DIs - $40 vs. $200 - what's the difference?

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imissthewar

New member
I'm looking for a direct box, used mainly to bring bass and rhodes piano to level for use with my OSA pre which only has a line in.

In my research I've found the Countryman and Radial boxes to be very well regarded, however, they are generally $150 (more than I'd like to spend, really). However, if there's a huge difference in sound I'll spring for the more expensive unit. What makes them worth 4x the price? Passive vs. active, what's the deal there? Also, would a Sansamp unit be a good choice? Also, if it could do double duty, like reamp, I'd feel better about spending the dough.
 
imissthewar said:
I'm looking for a direct box, used mainly to bring bass and rhodes piano to level for use with my OSA pre which only has a line in.

In my research I've found the Countryman and Radial boxes to be very well regarded, however, they are generally $150 (more than I'd like to spend, really). However, if there's a huge difference in sound I'll spring for the more expensive unit. What makes them worth 4x the price? Passive vs. active, what's the deal there? Also, would a Sansamp unit be a good choice? Also, if it could do double duty, like reamp, I'd feel better about spending the dough.
Click to expand...

DIs are used to match the impedance from high impedance to low. As in anything, the $$$ is in the engineering and selection of components to achieve "straight-wire" performance. Cheap DI boxes use passive (no power), better DIs use op-amps, and best DIs use discreet components. Passive DIs are not great and have some problems like phase shift,cheap op-amps color the sound and have crossover distortion and better boxes use other techniques (like mic pres) to eliminate crossover dist and coloring by using many discreet components. If you have "straight-wire" performance then what goes in comes out as far as sound. A DI is basically a pre-pre-amp and follows the same basic design rules as a pre-amp. I have the countryman and an Avalon U5. The Avalon is expensive but top of the line. The countryman is very good too. I think you would be very well off with the countryman.
 
Personally, look into a BSS DI. Its about the same price as a Countryman. I have always liked the Countryman's, but they have a tendency to fall apart easily. The BSS is built like a tank, and in my opinion has a much clearer and more open sound than the Countryman DI's. They are kind of a funky green though.
 
I hate to buck the trend here, but I'm very familiar with the Radial DI on bass and I didn't care for it that much. Did an extensive shootout with a number of other DI's. The Groove Tubes DITTO, TAB Telefunken V71, Avalon, and Little Labs stuff sounded much better in my opinion. There are a *lot* of factors though, as in what kind of pickup is being used, the bass itself, is it electric or acoustic, and on and on. What sounds great on one bass might not sound as good on another, and vice versa. So the only way to really know what works for you and your bass/keyboard is to try out a variety of DI's.

After extensive testing of various DI's, my personal favorites were the Groove Tubes DITTO (I have two of those), and the TAB Telefunken V71. The Avalon is a quality piece, but I think I liked the Little Labs a bit better personally.

I was amazed at how much a difference the DI made to the tone of the instrument going through it. It's a very personal choice and you need to find a DI that works on your particular instruments. What sounds like magic on one bass might be lousy on another.
 
a buddy of mine was telling me that summit audio makes a mean little DI box.
sorry i dont know the model name though.

im not too big on di boxes myself.
 
Out of all the DI's i have used. and it's a Laudry List, the JDI Radials By far have proven to be the Best I've heard. Not to mention are they VERY road worthy.

edit:

Of courswe that is on keyboards. :)

For Bass or gtr gimme something with a Tube in it.
 
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imissthewar said:
I'm looking for a direct box, used mainly to bring bass and rhodes piano to level for use with my OSA pre which only has a line in.

In my research I've found the Countryman and Radial boxes to be very well regarded, however, they are generally $150 (more than I'd like to spend, really). However, if there's a huge difference in sound I'll spring for the more expensive unit. What makes them worth 4x the price? Passive vs. active, what's the deal there? Also, would a Sansamp unit be a good choice? Also, if it could do double duty, like reamp, I'd feel better about spending the dough.
Click to expand...

Have you even tried using the line in on the OSA pre? I don't see why it wouldn't rock as a DI as well.
 
The OSA hasn't arrived yet. I guess I just figured I'd need a DI since my instruments aren't line level....but then again I'm a newb with little to no knowledge about anything.

Thanks for the tip, I'll try that first.
 
Your instrument signals are line level and high impedance. A DI will change this to a mic level and low impedance signal ready for a mic preamp.

The OSA line input on the front has a built-in DI to do just this.
 
Sonic Albert and I are pretty much of the same mind on this one... but a few years ago we ran into some fairly cool little DI's called the "Ax Max"... for $75- they're pretty hard to beat [sorry if this is coming off as spam... that wasn't the intention]
 
Have not heard the Ax Max yet, but the Countryman, JDI and Little Labs are great choices. The Little Labs is my fave, Tony Levin turned me on to the JDI.

Buying one really good DI is a great investment that you will never regret. A cheap shitty DI will really mess up your sound.
 
Pro Co makes a good $65 direct box and I hear they use Jenson trnsformers which are the best. The $150 Countryman uses Jenson Transformers.
 
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