witzendoz
Senior Member
No they have 2 separate signal paths, you can have a mono Di with a link or a stereo DI with no link, depends on the settings, I own 4 of these. Also runs on phantom which is nice.
This would be the cheapest solution.
Alan.
Background/static Noise occurring when recording an electronic keyboard
- Thread starter tensyume
- Start date
No they have 2 separate signal paths, you can have a mono Di with a link or a stereo DI with no link, depends on the settings, I own 4 of these. Also runs on phantom which is nice.
This would be the cheapest solution.
Alan.
keith.rogers
Well-known member
Theoretically, it should work - might not solve your noise problem would be my only concern, based on the negative reviews. The nice thing about that is you can use phantom power from the interface and skip the 9V batteries!
You'll still need a couple of cables.
Steenamaroo
...
I was referencing this - Livewire SPDI Passive Direct Box with Attenuation Pad | Guitar Center
The Behringer DI20 got mentioned in between.
Unfortunately the AB USB specc' does not give a gain figure not maximum input level for the instru input and to confound the felony, the Nord kbd does not specify the 'line' output...But, it IS an 'instrument' and the AB has an input so labelled so the two SHOULD match IMO. If the Presonus box does indeed have excess gain and low headroom? Very poor design*.
Talking of the kbd again, as an 'instrument' it will be expected to work in to 'instrument' amplifiers and yes, GUITAR amplifiers and THAT is exactly the form the Instru' input on an AI should emulate with at least as good noise performance and headroom.
Dave.
witzendoz
Senior Member
Steenamaroo
...
Haha, true.
I admit, I had to double-check through to make sure.
I admit, I had to double-check through to make sure.
I might get this Amazon.com: BEHRINGER ULTRA-DI DI20: Musical Instruments and pick up two of these: Amazon.com: AmazonBasics XLR Male to Female Microphone Cable - 6 Feet: Musical Instruments
and test it. The cable management is gonna be bitch though..
If the noise is still there I will go with your first option of buying 2 of those Livewire DI's and doing it that way (again... more box, more complicated setup so I want to avoid that)
witzendoz
Senior Member
All I know is that this was one of the complaints about this Presonus unit when it came out, you could not plug something with a line level into the instrument inputs without a mismatch. I have an old Firebox and that had line level inputs, a guitar or bass did not work properly, this is the other way around. The Nord has Line level outs, the Presonus has instrument level ins designed for people to plug guitars and basses into it. While you can plug a line level device into and instrument input the matching is not ideal.
Now if we go back to the original question, tensyume was getting noise in the signal, this could be caused by a level mismatch, which we have, or by a ground loop causing a hum or digital static, and DI can fix both problems by making the levels match and having a ground lift, which is why I suggested it.
Alan.
A few.. 'notes.
I'm not hearing a lot of noise in the samples (but not the best situation -f**king god awful noisy computer sitting here.
But none are distorted (-so why a need for a D/I?
You lowered the three samples via the I/F, but they're all pretty much the same volumes. (How did that happen?
Would this be an instrument where setting it's global volume (or inst velocity) effect it's output signal-to-noise ratio?
My apologies Alan, I did not know you had actually found a problem* with the Presonus. Certainly plugging a passive guitar into a line, maybe balanced, input is going to give poor results if only because of the very low, 10k probably, input impedance but going the other way, a high Z input will have no effect on a 'line' output.
I am going to see if I can pin down the actual output level of the Nord. My bet is it is nearer neg 10 than +4dBu.
*Of course Focusrite made a pig's ear of the HZ input of the first 2i2s. They modded them fairly quickly but it shows I guess that even the good guys can get it wrong? The situation annoys me since you really don't need a lot of gain to get even the wimpiest Strat to hit -18dBu!
DOH! It has just occurred to me that OP could probably solve his problem with two resistors per channel! If indeed the issue is too much level a simple 10dB or so attenuator should sort it. In my defence I probably did not think of it until now because SO few people can solder these days!
Dave.
Last edited:
Hi folks,
It's me again.
After putting some thoughts into it, maybe I should invest a little bit more money and buy another audio interface.
