Budget DI box - Samson S-Direct Plus ??

[drew_drummer]

http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1754

Anyone ever used one of these for DI'ing their guitars? What I want to do is split the signal of TWO pedalboards, between our amps, and my Profire 2626. Purpose is for recording our performance via amps and DI, so I can mix in some amp sim later if I need to.

Would I just connect the guitar to the input on the DI box, then the XLR to my soundcard, and the link output straight to the amp?

 

[drew_drummer]

Meh. I ordered one. I needed something, and don't have a lot of money to spend. It's a passive DI... what's the worst that could happen!?!

 

[MetalJonesy]

It's an active DI actually, work great especially for EMGs as it has around a 1meg ohm impedance i think , i have 2 (the s direct and s direct plus)

all my stuff you hear on these forums is tracked into one of those!

 

[drew_drummer]

Oh yeah. I'm an idiot; of course it's active, it needs phantom power!

 

[greyskull]

they work. a step above behringer.

 

[drew_drummer]

That's all I need really

 

[drew_drummer]

Erm.. silly question time:

If I plug the two guitars into the Samson, do I need to plug the samson outputs into the hi-z inputs on my Profire 2626, or can they be plugged into the line inputs of my 002 (which will be connected to the Profire via ADAT) and should the line inputs be -10 or +4 on the 002??

 

[AudioGeekZine]

DI boxes have Mic level outputs to put connected to mic preamps

 

[drew_drummer]

Hmm. That's gonna make this a difficult process then. I only have 12 mic pre's... the other four are line inputs.

 

[drew_drummer]

Hang on... can't I just use an XLR cable to 1/4" jack, and use the -10db setting on the line inputs???

 

[drew_drummer]

Right. According to a mate (who is faaar more experienced than me!) I can use an XLR to 1/4" jack, as long as the line input is balanced. And on the 002, they are balanced. So I should be good to continue with my plan. PHEW!

 

[arv_foh]

I don't think that will work dude. A DI puts out a mic level signal, which is much quieter than a line level signal, so when you plug it into the line input you probably will not have a loud enough signal for anything usable.

 

[drew_drummer]

I'll try it. If it doesn't work, then fuck it. But I'm being told different things by different people, and I've never tried it before, so I don't know who is right.

 

[Soundlurker]

It will work but the level will indeed be very low.

 

[drew_drummer]

Hmm. Well what would you suggest I do if that is the case? I need to record the following:

Overhead L (Mic Pre)
Overhead R (Mic Pre)
Room (Mic Pre)
Kick (Mic Pre)
Snare Top (Mic Pre)
Snare Bottom (Mic Pre)
Tom 1 (Mic Pre)
Tom 2 (Mic Pre)
Floor Tom (Mic Pre)
Bass (DI)
Guitar 1 (Mic Pre)
Guitar 2 (Mic Pre)
Guitar 1 (DI)
Guitar 1 (DI)

I have at my disposal 12 mic preamps, and four line inputs. My plan was to use the line inputs for the DI'd signals. Bassist has a Sansamp, and their manual says:

BALANCED XLR OUTPUT: Balanced 600-Ohm low Z output. Sends effected or bypassed signal to mixing console/recorder.
XLR Out Pad Switch: -20dB pad to match the output to equipment with different input level requirements. In the line level (up) position, the output is 0dB. In the instrument level (down) position, the output is -20dB.

So that would seem to imply that I can use an XLR to Jack with the Sansamp, and plug into the line input - making sure all the relevant buttons are in the correct positions. I thought it would be the same with the Samson DI and the two guitars. But I guess I'm wrong.

 

[arv_foh]

Buy 2 more preamps and send them to your line inputs.

 

[drew_drummer]

My budget is about 50pence right now. Seriously cannot afford any more pre's, and this is all happening next Monday!!

Although I think I might have a solution... Profire 2626 + 002 currently. I *can* get a 003 as well, and send that into adat b on the profire. Gonna try it tomorrow night when I can get the unit.

As soon as I can though, I think I'll get another Profire 2626. Coz they're fucking awesome.

 

[aortizjr]

Yeah those will be mic level outputs. So you will probably get a signal, but it will be low.

The Sansamp will be fine going into a line-input.

Guitar-DI's don't really need anything fancy, just noiseless level. And if you do a good job micing, you may not even need them. But I would just grab some extra mic pres, or use the pre's on a cheap mixer or something.

I used to use a SM Pro Audio PR8, was just fine for DI's and triggers. Modded it out later and I still use it for clean airy vocals. M-Audio DMP-3 would be something you won't outgrow, or the Mic Buddy or whatever it is. Sm Pro audio also makes a 4-channel pre.

Since your Profire is the primary interface, you are using Pro Tools M-Powered or another host anyway, I would sell the 002 and grab 2 Presonus D8's or even Beh. ADA8000's.

Or if you are handy, you could bypass the step-down transformer or pad in the S-Direct. The OpAmp in there will be putting out unbalanced line output.

 

[drew_drummer]

Right. I've sorted what I'll do...

I'm gonna borrow a Presonus ADL 600 preamp from work. Use that for my overheads, which free's up two channels on my Profire for the DI'd guitar signals.

sooo....

1 - Overhead L - Rode NT4 L > ADL600 L > Digi 002 Line 5
2 - Overhead R - Rode NT4 R > ADL600 R > Digi 002 Line 6
3 - Room - Rode K2 (Figure 8) > Digi 002 Mic Pre 1
4 - Kick - Shure Beta 52a > Profire 2626 Mic Pre 1
5 - Snare Top - Shure SM58 (cap off) > Profire 2626 Mic Pre 2
6 - Snare Bottom - Shure SM58 (cap off) > Profire 2626 Mic Pre 3
7 - Tom 1 - T-bone tom mic > Profire 2626 Mic Pre 4
8 - Tom 2 - T-bone tom mic > Profire 2626 Mic Pre 5
9 - Floor Tom - T-bone tom mic > Profire 2626 Mic Pre 6
10 - Guitar 1 - SM57 > Profire Mic Pre 7
11 - Guitar 2 - SE Electronics SE3 > Profire Mic Pre 8
12 - Guitar 1 DI - Samson DI L > Digi Mic Pre 2
13 - Guitar 2 DI - Samson DI R > Digi Mic Pre 3
14 - Bass - Either from the Ampeg amp DI out, or the Sansamp DI > Digi Mic Pre 4

This will all probably change on the day, but it's nice to try to be ready!

 

[ATLA]

just becareful with it, my samson broke after a few months use.