A simple guitar splitter box....

[drew_drummer]

Hey, I know this is one of thost utter faggy questions that has probably been answered before, but I demand a fresh answer, delivered on the cheeks of virgins.

Basically, I just want to split my guitar signal into two without affecting the tone at all. I want to send one to an amp, and another to a Hi-Z input on the Profire - purely to make editing a little simpler, I'm not going to be doing anything with the DI'd signal, and I wont be re-amping it at a later stage.

What's the cheapest, but still high quality, way of doing this? I'm thinking in the sub £100 region.

 

[~BURNY~]

A real good DI with a thru out... It will be an improvement over the profire Hi-Z input and will allow you to split the signal in the way you describe.

 

[Empathy]

Why not just use a DI box and dodge the Profire's Hi-Z input altogether? Guitar into the DI box, DI box splits to the amp, and then line in to one of the Profire's inputs?

Specific suggestion: Countryman Type 85.

 

[DanLights]

Art has a simple A/B/Y box that could do the job, but I have no idea how good it is. A Boss Tu-2 perhaps? DI is the best option though

 

[drew_drummer]

Sound quality for the DI'd signal isn't really important. But not touching the tone of the guitar going to the amp is very important. I've got a few cheapo DI boxes that always seem to fuck the tone somewhat.

 

[Djunn]

Morley ABY box could be the one. I haven't use it so I have no idea about product quality. But I'm thinking to buy one. Is it any good?

 

[~BURNY~]

Sound quality for the DI'd signal isn't really important. But not touching the tone of the guitar going to the amp is very important. I've got a few cheapo DI boxes that always seem to fuck the tone somewhat.

That's because they are cheapos. What do you expect?
A good DI has some kind of buffer (don't know if that's the right word) rather that a stupid Y type connection like cheapos do.

Also I don't understand why you would record the DI signal if quality doesn't matter.

 

[OneDaySky]

Why not just use a DI box and dodge the Profire's Hi-Z input altogether? Guitar into the DI box, DI box splits to the amp, and then line in to one of the Profire's inputs?

Specific suggestion: Countryman Type 85.

I recommend the exact same approach!

 

[drew_drummer]

That's because they are cheapos. What do you expect?
A good DI has some kind of buffer (don't know if that's the right word) rather that a stupid Y type connection like cheapos do.

Also I don't understand why you would record the DI signal if quality doesn't matter.

Post recording editing - just to give me a good visual indication of where the guitar strings are played. Obviously it's going to differ somewhat, but I've found editing distorted guitars can be a bit tricky. Was hoping to give myself an easier time of it by having the DI too, which is just for reference.

 

[~BURNY~]

Post recording editing - just to give me a good visual indication of where the guitar strings are played. Obviously it's going to differ somewhat, but I've found editing distorted guitars can be a bit tricky. Was hoping to give myself an easier time of it by having the DI too, which is just for reference.

Ah ok. Makes sense.

 

[TonyS.]

Little question..to split the signal like this: guitar --> DI Box
--> amp
--> Interface
...you always have to use an ACTIVE box, right?

 

[arv_foh]

just buy one of those el cheapo behringer direct boxes if quality is not an issue

 

[aortizjr]

I see what you are asking for, I had the same issue a few months go. The problem with most cheap DI boxes is that the impedance is really low, like around 220KOhms. Most DI's just split the signal at the source, like a Y cable, especially passive ones.

So just like your speakers, the impedance divides. So your amp is 1Mohm or 1000KOhm for easy math. 1000*220/(1000 + 220) = 180KOhms. Which is way way to low, hence suck tone.

If you get a good DI box with a real 1Mohm impedance, then the math is simpler and the impedance is 500K which is acceptable.

If you look at the math, the final impedance will always be a bit lower than the lowest impedance. So if you can get a DI box with say a 10MOhm impedance: (10*1)/(10 +1) = .9MOhm which is certainly high enough.

For something cheap and good with a 1MOhm impedance, check out the active DI from Audiopile.net. $50 and they also sound pretty darn good.

Another option is to run a buffer before the DI box (boss pedal, DIY one, etc.). I found that for the ultimate purists, the buffer will alter the tone a bit as well, for metal, often for the better.

But with my EWI/Audiopile DI, I haven't had a guy complain yet and the DI's are perfectly good for re-amping/editing.

To really push the purism, I actually built a DI box using a high-end Burr Brown op-Amp, high input impedance with a unity gain buffered out and a line level output so the guitar DI had no coloration from the mic pre or anything. No transformers in the signal path, high end audio grade capacitors, bypassed electrolytics, etc. Freakin audiophile dummyness all the way... hey it was only a few extra bucks in the grand scheme, why not...

The buffer still alters the tone a tiny bit, mostly from the lack of cable capacitance. If you use a 2ft cable, the effect is the same.

With the DI signal, I can hear a difference, sort of like the difference between opamps or something. Real subtle as in I am not totally sure I could do it blind. And definitely not after reamping.

Long story short, I am not convinced it is worth the effort. Get a good DI box with a high input impedance and be done with it. I think some of the Samson ones have a 1MOhm input as well if you want to go cheaper.

But I highly recommend the EWI/Audiopile ones. Very well constructed and sound great!