A choice between two Bass DI boxes

[Edweird]

I'm in the middle of a gear purchase and I'm interested in a Bass DI box. I currently own two Behringer DI's (ULTRA-DI DI100 and ULTRA G) and like them well enough, but I want something specifically geared toward bass. I have an Ashbory bass on loan, a Godin SD5, and a Rick 3001 (not a 4001). The two DI's that I'm curious about are the Hartke VXL Bass Attack pedal and the Aphex 1402 Bass Guitar Exciter Pedal. I'm looking for something that can add a little color without loosing the bottom and hurting my wallet. The Hartke is the cheaper of the two.

Does anyone out there have any experience with either of these?

Do you have other suggestions?

I really want to stay under $100 if I can.

[hopeless_opus]

New it's around $150 or so, but the Sansamp Bassdriver DI is really amazing and plenty colorful. On Ebay you might be able to get one around $100...

[eh91311]

Over $100? The Tech21 Bass Driver DI is a great choice for recording direct bass or as a stomp box for live playing. Since your budget is under $100, then try the Behringer BDI21 V-tone pedal. They have similar controls but sound nothing like each other. The Berry box has more hiss, less dynamic range, but it delivers a decent bass tone that you can tailor and tweak to fit. The Tech21 box sounds more dynamic, more amp-like. For $30, you can try the BDI21 and buy something else when you have more funds. Both will give you decent clean-ish, round, full tones. Neither are great for distorted or edgy bass sounds.

[inverseroom]

Third on the Tech 21. It's worth the extra dough. Tiger Vomitt got me onto it.

[Brian]

A bass DI with a good transformer, not a Berringer, and a high headroom amp is good and it doesn't need a really fast slew rate, but, your amp could.

[apropos of nothing]

4thed on the Sansamp. That's what bass sounds like.

[Edweird]

Thanks for the advice. The Tech 21 looks interesting. Something I may want to get into when I have more money. One of the reviews on Harmony Central I read mentioned liking the Hartke better than the Sans Amp. In fact the Hartke got better reviews than the Aphex, but only slightly. I'm almost sold on it, just because it's $70 on Zzounds. The Berry doesn't interest me at all if it's hissy. I'm using this strickly for recording BTW.

[these_go211]

5th on the sansamp!

[eh91311]

The Behringer BDI21 isn't bad for $30. The Tech21 is much better. There's a reason why so many people are into the Tech21 box. If you must go with the Hartke, then go ahead, buy one and tell us what you think of it.

[NewAndImprov]

+1 on the sansamp if you want color. Bu if you want a really great sounding DI for small $, check out the Radial Pro DI and D2. I got a D2 for my live bass rig, my band requires a lot of DI's live and we've found it's best to just bing our own and not rely on the clubs to have any. Before mounting it in my rack, I did a little recording with it and was surprised at how cool the bass sounded through it. I also have a Radial JD4 active DI that is super accurate, and I think I like the sound through the Pro better. The mono version sells for around $80, and the stereo for $130.

[eh91311]

Thanks for the advice. The Tech 21 looks interesting. Something I may want to get into when I have more money. One of the reviews on Harmony Central I read mentioned liking the Hartke better than the Sans Amp. In fact the Hartke got better reviews than the Aphex, but only slightly. I'm almost sold on it, just because it's $70 on Zzounds. The Berry doesn't interest me at all if it's hissy. I'm using this strickly for recording BTW.

The Behringer BDI21 is noisy, but not close to how a real amplifier is. The Tech21 isn't dead quiet either. They're analog amp modeling gear, there's going to be some noise in there from the circuitry.

[Brian]

+1 on the sansamp if you want color. Bu if you want a really great sounding DI for small $, check out the Radial Pro DI and D2. I got a D2 for my live bass rig, my band requires a lot of DI's live and we've found it's best to just bing our own and not rely on the clubs to have any. Before mounting it in my rack, I did a little recording with it and was surprised at how cool the bass sounded through it. I also have a Radial JD4 active DI that is super accurate, and I think I like the sound through the Pro better. The mono version sells for around $80, and the stereo for $130.

I second that. Radial is the new DI King. I have an old Tritech Active (pre Countryman 85) and it is still the best DI I've used on bass. I don't know if you can find one outside NYC though. If you can, get one. Easy to mod to even lower noise. My basses sound like they were flying in from outer space, and anything else I use them on. Not as thin as a Countryman 85, hefty and meaty sound. I put a tube pedal in front and that's it. Other than that it's definitely SansAmp.
Analogue has the capability to go to a -165 db = 180 db headroom, how good is digital again?