splitting Hi-Z signal

~BURNY~

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Apr 20, 2005
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Hi there. I'm looking for a (cheap) device that can split guitar output signal into 4 signals to feed 4 amps at the same time without level loss.
I'm planning summer recording sessions and I'd like to make a multi amp setup for the guitars. I'll have 1 JCM800, 1 Dual Rectifier, 1 Orange and 1 JCM900 with external preamp. Could be fun.
 
~BURNY~ said:
Can you be more specific please? :)

Take a look at:

http://www.thomann.de/behringer_di20_di_box_prodinfo.html

it's in german and it's from behringer but I think it will give you the idea what I mean. You only have to build a splitcable with one female XLR connector and 4 phone connectors parallel on the other side.

Connect pin 1 (XLR) together with pin 3 on the shaft(ground) of the phone connetors and pin 2 to the tip.
 
ThomasT said:
Take a look at:

http://www.thomann.de/behringer_di20_di_box_prodinfo.html

it's in german and it's from behringer but I think it will give you the idea what I mean. You only have to build a splitcable with one female XLR connector and 4 phone connectors parallel on the other side.

Connect pin 1 (XLR) together with pin 3 on the shaft(ground) of the phone connetors and pin 2 to the tip.
Are you sure that impedance will match in the end? Looks wierd to me...
I know what's a DI but I still don't see the point here...
 
~BURNY~ said:
Are you sure that impedance will match in the end?

Some Theorie:

In the whole audio technics we have so called voltage adaptation. That means the whole voltage from an output shall go to the input without any voltage drop. Therefore the impedance of an input must be greater than the impedance of the output. The greater the better.
So a lower output impedance doesn't hurt the input.

A guitar has a high impedance. Therefore the impedance of the amp must be greater. (as a first approximation. In reality guitar pickup with it's impedance, capacity and inductivity, the cable with it's capacity and the imput impedance build a complex resonance circuit that influences the sound.)

Theoretically you can build a single 1-4 split-cable and connect the guitar parallel to the amps. The guitar pickups "sees" quarter of the normal input impedance when connecting 4 equal inputs parallel.

Z = ( 1 / ( 1/Z1 + 1/Z2 ... ))

The only thing can happen is that the sound of your guitar is a little bit(!) quiter and duller. Maybe this works for you.
If not. You can separate the amps from the guitars by inserting a active amplifier stage, like active DI-Boxes. The guitar "sees" only the impedance of the DI-input, which is normally high-Z (that's the reason for active DI-Boxes). The amps "see" only the DI-out which impedance is normally much lower that a guitar pickup. The problem here, you have to adjust the level. But that's equal to unsing wireless systems.

Wait...you can use a wireless system with one sender and 4 recievers on the same frequency...