Avantis Bass DI starting point
Beginner Skill level for the five steps below. Optional intermediate and advanced tips are in Going further.
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.
Avantis note: The Compressor's Parallel Path is an easy way to keep some natural attack while controlling the level.
1High-pass filter
30-40 Hz
Illustration in the style of the Avantis 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 Avantis: Select the channel (touch its Name Block on the touchscreen, it shades green), set Screen Mode to Processing, then the Filter tab: HPF 20 Hz-2 kHz, slope 12 or 24 dB/oct, Butterworth or Bessel type (there's also an LPF). Gain, Pad, 48V (hold 1 s), Trim (+/-24 dB) and Polarity are on the Preamp tab.
2Gate
- Use
- No
Not needed on a DI'd bass.
On the Avantis: Processing > Gate tab: Threshold, Depth (Avantis' name for range), Attack, Hold, Release. Side Chain lets you pick the key source and switch in an HPF/LPF key filter. The Gate Library also offers a Ducker in place of the gate.
3EQ
- HPF 35 Hz, 12 dB/oct
- 1 Bell 90 Hz, +1.0 dB, width 1.5 oct
- 2 Bell 250 Hz, -3.0 dB, width 0.9 oct
- 3 Bell 850 Hz, +1.5 dB, width 0.9 oct
- 4 Bell 3.5 kHz, +1.0 dB, width 0.9 oct
Illustration in the style of the Avantis 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 Avantis: Processing > PEQ tab: 4 bands, +/-15 dB each. Width is set in OCTAVES, not Q (roughly: 1.5 oct = Q 0.9, the widest; 1 oct = Q 1.4; 1/3 oct = Q 4.3). LF and HF bands switch between shelf, bell, or 12 dB/oct cut. Drag the dots on the graph, or pinch for width. PEQ runs before the compressor by default; swap per channel via Options (saved in the Show, not in Scenes).
4Compression
Attack 20-30 ms · Release 250-500 ms (shorter for fast notes) (timing, not shown on graph)
Illustration in the style of the Avantis 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 Avantis: Processing > Compressor tab: Threshold, Ratio (1:1 = no compression up to Infinity = limiter; the steps in between aren't published, so read the value on screen), Gain (makeup), Soft Knee, Attack, Release, Manual RMS or Manual Peak detector, Parallel Path for dry/wet blend, and a sidechain HPF/LPF. dPack adds DEEP compressor models (Opto, 16T, 16VU, etc.).
5FX send
None
Keep dry: no FX send.
Illustration in the style of the Avantis 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 Avantis: 12 RackExtra FX slots. In the FX screen's Back Panel, set the unit to Mix->Return and pick the FX send bus. To set a channel's send: press that FX send's Mix key on its master strip (input faders become send levels), or open Routing for the channel (On/Off, Pre/Post, level). Hold Pre + touch a Name Block to toggle pre/post.
Avantis specifics
- Avantis Solo runs the same Continuity UI, processing and 64-channel/42-bus engine as dual-screen Avantis, just with one 15.6" screen and 12 faders (Avantis has two screens and 24), so the steps above are the same on both.
- Dyn8 (multiband dynamics + dynamic EQ) only exists if dPack is installed (paid; 16 instances, or 24 on firmware 2.0+; check Setup > Config > Add-Ons). Insert it from the channel's Processing > Inserts tab: Insert A sits after the gate, Insert B after the PEQ/Comp. Handy for de-essing vocals or taming boomy acoustic guitars, but these cards don't assume you have it.
- Continuity UI: the strip rotaries handle gain or pan, and one button press folds the bank view to show EQ or compressor settings for every channel in the bank. Three soft rotaries take parameters you assign. Firmware 2.0 adds Smart Rotaries and PEQ, Source Expander and Dyn8 rotary options.
- Save a finished channel to the Input Channel Library (Preamp tab, or touch the selected-channel area). It stores filters, gate, PEQ, comp, delay and name/colour (plus preamp if you choose, and sends on 2.0 firmware). You pick which parts to recall.
🎧 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.
Going further (3 optional tips)
Not needed to get a good start. Try these once the basics above sound right.
- AdvancedDuck the bass under the kick (sidechain)
The bass dips for a split second on each kick hit, so the two stop fighting in the lows.
On the Avantis: on the bass channel, Processing > Compressor > Side Chain: pick the kick channel as the source; fast attack, short release, 1-3 dB of reduction.
- AdvancedParallel compression for a fuller, steadier sound
Blend a heavily compressed copy under the dry sound: more weight, punch stays.
On the Avantis: Processing > Compressor > Parallel Path: turn it on and balance dry against compressed.
- AdvancedDynamic EQ on 200-300 Hz instead of a fixed cut
It only cuts mud when it builds up, so the rest of the time the sound stays full.
On the Avantis (needs dPack): Processing > Inserts > Insert B > assign a Dyn8, open the dynamic EQ view, set a band at 200-300 Hz. A stock Avantis Solo has no dynamic EQ; Solo-U ships with dPack. Check Setup > Config > Add-Ons.
Common gear for Bass DI
- Radial ProDI · Passive DI box
- Countryman Type 85 · Active DI box
Scene / preset file
Coming later: downloadable Avantis 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)
- Allen & Heath Support: Avantis Processing (Preamp, Filter, Gate, Inserts, PEQ, Compressor), updated 13 Apr 2026
- Allen & Heath Support: Avantis Continuity UI (screen modes, Name Blocks, Pre/Copy/Safes keys), updated 13 Apr 2026
- Allen & Heath: Avantis Firmware Reference Guide V1.30 (PDF; Routing > Aux and FX sends, FX Back Panel)
- Allen & Heath Support: Avantis 2.0 FAQ (dPack, Dyn8, Smart Rotaries, models)
- Allen & Heath Support: Avantis Solo Getting Started Guide
- Allen & Heath Support: Avantis Getting Started Guide (Mix key send modes)
- Sound On Sound: Mix Tips For Kick & Bass
- Sound On Sound: Parallel Compression
- Sound On Sound: Vocal Production (parallel compression, de-essing)
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