DI box needed?

hawk

hawk

New member
My cheap UB802 mixer has some mono, 1/4" line inputs. Can I plug a guitar into them or do I still need a DI box? The manual seems to imply I don't but I've heard otherwise.

thanks
 
You can plug the guitar right into it. It will work. You didn't say if it was an electric or an acoustic with a pickup.

An active direct box will have the right impedance to not load down the pickups. That is what will give you the 'right' sound. If you plug your guitar straight in and you are not offended by the sound, go for it.
 
Farview said:
You can plug the guitar right into it. It will work. You didn't say if it was an electric or an acoustic with a pickup.

An active direct box will have the right impedance to not load down the pickups. That is what will give you the 'right' sound. If you plug your guitar straight in and you are not offended by the sound, go for it.
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Thanks for the reply. It's a Strat going into some pedals then into the board. It sounds okay, I was just worried about possible impedance mismatch issues. I guess if I had them I'd hear them, right?
 
hawk said:
Thanks for the reply. It's a Strat going into some pedals then into the board. It sounds okay, I was just worried about possible impedance mismatch issues. I guess if I had them I'd hear them, right?
Click to expand...
You might be hearing them and not noticing. Unless you know what it is supposed to sound like, you wouldn't know the difference. If it sounds fine, it is.
 
I'm pretty sure the 1/4" plug you are using on the mixer is made for that kind of signal.

If i recall correctly, you shouldn't need a balanced input (via direct box) unless before you get to the mixer you have long lengths of unbalanced cords running parallel and near large power sources or big magnets. These can impart loits of noise into an unbalanced line that could be avoided in a balanced one.

That said, when recording bass, i need to turn off the monitor to my computer to avoid an unpleasant buzz that comes through the lines, but that originates from the Bass itself or the cord from head that acts as preamp, since i have a balance signal going from the output of the head to the mixer i use. if you had somehting similiar a direct box might help, but it would probabaly be easier and cheaper to sort out the stuff and move away fromt he interfering equipment.

Daav
 
daav said:
I'm pretty sure the 1/4" plug you are using on the mixer is made for that kind of signal.

If i recall correctly, you shouldn't need a balanced input (via direct box) unless before you get to the mixer you have long lengths of unbalanced cords running parallel and near large power sources or big magnets. These can impart loits of noise into an unbalanced line that could be avoided in a balanced one.

That said, when recording bass, i need to turn off the monitor to my computer to avoid an unpleasant buzz that comes through the lines, but that originates from the Bass itself or the cord from head that acts as preamp, since i have a balance signal going from the output of the head to the mixer i use. if you had somehting similiar a direct box might help, but it would probabaly be easier and cheaper to sort out the stuff and move away fromt he interfering equipment.

Daav
Click to expand...
For what he is doing, it isn't a matter of being balanced or not. It is a matter of matching impedances and not loading down the pickup with the input of the mixer. There is a difference between line inputs and instrument inputs. The fact that he is using stomp boxes changes the impedance issue because they are actve devices and not as sensitive to the input impedance of the board.
 
Farview said:
For what he is doing, it isn't a matter of being balanced or not. It is a matter of matching impedances and not loading down the pickup with the input of the mixer. There is a difference between line inputs and instrument inputs. The fact that he is using stomp boxes changes the impedance issue because they are actve devices and not as sensitive to the input impedance of the board.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the clarification, I missed that.
 
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