Mornats

I've got a Focusrite Forte but even though it has an instrument level option, and good preamps, I still got much better results going through the DI from my Markbass combo. I also want something I can plug into a PA if I get to go out and play live again.

21 hours ago, TeresaFR said:

I suspect the Behringer BDI21 is going to be difficult to pass up if budget is one of your biggest concerns. I do recommend the Tech 21 VT Bass DI if you do happen to have the money though. As you say, not the cheapest.

Yeah that price can't be beat. My only hesitation is that I don't require distortion/drive really so if that's the main thing going for the Behringer (and Tech 21) then I wonder if it's what I need. I'm assuming the clean sound and DI are good?

On 01/07/2022 at 21:29, Downunderwonder said:

150 Squids is a bit light for what you asked for but you are obviously very flexible on the requirements for compression and EQ. I think your main priority should be lack of noise.

Yeah that a true. The compressor and distortion I could drop quite easily. I don't need distortion/drive at all on it and I'd be better off with a dedicated compressor anyway.

1 hour ago, Bigwan said:

The Behringer is perfectly acceptable. A great sounding, cheap alternative to the Sansamp. Virtually the same circuit, just cheaper components. 

 

Add a used compressor pedal (or Zoom multi-fx) and you've covered pretty much every angle. 

Yeah, at £28 that Behringer would be hard to beat, especially if it sounds almost/just as good as the Sansamp. And enough budget to look at a good compressor or Zoom multi.

Hey folks, 

As my Markbass combo has died on me I'm looking at getting a DI/preamp box. I'm not gigging at the moment and may not for a while so my main requirement is to get a good DI into my audio interface to record bass. My Markbass CMD121P had a good DI but it's kaput.

SO my main requirements in order are:

1. Great DI out
2. Great natural sound
3. Good tone controls
4. Compressor
5. Drive/distortion

I already have a Zander Sono distortion pedal so that's right at the bottom of the requirements list. Budget is £150 or less.

I've looked at:

Sansamp - too expensive but seems to just work for a lot of people.

Fender Downtown Express - I love the look of it but demos on YouTube show it as being a bit bland in terms of sound.

Behringer BDI21 - a Sansamp copy for £28 - cheap enough for a punt?

Various Darkglass ones - way too expensive but seem lovely.

Ashdown Ant - this is a bit of a cross between a pedal and an amp so could come in handy if I play live again. Twice my budget though!

An alternative is an amp head with a good DI out but it would have to work without a cab plugged in or if that's not possible, have a separate volume control for the DI out so I can record silently. May be bale to stretch the budget for this. Combos would work too but would need to be small and light (like my Markbass was).

Any thoughts on anything I should avoid from the above or anything I should look at?

On 02/02/2022 at 23:10, Jakester said:

Welcome to the club! I’ve had no end of problems with mine too. If Basstone can’t help, the ‘approved’ repairer is Real Electronics in Sheffield. 
 

Just one thing to try though before you do - have you tried with a different power cable or different socket on a different circuit? You never know, that could be the cause of the problems if there’s a fault with a socket (unlikely, but worth a try!)

Sorry to hear you're having problems too! I'll definitely test the power lead and socket. Everything's worth a shot!

11 hours ago, Bigguy2017 said:

Yes, just plug a patch cable between effects send and return - this will override the switching jacks.

Plug bass though a pedal to get some boost, then into effects return - if the power amp section is working you should get something.

 

Also check the speaker (push on?) tags are well connected...

Thanks for clarifying

I just tried all of that and no joy unfortunately. Interestingly (and also annoyingly) I had my pedal board in the same cupboard and my Polytune is glitching now (it doesn't register the E string and barely catches the others). I had trouble getting a good signal into my audio interface too so I'm going to check the whole chain now - bass (tried 2 passive basses, no joy) - cables (tried 2 cables, no joy). I wonder if damp got the pedals too although it doesn't explain the audio interface thing. 

2 hours ago, basstone said:

I'm a repairer based near to Wookey Hole, not too far away. I can't promise anything but happy to have a look if you can get the amp to me.

Oh cool, that's awesome, thanks! I'll try some of the stuff mentioned by Bigguy and will get in touch if repairing it looks like the best way forward. We're still learning our way around being parents to a toddler so it may take me a while to get round to it.

