DI boxes

[MetalJonesy]

hey yall, im after a DI box for guitars and bass (for reamping), however i frequently use both guitars with active and passive pickups. What DI box would i require (passive or active)? i cant afford to get both passive and active ones so is there one type that would better suit both my needs.

My budgets small too. say less than £50 ~$80-90

 

[CJWall]

i was just going to ask the same question! haha, i'd really like the Radial J48 but I wasn't sure what any other more affordable alternatives would be.

 

[everybody's x]

I have been very happy with my radial pro DI for everything. It was $79 I think
Good transformer and uncolored. It isn't a countryman but it also isn't $180

 

[everybody's x]

http://www.radialeng.com/di-prodi-prod2.htm

 

[James-Doolan]

Hey I got a countryman as I was told its the shit for passive pups and I am currently using it to track guitars for my own bands recording but one guitars pups are passive and the other has active emgs (85,81).

Is the countryman ok for the emgs or do I need to get another d.i. for this?

I saw it posted here in the reamping thread that emgs might splat out on the countryman I am not exactly shure what this means could someone clarify it for me?

Thanks
James

 

[Frankzappa]

People! The only thing you have to worry about when getting a DI-box is that it's impedance is at 1 meg ohm or more (like on an amp). You are trying to simulate an actual amp input right? The radial is NOT 1 meg ohm, it's much less which means that passive pickups will get an impedance mismatch while active pickups will still sound good, because they have a lower impedance. The Countryman has an impedance of like 10 megohms or something which is way overkill. I've noticed that the more impedance you have, the wider the response. It seems the bass cutoff will go lower and the treble cutoff will go higher. The thing is that after 1 megohms your pickups are limiting the frequency wideness and not the DI, at least that's how it sounds to me.

 

[Noumenon]

I love my Samson S-Direct Plus (Plus="stereo"/dual), and, it's cheap!
http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1754

 

[Zombietakeover]

So which one do you like?

People! The only thing you have to worry about when getting a DI-box is that it's impedance is at 1 meg ohm or more (like on an amp). You are trying to simulate an actual amp input right? The radial is NOT 1 meg ohm, it's much less which means that passive pickups will get an impedance mismatch while active pickups will still sound good, because they have a lower impedance. The Countryman has an impedance of like 10 megohms or something which is way overkill. I've noticed that the more impedance you have, the wider the response. It seems the bass cutoff will go lower and the treble cutoff will go higher. The thing is that after 1 megohms your pickups are limiting the frequency wideness and not the DI, at least that's how it sounds to me.

 

[pifos_2]

I love my Samson S-Direct Plus (Plus="stereo"/dual), and, it's cheap!
http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1754

cheap but not good enough !!

@MetalJonesy, there are no answers to your request ! For that price range you'll not really find a DI thats real good for actives AND passives.

Maybe look for a second hand countryman Type 85 or a J48 (which is good for active and "ok" for passives).

This could interest you : http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/production-tips/290714-preparing-your-tracks-reamping-guide.html

 

[MetalJonesy]

cheap but not good enough !!

@MetalJonesy, there are no answers to your request ! For that price range you'll not really find a DI thats real good for actives AND passives.

Maybe look for a second hand countryman Type 85 or a J48 (which is good for active and "ok" for passives).

This could interest you : http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/production-tips/290714-preparing-your-tracks-reamping-guide.html

yeah ive checked that thread.. So would you say maybe getting an active di box of input impedance around 10 meg ohm that would better suit both? Ive seen a couple by tapco out there, they seem decent for their price, and ive never had any issues with tapco gear.

I really cant justify two separate DI boxes at the minute, just one decent one will do me for the time.

 

[James-Doolan]

Ok so just so im 100% shure the countryman with its 10mohm impedance is perfectly fine for active pups correct???