What do you guys think about this one? Behringer U-Phoria UMC404HD | Sweetwater
Seems to have Line input support, has 4 inputs and with this I dont think I would need a DI.
What do you guys think?
It's me again.
After putting some thoughts into it, maybe I should invest a little bit more money and buy another audio interface.
What do you guys think about this one? Behringer U-Phoria UMC404HD | Sweetwater
Seems to have Line input support, has 4 inputs and with this I dont think I would need a DI.
What do you guys think?
Most of these $100 ish interfaces tend to sound the same. In fact most of them use similar generic mic pres... . I would do a research on driver stability , noise floor, headphone output levels and such. For the price this interface does offer a lot though. Yes it has instrument level inputs so you can plug in the guitar directly.
witzendoz
Senior Member
Well I always think that more inputs are good, and for the price minus the DI price it's cheap. However did you use the instrument inputs on the Presonus? if you did you will still need a DI if you are going to plug in a guitar?
I should clear this comment up: I did not know you had actually found a problem* with the Presonus. I like Presonus gear and the Audiobox does what its intended to do, nothing wrong there, however a lot of people got bought out when they replaced the line inputs on the previous boxes with instrument inputs, handy when recording guitars but not so for line level inputs. It's one of the reasons I never bought one to have in my computer bag as I often record from a live mixer to laptop at gigs.
Alan.
I should clear this comment up: I did not know you had actually found a problem* with the Presonus. I like Presonus gear and the Audiobox does what its intended to do, nothing wrong there, however a lot of people got bought out when they replaced the line inputs on the previous boxes with instrument inputs, handy when recording guitars but not so for line level inputs. It's one of the reasons I never bought one to have in my computer bag as I often record from a live mixer to laptop at gigs.
Alan.
I would probably sell or give my presonus and completely replace with the Behringer Audio Interface I put in. I dont think I would need a DI anymore for guitar, Nord keyboard, or anything right? Since the Behringer has not just mic input, shouldn't it be able to handle Nord piano line input power fine without any power conversion?
Update:
My Ultra -DI DI20 came, and it's not working. Noise is still there..
My set up is currently this:
Nord piano left, right out => DI => DI Out to Audiobox USB.
DI is setup with 0dB (20dB literally lowered the volume, 40dB makes no sounds), 2-Ch, Gnd powered by phantom power.
Audiobox USB is setup with knob turned to 0 for both instrument 1 and 2, Mixer all the way to inputs, Phones to middle, Main all the way down to -80 (all the way to left).
Sigh.. I attached 2 files: 1 recorded with DI at 20dB and one at 0dB
My Ultra -DI DI20 came, and it's not working. Noise is still there..
My set up is currently this:
Nord piano left, right out => DI => DI Out to Audiobox USB.
DI is setup with 0dB (20dB literally lowered the volume, 40dB makes no sounds), 2-Ch, Gnd powered by phantom power.
Audiobox USB is setup with knob turned to 0 for both instrument 1 and 2, Mixer all the way to inputs, Phones to middle, Main all the way down to -80 (all the way to left).
Sigh.. I attached 2 files: 1 recorded with DI at 20dB and one at 0dB
witzendoz
Senior Member
Don’t understand “gnd powered by phantom power” phantom power has nothing to do with ground. You need to switch gnd to the “lift” position. If you have xlr cables between the Di and presonus the gnd lift breaks the audio earth which should fix the static.
If all of this does not fix the problem it may be within the nord, or the computer.
If all of this does not fix the problem it may be within the nord, or the computer.
keith.rogers
Well-known member
The second one (With DI.mp3) doesn't have any noise at all, compared to other files you've uploaded.
I'm still bothered about the gain set to zero on the Presonus. It shouldn't be recording anything! What is the input level measured at the DAW when your fader for those channels is set at zero (centered)?
The -20dB one sounds like it was recorded too low, so you should have raised the gain at the Presonus to create a signal averaging -12dB with -6dB peaks, while your fader is centered - just a rule of thumb, of course, but the idea is to have the levels right at the right place. The -20dB one suggests that something's wrong with your gain staging, IMO. I'd try to get that to work, instead of working with a gain of zero at the Presonus, if possible, at least.