6 hours ago, Bigguy2017 said:

Try the effects send and return - first plug a patch cable from send to return jacks - the switch jacks are notorious for going high resistance if unused...

 

If it's not this, I'm guessing the preamp section is dead (no DI out) but the power amp section may be working - plug something into the effects return.

 and see if you get noises.

 

Otherwise a close visual inspection / unplug replug internally is a place to start

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll give those a try.

So just so I don't blow myself up or anything, should I plug one patch cable between the send and return jack's, i.e. plug the send directly into the return?

Also, plugging something into the effects return, would plugging the bass directly into that be what you mean? I never use those send and returns so not sure of what not to do down there!

6 hours ago, basstone said:

Hi there, Sorry to hear that your Markbass combo is faulty. It's probably a back to Markbass or their approved repairer job as Markbass don't encourage or support independent repairers in my experience. It might be worth contacting them to get a quote as a starting point. Having said that,  if it's a simple easy to find and repair fault any competent repairer may be able to help and if you know of one it might also be a lower cost option. Where are you based?

I'd be interested in a third party repairer if possible. I'm based in Bristol so there should be one about.

Hi basschatters, it's been a while since I was active on here so hope you're all well.

So, my Markbass CMD 121P combo died recently and wondered if any of you had any helpful thoughts on what to do with it.

Here's what's up with it. Basically, I turn it on, plug my bass in and no sound comes out of it at all. The blue power LED comes on and the fans come on and it sounds ready, like it always did. There's no sound out of the speaker, regardless of volume settings and also no sound out of the DI out either (which rules out a speaker connection). When I power it off I hear the fans power down then a bit of a crackly speaker pop which honestly, I can't remember if that was there before or not.

My combo is made in Indonesia one that I bought in 2014. The manufactured date says November 2013. Also of note is that I did changed the tweeter based on a thread on here. I did that to combat the loud hissing that the stock tweeter has. I did this mod not too long after I bought it so 2014 or 2015.

One more thing, which is what I believe may be the cause of the combo dying is that I store it on a shelf in our built-in wardrobe in our bedroom. We discovered damp and mould in there a few months ago and I cleaned it all out. I've got a dehumidifier in there which extracts around 100ml of water per day from the air. Yep, 100ml per day! So I'm thinking damp/mould in the electronics here.

At the moment I'm not gigging and not really playing. I only found out the amp wasn't working when I used it to demo an effects unit I was selling. I can't justify spending a lot of cash on it, or replacing it really. So just wondered if there are any thoughts on what to do with it? If it's not repairable then maybe I need a cheap-as-chips replacement but honestly, that combo was insanely good for the small 3-4 song gigs I did with it. Small, lightweight, powerful, great sound and great DI. What's a complete kick in the derrière too is that a week before I found out it was knackered I'd sold my only other bass amp!

I wasn't sure if the strings would end up moving around too much in the slot. I've not gone from fat to skinny strings before.

Hey folks,

I have my Yamaha TRBX 504 that's currently got Rotosound tru-bass strings on. I had to get a custom nut made as they broke the original. So I've got a nut cut for these 65-115 strings. My question is, if I swapped the strings for roundwounds, how much lower could I go with the gauge before I encountered problems with it? Would 45-100 fit ok?

(I'm selling the bass and a potential buyer is asking so I'm not terribly keen on getting a new nut done at the moment.)

I've been a bit quiet on here for a while but this is something I'm looking forward to. I can't remember if I actually signed up originally but put me down for this one

I'm still waiting for the no bagpipes rule to be lifted.

Generation X, sorry 😛

Ah, lovely thanks Douglas! (And long- time, no-speak, hope you're doing well).

Hey all, I'm looking to find the best way to record two inputs from my bass into my audio interface. I want to record one signal clean, straight into the line in and another to go through my effects pedal then into the other input on the interface. Can I grab a simple splitter cable such as this https://www.gear4music.com/G4M/Klotz-1-4-TRS-Jack-1-4-TS-Jacks-Interconnect-Cable-3m/25A5 (which is balanced/stereo to 2x mono) or am I looking at something more sophisticated? This is just for a recording experiment so something as cheap as a cable is preferable!