What about what mutant says in the reamp thread

"The only problem with Countryman would be active pickups and its 5V maximum input voltage"

Could someone explain this to me please. (Sorry for being such a neewb)

 

[MetalJonesy]

I love my Samson S-Direct Plus (Plus="stereo"/dual), and, it's cheap!
http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1754

yeah ive never had any problems with any of the samson kit ive had over the years, that di box is similar in price to the tapco active one too.


http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/db-1a-active-di/68594

thats what ive got in mind, seems pretty reasonable for the price. pretty decent spec on it too if you check the product website

 

[deLuther]

Maybe Waves PRS guitar interface? Only $120 and you do not need any mic preamp to get +4db line level... 1MOm input impedance. Does not try myself because Waves start selling this unit alone only this year...

 

[migreeni]

I'll budge in and ask now because this thread seems close enough:

Little Labs Redeye: Is it just a DI box or can it also be used for reamping? To my understanding DI-box and reamp-box are two different things..

 

[James-Doolan]

Red eye is a two in one d.i and reamp

 

[MetalJonesy]

what are the main differences between active and passive di boxes, is it that the frequency range and dynamic response is better on active di's?? as for reamping im getting the john cuniberti reamp box, ive had brett reccomend it both for active and passive pups.

But still stumped on the DI situation

 

[KeithRT99]

the countryman works great for active pickups.

 

[pifos_2]

yeah ive checked that thread.. So would you say maybe getting an active di box of input impedance around 10 meg ohm that would better suit both? Ive seen a couple by tapco out there, they seem decent for their price, and ive never had any issues with tapco gear.

Concerning impedance, a 10megohm DI is great for Active and Passive.
Cause the signal = di box input impedance/(source impedance+di box input impedance)*100

So the higher the impedance, the better the signal you got (=the lower the voltage loss the DI box impedance will create). On the opposite, a 2 megohm is not so good for passive pickups.

Concerning the volatge :

"""""The only caveat with this box might be if you're running actives like an EMG... It might not be able to handle the loudest passages of your playing.... I.E. it might 'splat out' on the strongest transients.""""""

Which means that sometimes the EMGs ouput level can be so high that the Countryman input cannot take the signal. Its a 5 V input. And the very top of the signal is "cut"..


My 2 cents : Buy a Radial J48 first. Record, reamp, make few projects with it. Use it for passive and active. You'll get 85% pourcent of the signal with passives anyway. It is not so bad. And when you can afford it, buy a countryman for passive only.

 

[MetalJonesy]

Concerning impedance, a 10megohm DI is great for Active and Passive.
Cause the signal = di box input impedance/(source impedance+di box input impedance)*100

So the higher the impedance, the better the signal you got (=the lower the voltage loss the DI box impedance will create). On the opposite, a 2 megohm is not so good for passive pickups.

Concerning the volatge :

"""""The only caveat with this box might be if you're running actives like an EMG... It might not be able to handle the loudest passages of your playing.... I.E. it might 'splat out' on the strongest transients.""""""

Which means that sometimes the EMGs ouput level can be so high that the Countryman input cannot take the signal. Its a 5 V input. And the very top of the signal is "cut"..


My 2 cents : Buy a Radial J48 first. Record, reamp, make few projects with it. Use it for passive and active. You'll get 85% pourcent of the signal with passives anyway. It is not so bad. And when you can afford it, buy a countryman for passive only.

so overall active di's are better for passive, and the passive dis are better for actives due to the increased output voltage from the guitar

 

[James-Doolan]

Concerning impedance, a 10megohm DI is great for Active and Passive.
Cause the signal = di box input impedance/(source impedance+di box input impedance)*100

So the higher the impedance, the better the signal you got (=the lower the voltage loss the DI box impedance will create). On the opposite, a 2 megohm is not so good for passive pickups.

Concerning the volatge :

"""""The only caveat with this box might be if you're running actives like an EMG... It might not be able to handle the loudest passages of your playing.... I.E. it might 'splat out' on the strongest transients.""""""

Which means that sometimes the EMGs ouput level can be so high that the Countryman input cannot take the signal. Its a 5 V input. And the very top of the signal is "cut"..


My 2 cents : Buy a Radial J48 first. Record, reamp, make few projects with it. Use it for passive and active. You'll get 85% pourcent of the signal with passives anyway. It is not so bad. And when you can afford it, buy a countryman for passive only.

Thanks for the information man can you recommend a good d.i box for my emg's?