Recording DI with an active bass?

[Super 8]

Hi folks - this is my first post here and I'd just like to say what a great forum this is!  As well as the Boss mBR Santa was particularly good to me this year and also took me shopping for a new bass in the January sales.  I am now the proud owner of a (Japanese) Fender 'hybrid thingy' with built-in active circuitry (technical I know!)  My old plank retired and this is the first ACTIVE bass I have owned.  It's a fantastic sounding beast (through an amp) but it appears that the mBR just can't handle its single - it's too HOT!  I haven't had much time to mess with it so far on the recording front and was just wondering if anybody has had similar issues when DI recording an active bass or is it just me?  I've tried rolling off the master volume on the guitar.  It does prevent the clipping but on the downside loses the punch that sounds so great through an amp.

It certainly doesn't seem to like the straight bass presets effects - they seem to add even more gain to the proceedings.  I have had some passable results recording DRY without effects but , even then, I can still get audible clipping on those low notes.  It's as if the single is just way too HOT for the unit.  Any active bassists out there who may have encountered a similar problem?  Is there a work around?  Thanks in advance

[Greeny]

I'm more of an 'in-active' bassist. And I'm not talking about the pickups 

[dragonshade]

That's strange.

I am not a bassist, ans I don't know how things would be different.... but I have EMG85 active pickups in my Ibanez (actually THE hottest EMG's they make for guitar). If I set the input (side wheel on the MBR) to 100 yes it will clip, but dropping to 95 or so it's fine (with guitar volume full up).

[64Guitars]

The "Input Level" control on the side of the Micro BR controls the level recorded to the track. I think a better name for this control would have been "Record Level". If you set it too high, you'll get clipping (distortion).

But there's another level control in the Micro BR which many users don't seem to fully understand, and it can introduce clipping before the signal even gets to the "Input Level" control if it's not set correctly. The "Input Sensitivity" is accessed by pressing the [INPUT] button, then using the CURSOR buttons to move the cursor to the "Sns" value in the display. You can then change this value using the VALUE -/+ buttons. If the "OVER" indicator appears in the display while you're playing, then you need to reduce the Input Sensitivity until the OVER indicator no longer appears. Otherwise, the input signal will clip and introduce distortion into the signal which you won't be able to remove by reducing the Input Level. It's too late by the time the signal gets to the Input Level control, as the distortion is already in the signal. So, even if you set the Input Level control so low that the level meters are barely moving, the distortion will still be there. To get a clean signal, you need to reduce the Input Sensitivity. After you've set the Input Sensitivity as high as possible without making the "OVER" indicator appear in the display, then you should adjust the Input Level control according to the level meter. See pages 29 and 39/40 of the Micro BR manual, 3rd edition.

In the unlikely event that you can't prevent the OVER indicator from appearing, no matter how low you set the Input Sensitivity, then you'll have to reduce the volume of your guitar or bass as well.

Another thing to consider when recording bass is the use of the Compressor effect. This reduces the dynamic range of the bass to keep the levels more consistent and reduce loud peaks that would otherwise cause clipping in the recording. See page 68 of the Micro BR manual. However, it's still critical that you set the Input Sensitivity correctly. If it's too high and the OVER indicator is appearing, you'll get input clipping and no amount of compression or Input Level reduction can change that.

[dragonshade]

VERY good point, and I had forgotten.

I have the input sensitivity set as low as it will go -12DB I believe.

[Super 8]

Genius ... pure genius!!!  Thanks SO much for the reply - you've made my day!  Sometimes what you think are the most difficult things have the simplest solutions.  In this instance the answer was staring me in the face (well slightly right of centre over to the side actually).  YEP, I forgot about that INPUT wheely thing on the side and guess what?  It's been FULL ON since I've had the machine!  I'd spent too long thinking the issue was the INPUT SENS & the new bass but it was that little wheel stuck away on the side there!  Thanks so much - off to make some sweet music now!  I will report back with my findings (and hopefully some sounds).  Thanks again folks!!!!