Thinking about getting a Pre with a DI

Interesting. And they're relatively cheap. That's the darker one, right?

How do you select line level on the B1?

I could buy a DI, but I'd be more than halfway to another pre...might as well just get the pre.

Yeah the B1D is the Iron tranny...... Think a Neve sound but with an extended and smooth lowend. I always jack the pre really hot on the input and get it grinding and it's amazing how the lowend still comes through so fat and large. That's one thing I could never get a Neve to do, when you would saturate it the lowend would go away, but not with this one. I've heard just about every pre on a bass and I swear to god that one is the best.

It kicks on acoustic guitars too, if you're wanting an aggressive sound. They are just badass preamps and not a lot of people really know about them. It's like a cleaner Neve almost. And I always just hit the impedance button when I'd track direct, it dropped the level down and let you really crank the shit out of it.

Isn't it $5-600?

i think it's about $600, thats cheaper than a pre though?...unless you're in for a Lindell 8)

I like pres with DIs but have never been wowed by a pre with a DI the way I have been by the best if the stand alone DI. I always get the idea that the DI is an afterthought .

capi VP312DI , I love mine . Cheap to build too ,

Dans DI! Really, Really incredible!!!

From apollo HW manual:(1)

Hi-Z Inputs 1 & 2
The Hi-Z (high impedance) JFET direct inputs are for connecting low-level passive devices such as electric guitar and bass instruments into channels 1 & 2 for A/D conversion. Connect only 1⁄4” unbalanced TS phone plugs to these inputs; TRS plugs cannot be used.
The Hi-Z inputs have an ultra-high input impedance of 2.2 Megohms that eliminates impedance loading, preserving the high-frequency content of signals from sources with high impedance outputs (such as electric guitar pickups).

Hi-Z input gain levels are adjusted with the Preamp control for the associated channel.


I was remembering the reference to using the control for gain staging

If your bass is passive, it absolutely changes the tone to change the impedance. Just like it it does a mic input. I actually have taken to using a line buffer to split....which changes the loading to the pickups....and happens to Y to the amp and DI, too, functionally...I was actually going to ask if UA's 610 preamp/channel modeling thing for the preamp extends to the DI....I've never used a better DI than the LA610's for bass or EP....I certainly could make the call that the U5, Great River, or RedDI might be better in some given context with their unique takes on tone....those are my three fave ever for the types--throaty tube, crystal clean exposing to a fault, and flat 2d huge big iron.

Also note that....with a passive DI ($50-90) plugged into your Neve clone, you aren't going to be far from the tone of "if that preamp had a DI"....ultimately, a DI it added because it's cheap--a port, a little transformer, and then it feeds into the mic amp....so, a passive Radial plugged into your Neve should be pretty close to some Neve preamp's DI port. Just don't get active. Don't let them tell you "for a few bucks more"....right? Yeah--that active will sound better plugged into some interface preamp (probably)....but, you've got a Neve clone sitting there.