[brandondrury]

It sounds like there is something wrong with your rig. Basses are typically quite hot in output when compared to guitars even with passive electronics.

I've recorded many basses DI plugging them straight into my preamp without a single dB of boost.

Are you recording guitar guitars DI just like you are recording your bass? (assuming you are recording either one direct).

I'm pretty sure that the M-Audio 1814 interface has a Hi-Z input. If you are using that, you should have no trouble at all.

Let me know. We may have to do some troubleshooting.

Back to your original question, converting a bass over to active is just an issue of swapping out pickups and possibly adding an active EQ. I don't necessarily like the sound of active bass pickups on most bass basses, so don't get excited thinking that the tone is "better". It's just different.

Brandon