Guitar Re-amping

ex351d

Member
Hi! I would like to understand how re-amping works. I have an active DI box by Radial engineering I use for bass guitars which I can use also to record clean guitars. I saw a video that uses a Radial re-amp box that is not very expensive piece of equipment. My question arises because the input of this box (I believe that it is the PRORMP) has an XLR input while th Focusrite 18i20 has only 1/4 inch jack line outputs. So I would like to know what type of equipment is required / should I use to do guitar re-amping properly. Or is the 18i20 not designed for this method of recording?
 
Nope, just a cable. The ProRMP 'is' the interface box you need between your Focusrite output and guitar amp.

Again, make sure you get the cable with TRS 1/4" Male on one end, and a Male XLR on the other (the one with the pins in the barrel).
 
so i don't need some interface box to do the change from 1/4 inch to XLR?

Don't get confused between the type of connector and the type of signal the cable is carrying. You only need a 'converter box' when you are trying to turn one type of signal into another. In this case, you aren't.

For line level signals, xlr and 1/4 can be used interchangeably. You have to find out what type of signal the unit is putting out/expecting in order to know how to interface it with another unit.

For example, a mic input expects a mic signal, so you would need a DI box to convert a line level signal into a mic signal. But in your case, you have a 1/4 line output that you need to connect with an XLR line input, so you would only need to get a cable with the appropriate connectors on each end.
 
Don't get confused between the type of connector and the type of signal the cable is carrying. You only need a 'converter box' when you are trying to turn one type of signal into another. In this case, you aren't.

For line level signals, xlr and 1/4 can be used interchangeably. You have to find out what type of signal the unit is putting out/expecting in order to know how to interface it with another unit.

For example, a mic input expects a mic signal, so you would need a DI box to convert a line level signal into a mic signal. But in your case, you have a 1/4 line output that you need to connect with an XLR line input, so you would only need to get a cable with the appropriate connectors on each end.

But line out is not instrument level, so wouldn't it be better to run the line out signal into the "out" side of a standard DI box and run the "in" side from the DI into an amp for solving impedance issues? A DI box is just a transformer so it should work both directions, or am I high again?
 
But line out is not instrument level, so wouldn't it be better to run the line out signal into the "out" side of a standard DI box and run the "in" side from the DI into an amp for solving impedance issues? A DI box is just a transformer so it should work both directions, or am I high again?

It doesn't take care of the level of the signal though. Line out to an amp is like having 10 stompboxes in front of it. If you want the amp to react like it would to a natural guitar signal you need to step the line level down to instrument level.
 
But line out is not instrument level, so wouldn't it be better to run the line out signal into the "out" side of a standard DI box and run the "in" side from the DI into an amp for solving impedance issues? A DI box is just a transformer so it should work both directions, or am I high again?
That's what a re-amp device is for. It takes the line level and turns it into an instrument level signal.

Since a regular DI box takes a high impedance, high level signal and turns it into a low impedance, low level signal- if you run a high impedance, line level signal backwards through it, you will end up with a higher impedance, higher level signal coming out the input. It would make it worse, in other words.
 
That's what a re-amp device is for. It takes the line level and turns it into an instrument level signal.

Since a regular DI box takes a high impedance, high level signal and turns it into a low impedance, low level signal- if you run a high impedance, line level signal backwards through it, you will end up with a higher impedance, higher level signal coming out the input. It would make it worse, in other words.

But it is a transformer, so running it backwards (i.e. Line level, high impedance) in through the output and taking the output from the input jack into the amp should yield a higher level, low impedance signal, right? Whatever function is provided by the transformer in one direction has to be the opposite when signal is run the opposite direction, or am I missing something basic here?
 
But it is a transformer, so running it backwards (i.e. Line level, high impedance) in through the output and taking the output from the input jack into the amp should yield a higher level, low impedance signal, right? Whatever function is provided by the transformer in one direction has to be the opposite when signal is run the opposite direction, or am I missing something basic here?

A DI outputs a MIC LEVEL signal, not line level. That's why you run the output of a DI through a mic preamp to boost the signal to a line level signal your recording input is looking for.
 
But it is a transformer, so running it backwards (i.e. Line level, high impedance) in through the output and taking the output from the input jack into the amp should yield a higher level, low impedance signal, right? Whatever function is provided by the transformer in one direction has to be the opposite when signal is run the opposite direction, or am I missing something basic here?

1/4 input of a DI accepts a high impedance, high level, unbalanced signal and outputs a low level, low impedance balanced signal. So it takes high level and impedance and turns it into low level and impedance.

If you turn it around, it will take what ever you put to it and raise the level and impedance. So if you take a high impedance, high level signal and put it to the XLR output of the DI, an even higher impedance and higher level signal will come out of the 1/4.

So, if a line level signal is too high level to plug into a guitar amp, using a DI box backwards will make the level even higher. This is why you would use a re-amp box, because the transformer in that is set up to output the proper level and impedance for this situation.
 
i believe a di works as follows:
-20db > DI > -30db

while a re amp works as follows:
+4db > REAMP > -20db
 
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