I used to have a PJ bass and still love the sound when I hear it on past recordings. Maybe that's why I like that Sire U5

But that P bass tone just fits in everywhere and can't be beat. 

Almost 5 years on from when I first got this (4 months off the full 5 years) and this is still my number one bass. I've not bought another one since either. Still love it.

I only thought of how long it's been as I saw a Sire U5 online today and thought hmm, I've not bought a bass in years, I wonder why...

Good to hear! I guess a Scarlett would be great as a main interface if my Forte ever stopped working. Hopefully it won't but it's good to have done the research so I can simply grab one if I ever needed it without thinking and be up and running again in no time.

Thanks again Si!

For the most part, I'll be recording performances of virtual instruments, quite often orchestral VIs. Here's a screenshot of my work-in-progress template. This is just the strings section and when I get brass and woodwinds I'll refine it so it fits into RAM. Currently it's taking up 18.5GB of RAM and consists of over 40 tracks each with an instance of Neutron on it. Usually I'm ok at a buffer of 128 for recording midi in but if I throw in any synths or anything CPU intensive (like Ozone on the master channel) then playback and recording become problematic. I can quite often go back in and re-record some midi whilst I'm in the mixing/refining process so being able to keep that buffer down to 128 is super handy.

I guess that my PC's overall grunt will have more of an effect than the interface and it's drivers for this type of work? If so, then it'll just come down to whatever preamps and ins/outs I need and the Clarett 4pre or the Scarlett 4i4 looks ace for that. 

Thanks for replying Si!

It sounds like the Clarett 2Pre would be ideal. I could have the synth plugged into it permanently have have two inputs at the front always available. I tend to only record one or two things at a time but there's value in having a stereo synth plugged in and ready to go all the time.

Another thing I want to do is to take sounds out of my DAW, into hardware effects and bring them back into the DAW. As you mentioned, the Clarett can do this too. Would there be any risk of a feedback loop? I'll try and describe the setup in my head.

Virtual Instrument hosted in a DAW > Interface > line out from interface > into effects pedal > line in to interface from effects. There'll also be two outputs to my monitors from the interface.

With regards to latency, what I mean is in my DAW I'll have an orchestral library loaded in. At the moment, just with the string section that's around 17GB loaded into RAM. So there's a lot in there! I set my buffer to 128 which means I can record with my midi keyboard with no problem. However, once I get some processing going on those virtual instruments the CPU will start to take a beating. It's an i7 4790k running at 4.5ghz across all cores so it's old, but it's no slouch. I believe an interface's ASIO drivers can be a factor here in terms of keeping the buffer low (thereby combating latency) whilst not putting too much strain on a CPU. Or I could be totally mistaken  Either way, my Forte is decent in that regard and I won't want to take any step back from that.

Finally, I'm guessing what you said about the Clarett would also be true for the Scarletts other than the quality of the preamps?

Thanks again for answering, you're a large part of the reason why I'm not thinking of jumping ship!

Thought I'd open up this thread again as I've just received an email from Focusrite advising:

"Forte is no longer under development support, meaning we are not able to provide any further updates to support macOS Catalina or future versions of macOS or Windows.

Forte will continue to function as normal on macOS 10.14 Mojave and below. The latest version of Windows that Forte was tested on is Windows 10 build 1809 - you may experience problems with your Forte if you update Windows beyond this version."

So first off, I'm not really complaining about this, I'm actually pleased they took the time to tell me. It's a shame, but hopefully it'll keep working and I'm sure the team at Focusrite would help me as much as they could if it stopped working.

So going back to Si's comment about the Clarett 2Pre being the closest in terms of I/O I wondering if you could help me with what could potentially be a replacement.

What I need from an interface is super low latency for working with loads of virtual instruments (Spitfire sampled orchestras, with synths, other stuff and effects on). I'm also thinking about trying to route audio out of my DAW and into some outboard gear like effects pedals. Also, I may get a hardware synth to record into my DAW (Korg Minilogue XD is top of my list). So in terms of routing stuff out of my DAW, into hardware and back in again, is there a particular Focusrite I should be considering? I'm not sure what my requirements would be!

Cheers!

40 minutes ago, lurksalot said:

 it needs fluffing