Bought a DI box...

[Terminus]

So I'd never had one for the longest time, just never got around to it until today I went and got a Live Wire ADI Active DI Direct Box just to see if it made any difference. I also got a nicer 3 foot monster XLR>XLR cable to use for the test. I played a riff 4 times with and without the di box and honestly, no difference with the two sections volume matched and looking at a spectrum analyzer. Zero. So would say a Countryman Type 85 even make much of a diff? I mean, there can't be too much involved in one of these boxes circuitry-wise so should I just say fuck it and not use one? I know the Live Wire one isn't a name I hear dropped here but it was active and made pretty well physically. Just looking for some opinions on this since i hear no damn difference lol

 

[Pickasso]

You must already have a nice interface with killer preamps. I imagine that's why you hear no difference. I have a C85 and it way improves the tone with my Focusrite Saffire. But, I can also get improvement using a guitar pedal, for example I have an overdrive pedal, leave it on bypass, also sounds better than plugging direct. Another benefit of the countryman: it brings down the clipping on the Focusrite preamps- they clip with the gain on zero, with the C85 it doesn't clip.
Like you said, the circuitry is likely similar, doubt you would hear any difference between units.

 

[newamerikangospel]

In my experience between my audio interface DI, my passive radial DI and the countryman 85 they may not sound different, but the dynamic "swing" of the input should be different. And when you reamp them, there should be a difference in the clarity.

 

[Habsburgs]

Shit that's the rapey dog from Aqua Teen! He is crazy

 

[Terminus]

You must already have a nice interface with killer preamps. I imagine that's why you hear no difference. I have a C85 and it way improves the tone with my Focusrite Saffire. But, I can also get improvement using a guitar pedal, for example I have an overdrive pedal, leave it on bypass, also sounds better than plugging direct. Another benefit of the countryman: it brings down the clipping on the Focusrite preamps- they clip with the gain on zero, with the C85 it doesn't clip.
Like you said, the circuitry is likely similar, doubt you would hear any difference between units.

It's actually just a run-of-the-mill Profire 610. I tested the shit out of it and really could not hear or see a difference. One of these days I'm gonna borrow a Type 85 and see if it's any different.

 

[Manicompression]

Are you using passive or active pick-ups is your guitar?

 

[Terminus]

I have one guitar with EMG 81/85s and one with a SD JB in it, tried both.

 

[mstone564]

I feel like the real difference between DI boxes and straight through an interface is more so impedance matching rather than a drastic tone difference (even though that's still noticeable in some cases).

 

[deLuther]

Type 85/10 should give slightly another result with passive pickups due to 10 MOhm input impedance, unlike conventional 1 MOhm of ProFire (which has good preamps). Still ProFire 610/2626 should outperform most conventional active DI-boxes in terms of maximum input levels. When DI-box operated from 9 V battery it means low voltage swing, no problem with EMGs@9 V, but problematic with moderate output passive humbuckers.

 

[bryan_kilco]

Profire 2626 user here along with a LL Redeye (the first one) and after testing and testing the LL's DI vs. Profire DI, I can hear no noticeable difference.

 

[Terminus]

Yeah I'm just gonna go without one. I use another little Tascam usb interface to record using my wife's laptop when we're out of town but since I don't use it all that often I don't see a reason to deal with one.

 

[varobinson]

You must already have a nice interface with killer preamps. I imagine that's why you hear no difference. I have a C85 and it way improves the tone with my Focusrite Saffire. But, I can also get improvement using a guitar pedal, for example I have an overdrive pedal, leave it on bypass, also sounds better than plugging direct. Another benefit of the countryman: it brings down the clipping on the Focusrite preamps- they clip with the gain on zero, with the C85 it doesn't clip.
Like you said, the circuitry is likely similar, doubt you would hear any difference between units.

100% same experience re: clipping and tone when getting the C85 using a Focusrite 18i20.

 

[Old Man Doom]

100% same experience re: clipping and tone when getting the C85 using a Focusrite 18i20.

+1 I just moved into the Saffire range and I hate the clipping that the instrument input has. I am definitely considering getting a DI just help with the headroom.

I wonder if Focusrite is actually going to listen to the community and take down the gain range on their instrument inputs for the newer lines, or at the very least add significant pads (not just 8db).

 

[Korwent]

Well 8dB is in fact quite significant, but indeed they really should redesign the instrument input, I have the exact same problem and consider buying a DI Box to fix it too!

 

[Mutant]

If your input is high quality hi-Z, you don't need a DI box, unless you want to use some other input that is better quality but not hi-Z.