nice people?

What brand and model DI do you have. They are not all the same in how they are built and what they sound like (I'm talking passive, as active DI can and do offer lots of different options so they be compared with passive DIs).

It’s a passive ‘Meridian NDR4O’

JimmyN2 wrote:It’s a passive ‘Meridian NDR4O’

Buy a decent DI to get a better idea of how good they can sound. Sorry, but what you have is among the extreme low end of the heap. At the very least, buy a Radial ProDI. I have the stereo version and it sounds great in my recording setup.

jps wrote:

JimmyN2 wrote:It’s a passive ‘Meridian NDR4O’

Buy a decent DI to get a better idea of how good they can sound. Sorry, but what you have is among the extreme low end of the heap. At the very least, buy a Radial ProDI. I have the stereo version and it sounds great in my recording setup.

Jeff
Is that one from the same folks that make the Radial Tonebone that I see advertised for guitar so often in all the guitar mags?
I have a SansAmp Bass DI which I like to use for recording but I've never used it for playing live.

Yep, same company. They make a lot of great products.

This one works great for me.
Rupert Neve Designs RNDI 1-channel Active Instrument Direct Box.

I love my Radial JDI (passive).

My 3-channel SansAmp Programmable Bass Driver is fantastic. It even runs on phantom power if I want, preserving the 9V for emergencies.

Sansamp VT Bass pedal. I had a BDDI and could never get it to work for me. I love the VT so much I bought 2 x VT500 amp heads!

I use the MXR M80 Bass DI primarily for all my basses. I had a Sansamp bass DI but didn’t really care for it. The other one that I used from time to time is the old Countryman Type 85. It is active but it does recreate an amazingly clean tone.

My situation has changed fairly drastically as of late.
I used the very good DI out from my Mesa Walkabout amp for the better part of this last decade, but now have agreed to go "amp-less" in the band I play in most often. We are trying to go "stage silent" (other than for the drums... for now), and are all on IEM's. The Whirlwind IMP2 DI that I'm using "works", but is nowhere near as lush and detailed as the Mesa's DI out.
I've been thinking of going with the Neve RNDI unit, but that's a chunk of change that'll be a bit painful to part with.
On the plus side, I now only carry a bass, gig bag, and mic stand.

bigbajo60 wrote:My situation has changed fairly drastically as of late.
I used the very good DI out from my Mesa Walkabout amp for the better part of this last decade, but now have agreed to go "amp-less" in the band I play in most often. We are trying to go "stage silent" (other than for the drums... for now), and are all on IEM's. The Whirlwind IMP2 DI that I'm using "works", but is nowhere near as lush and detailed as the Mesa's DI out.
I've been thinking of going with the Neve RNDI unit, but that's a chunk of change that'll be a bit painful to part with.
On the plus side, I now only carry a bass, gig bag, and mic stand.

Why can't you use the WA as a preamp/DI? No need to have a cabinet with that amp.

True enough... I was going to actually try that this coming weekend.
The sad reality is that "spoilage" comes easily once you don't have to carry anything heavier than a bass or a gig bag in one trip.
In the words of the immortal 80's UK band Human League - "I'm Only Human"

bigbajo60 wrote:True enough... I was going to actually try that this coming weekend.
The sad reality is that "spoilage" comes easily once you don't have to carry anything heavier than a bass or a gig bag in one trip.
In the words of the immortal 80's UK band Human League - "I'm Only Human"

So, the WA is now considered a heavy amp, eh? I went lightweight in the mid '80s when I got my first (used) Walter Woods amp; it was 7 lb. and less than have the size of your WA. Now, my Aguilar Tone Hammer 500 is even smaller and almost half the weight the the WW amp!