Direct Boxes. Again.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Aren
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Aren

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Hey.

I just got 10 Meter of quality Klotz cable, and some Neutrik connectors, for my long awaited "Keyboard to Mixer" balanced line, that will be wall mounted, and will save me a lot of problems.
However, when I asked the sales person about what DI boxes I should use, he said that Direct Boxes lower the signal level to a mic level, and I can't plug the cables into my Behringer's line input (I have no available pre-amps, and I don't want to run my keys through a Behringer pre-amp if I can avoid it).
He also said some realy dumb things, like that balance line level inputs are "not really as balanced as XLRs", so his credibilty droped quite significantly.

Is there any kind of truth about what he said, and in any case, can someone recommend a Direct Box for this purpose?

Oren
 
Keyboards are line level. Why do you need a direct box at all?
 
It all depends on the output of your keyboard.

Some have a weak output and will force you to boost the level at a different stage which will damage your sound.

If the keyboard doesnt have enough output then you will need a DI to a pre, even more so when going into a +4dB level mixer
 
Sean - I need a direct box because I want to use balanced lines.
My keys are a little far from the mixer, and regular unbalanced lines are exposed to a lot of weird noises.

Shaliat - The keyboard is a Yamaha GX76. Although it is a very nice keyboard, it is consumer grade, hence only has a headphone output. I have a special split cable I built, with two 220Ohm resistors, one on each channel, that lowers the level to line-level.
I think, if anything, the keyboard's output should be too high.

The mixer is a Behringer Eurorack, that can take +4 and -10.

Thanks,

Oren
 
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