D.I. Box for Amp Sims

NattyJ.

NattyJ.

Member
Apr 25, 2011
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Currently for amp sims i'm running my PRS c24 with passive pups line into straight into the input of my M-Audio Fast Track Pro.

I've been getting a fiar bit of noise doing this and i did some research (looking at stuff on here and other mixcellaneous forums) and I just wanted to ask this for confirmation before i dole out any money for a D.I.

So what I've i've gathered from general consensus that to improve the quality of D.I. tracks from passive pups is to get an active D.I. box, and one of the best boxes for reamping\amp sims is the Countryman Type 85 Active D.I. Box, which i can get for $160 online.

QUESTION:
Would I be doing the right thing by buying the "Countryman Type 85"? Would it substantially increase the quality of D.I's?

Thanks in advance,
Nat
 
ive just bought a countryman type 85 which is being shipped to me from the Us. under advice from Jeff and i know Ermz uses one as does Joey and we all know what joeys podtones are like.

though im not saying a countryman type 85 is at all responsible for that but a cleaner di could only help
 
Thanks for the response's guys :)

RichMinerva said:
ive just bought a countryman type 85 which is being shipped to me from the Us. under advice from Jeff and i know Ermz uses one as does Joey and we all know what joeys podtones are like.
Click to expand...

Awesome! I know who Ermz is (his threads have been extremely helpful) but who are Jeff and Joey?

OneDaySky said:
Definately man, I heard before and after clips with the Countryman, its a definate buy, esp if you doing re-amping.
Click to expand...

Sweet, thats very reassuring :D, where could i perchance find these before and after clips? :)

P.S. Sorry to any moderators, I just realised this would've been better put in equipment, even though it pertains to both.
 
I'm still new to all this, but I just don't get it... Why would you need a DI box for amp sims? Wouldn't you just plug the guitar straight into the interface then turn off the amp sim before rendering the track?
 
Maagisk said:
I'm still new to all this, but I just don't get it... Why would you need a DI box for amp sims? Wouldn't you just plug the guitar straight into the interface then turn off the amp sim before rendering the track?
Click to expand...
No need to turn off the ampsim if it's put in VST in the FX chain, in any ways it will record only the DI. Unless you record directly the output of your ampsim standalone program which is a bad idea if you don't know what you are doing.

About the interface, it all depends on it. If you have a high impedance input, there is no "need" for it, but a good DI improves the sound quality of it to get those last few % of quality.

If you don't have high impedance input (they are also called instrument input), then you "need" them, cause otherwise it just sounds like shit and/or low volume (and closer to the noise floor which makes it noise-land when you pass it through a high gain preamp).
 
Here are the specs for the M-Audio Fast Track Pro:

Instrument Inputs (A/D)
Input Impedance >220k Ohm, unbalanced
Maximum Input Level From +22dBV @ min gain, pad on to -42dBV @ max gain no pad
SNR -100dB, A-weighted
Dynamic Range 100dB, A-weighted
THD+N 0.005% (-86dB) @ -1dBFS, 1kHz
Frequency Response 20Hz to 20kHz, +/- 0.1dB @ 48kHz sample rate
Pre-amp Gain >40dB
Pad -20dB pad


Supposably the type 85 is like 10 megaohms or something?!

Idk what to make of all this though...
 
Huge difference on DI's with different interfaces though .. My M-Audio FireWire Solo gives me so much better DI's than my Pod X3 (which is just a pile of dust right now) ..
 
So, in summary:
The Fast Track has pitiful impedance, yet the type 85 has MANLY beast impedance?

And if impedance defines goodness in a D.I. tone, I should fork out for this type 85?
 
onqel said:
Huge difference on DI's with different interfaces though .. My M-Audio FireWire Solo gives me so much better DI's than my Pod X3 (which is just a pile of dust right now) ..
Click to expand...

Cool, I think I'll get cracking on examining those specs :)

By the way dude, your vsts are amazing! Todays internet\independant music culture thanks you :D
 
The M-Audio Firewire Solo is only 270k ohms, but i couldnt find any decent list of specs for the X3.

Does the quality of the D.I. affect tone colouration or is it all just matters of noise-to-signal ratio?
 
NattyJ. said:
The M-Audio Firewire Solo is only 270k ohms, but i couldnt find any decent list of specs for the X3.

Does the quality of the D.I. affect tone colouration or is it all just matters of noise-to-signal ratio?
Click to expand...

It still sounds better than the 1Mohm impedance of the X3 ;)

You could look at the impedance as a voltage divider, between the pickup and the input .. If the interface's input impedance get's too low the signal from the guitar get's attenuated, and the cutoff frequency of the lowpass effect in the guitar's tonecontrol get's lowered and the tone sounds muffled .. anyway, 270k is low, but still sounds better to me than the X3 :P
 
FYI, I have a POD Xt with one Meg of input impedence and it still sounds like shit using it as a DI Box. If the Countryman Type 85 Active D.I. Box has an input impedence of 10 meg I might have to look into this one. Righ now Im using the DBx 12db active DI box that has an input impedence of 1 meg by itself but can drop down to 500K or more input impedence(Depending on the device) if i were to use the "thru" output of the dbx to another device.
 
Mutant said:
Jeff

Joey
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I remember reading that one from Jeff, that was really good :)

And shitballs Joey has a ton of sweet bands to his name!
A Plea For Purging - "The Jealous Wings" is an AMAZING song, really well produced too :D
Emmure - "Speaker of The Dead is a bloody well produced album too, tight as fuck.

Does Joey go on this forum too? I'm only new to ultimate metal this week, I got sick of UG haha
 
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