DI Fidelity Test (clips inside)

[Ermz]

Hey guys,

Just had Melb_shredder over, testing out some different DI chains to settle on something workable for his band's record. We essentially wanted to find out just exactly how much fidelity could be lost by using a cheaper chain to a more expensive one.

So we did two clips.

One at his place, through a Countryman Type 85 > Presonus Firebox

One at my place, through a Countryman Type 85 > Millennia Origin STT-1 > RME Multiface

Both clips are using great DIs, but one is a generally accepted poor/mediocre pre/converter combo and one is a world-class pre with a fairly decent/good converter.

The takes were reamped into my (ex-Guitarhack's) 6505 running the speaker out straight into Catharsis impulses. So we're getting both pre and power saturation, but with impulses instead of a cab. HP/LP at 70/12k and a C4 removing some low-mid mud that both had due to excessive bass settings on my end (makes the tone more intelligible and in fact increases your awareness of their differences).

Here are the two clips. Tell us which you liked best, and I'll reveal which is which later.

Chain 1

Chain 2

 

[Wolfeman]

I can't tell much of a difference at all on my end, but if I had to choose one it would be clip 2. No reason why, I just wanted to pick one.

 

[JeffTD]

Chain 1 sounds edgier up top but also hyped, and a bit stuffier in the low midrange.

I'd say firebox is chain 1.

 

[alan1990]

2 is better

 

[jhrv]

Chain 1 = Firebox

Chain 2 = Millennia Origin STT-1 > Multiface

 

[Melb_shredder]

I reckon the clip with he guitar into the amp... Wait, we didn't do one hehe!! Should have though, bugger!

I vote number 2 from my gear here

 

[Ermz]

We can always add it in later. I totally forgot we were supposed to do a straight-in-amp one.

 

[Morgan C]

Chain1 seems to have a LOT more gain on it. Are you sure both DI's were set at the same level? If so, that's a HUGE difference and I should probably stop using my FP10's DI.

 

[Ermz]

Both DI files were visually matched until they looked almost identical in terms of waveform.

 

[Melb_shredder]

We can always add it in later. I totally forgot we were supposed to do a straight-in-amp one.

Yes!! We shall do that another day

 

[ATLA]

2 is clearer.

 

[Fragle]

i'm not on monitors right now, but over here chain 1 sounds better.....more definition and edgier. chain 2 sounds dull in comparison, something i'd associate with fidelity loss on the DIs, so i'm guessing chain 1 = millennia/RME.
i'm curious to see how things will sound in the studio later today

 

[::XeS::]

2 is Millenia

 

[ahjteam]

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/equipment/523077-di-comparison-request.html

 

[Ermz]

Didn't by chance read the thread, Anssi? We're not comparing DI boxes here.

 

[Nebulous]

Chain one reminded me (when I turned the clip up quite a bit) of the high mid edge and low boxiness/ emptiness that my old set up use to have so I will guess that as the Firebox, but that's a much smaller difference than I expected!

 

[Harry Hughes]

Chain 1 sounds edgier up top but also hyped, and a bit stuffier in the low midrange.

I'd say firebox is chain 1.

Exactly what I was hearing too.

 

[Ermz]

Cool well it seems most of you guys are on the ball so I won't hang the suspense out any longer.

Clip 1 was the Firebox chain.
Clip 2 was the Millennia chain.

As seemingly little as the differences are, almost every single person picked the more expensive chain as sounding better. And that's just on ONE track. Can you imagine when those pres stack on dozens upon dozens of tracks? You start to get an idea of how the expensive route can make your life a lot easier down the track.

Thanks a lot for all your guesses. In some ways I feel vindicated, because I knew I'd be way too biased to judge this one fairly myself.

 

[Nebulous]

Would be interesting to get this in a double tracked situation and compare to the "straight in" signal.
As much as I was surprised at how little difference there was it is enough of a difference that, as you mentioned, you wouldn't want to be dealing with on every track you record. Can only imagine how that would screw up the vocals.

 

[Fragle]

i'm not on monitors right now, but over here chain 1 sounds better.....more definition and edgier. chain 2 sounds dull in comparison, something i'd associate with fidelity loss on the DIs, so i'm guessing chain 1 = millennia/RME.
i'm curious to see how things will sound in the studio later today

ok, listening in the studio right now, and the difference is pretty obvious, in favor of the chain 2, hehe. goes to show you that consumer type speakers don't reveal shit. chain 1 sounds nasty in a way that made it sound more in your face on those speakers.