XR18 / X Air Bass DI starting point
Beginner Skill level for the five steps below.
Dial these in, then adjust by ear in the full mix. Walk the room: bass that sounds fine at FOH can boom in corners. Watch for one or two notes jumping out; that's a room mode, a narrow cut fixes it.
1High-pass filter
30-40 Hz
Illustration in the style of the XR18 / X Air (X Air Edit) low cut / HPF, not a screenshot. Drawn at 12 dB/oct; the shaded area is what gets cut. Drawn at 35 Hz, the middle of the card's 30-40 Hz.
Removes sub-sonic energy that eats amp power without adding audible note.
On the XR18 / X Air: No surface: in X Air Edit (or Mixing Station), open the channel and use the Low Cut switch/frequency in the Config / Preamp area.
2Gate
- Use
- No
Not needed on a DI'd bass.
On the XR18 / X Air: Channel > Gate tab: enable, then Threshold, Range, Attack, Hold, Release. A key filter is available for frequency-conscious triggering.
3EQ
- LC 35 Hz, 12 dB/oct
- 1 Bell 90 Hz, +1.0 dB, Q 0.9
- 2 Bell 250 Hz, -3.0 dB, Q 1.5
- 3 Bell 850 Hz, +1.5 dB, Q 1.5
- 4 Bell 3.5 kHz, +1.0 dB, Q 1.5
Illustration in the style of the XR18 / X Air (X Air Edit) EQ screen, not a screenshot. Curve shows the midpoint of the suggested ranges; HPF drawn at 12 dB/oct.
| Frequency | Gain | Q / width | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80-100 Hz | 0 to +2 dB | Wide | Fundamental/punch; coordinate with the kick. |
| 200-300 Hz | -2 to -4 dB | Medium | Muddy build-up that clouds the low mids in small rooms. |
| 700 Hz-1 kHz | +1 to +2 dB | Medium | Growl/definition so notes are audible on small speakers. |
| 2-5 kHz | 0 to +2 dB | Medium | String snap/finger noise; adjust to taste. |
On the XR18 / X Air: Channel > EQ tab: 4 parametric bands per input channel (shelf/peq modes on the outer bands).
4Compression
Attack 20-30 ms · Release 250-500 ms (shorter for fast notes) (timing, not shown on graph)
Illustration in the style of the XR18 / X Air (X Air Edit) compressor screen, not a screenshot. The card gives a ratio range (3:1 (go to 4:1 if needed)); the graph shows the first value, 3:1. The threshold is an example only: it is set so a −6 dB peak gets about 4.5 dB of gain reduction, the middle of the card's target. Set yours by ear while watching the gain reduction (GR) meter. Drawn hard-knee with no makeup gain. Attack and release shape timing and don't change this curve.
- Ratio
- 3:1 (go to 4:1 if needed)
- Attack
- 20-30 ms
- Release
- 250-500 ms (shorter for fast notes)
- Gain reduction
- 3-6 dB
Bass players vary a lot note to note; compression keeps the low end steady.
On the XR18 / X Air: Channel > Dynamics tab: Threshold, Ratio, Knee, Attack, Hold, Release, makeup Gain and Mix (parallel).
5FX send
None
Keep dry: no FX send.
Illustration in the style of the XR18 / X Air (X Air Edit) sends view, not a screenshot. Bus numbering depends on how the venue file is patched; set the level by ear.
Keep bass dry.
On the XR18 / X Air: X Air has 4 internal FX slots fed by dedicated FX sends (FX1-4) on every channel; set the send level on the channel's Sends tab and bring FX returns up on the FX return faders.
🎧 What to listen for
Walk the room: bass that sounds fine at FOH can boom in corners. Watch for one or two notes jumping out; that's a room mode, a narrow cut fixes it.
Common gear for Bass DI
- Radial ProDI · Passive DI box
- Countryman Type 85 · Active DI box
Scene / preset file
Coming later: downloadable XR18 / X Air channel preset for this card.
Sources
- Sweetwater InSync: How to EQ (Almost) Anything
- Sweetwater InSync: Making your kick drum and bass line sit nicely together in the mix
- Sweetwater InSync: EQ Frequencies of Musical Instruments Explained (Music Instrument Frequency Cheatsheet)
- Behringer X Air (XR18) User Manual (PDF, Config/Gate/EQ/Dynamics tabs)
Didn't find your answer? Ask a question