Economical Guitar Direct Box

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studiodrum

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Hey guys, . Can someone recommend an inexpensive and simple DI Box to send a guitar direct, into an analog mixer. . Its just going to be used to record a 'scratch' guitar track, . . So, it's gotta be inexpensive, (under 100 clams) and simple.

But, would it be best to use a passive, or active DI box for this type of application, . .what type of box would be more versatile?

Anyway, I was thinking of getting the whirlwind IMP 2, . .http://www.wwbw.com/Whirlwind-IMP-and-IMP-2-Direct-Box-i82170.music. .. or that brand that we all love to hate: Behringer Ultra GI100 . . http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/navigation?q=Behringer+Ultra+GI100+ (Yes, I said the B word) Anyone have any experience using either one of these, . . or have any other recommendations. Thanks everyone!

. . .and Happy New Year!
 
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Those are both good inexpensive DIs. Which one will sound better kind of really depends, though for an electric I'd lean towards an active box.

For $100, you could probably find some kind of little FX dealie, like a Digitech RP series, that would let you have some distortion, etc., probably sound cooler than a plain DI. Just a thought. :)
 
If it's just a scratch track, just plug the guitar into the mixer and see how it sounds. It might be OK.
 
DI Box

I use a Hosa DIB-307. $67.50 at audiomidi.com. Balanced out and can be used on an amp speaker or for direct instument input. Just be careful on solid state amplifiers with direct coupled outputs when using the speaker from the amp as an input rather than direct from an instument. You need to absolutely use the ground lift and the balanced out put only. Leaving something grounded plugged into the hi-z out is a no no when using the speaker output of an amp for input..lol. The case is metal and grounded also, so that can't touch ground either. Most tube and capacitor coupled amps are ok though.The ground is connected to the input ground and the jack doesn't switch off when you switch to speaker. I guess they figure you would only use the hi-z out when tapping your instrument for recording live for output to your amp and you'd unplug the hi-z when taping the speaker because your instrument is already connected to the amp. There is an isolation transformer to the balanced out, so that obviousely works fine. It's cheap, uses good descrete components and sounds great. A few mods can fix the afore mentioned problems. I guess that's why the price is so cheap. Anyway, for what you want to use it for, it should work just fine as-is.
 
If you go with the Berri, get the MIC200 model. It will make that scratch track wound a little better in many cases. It has a few little "models" that can be quite useful. Heck, it's only about 60 bucks!
 
Yea...but....

jaykeMURD said:
If you go with the Berri, get the MIC200 model. It will make that scratch track wound a little better in many cases. It has a few little "models" that can be quite useful. Heck, it's only about 60 bucks!
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Yea...but....Can you burn out an amplifier with it? :eek:
 
Zeeb said:
Yea...but....Can you burn out an amplifier with it? :eek:
Click to expand...

I've had limited use with the Berri UltraGain DI's, so I don't know. I used one on a limited basis with a friend's recording setup, and never had an problems out of it.
 
jaykeMURD said:
I've had limited use with the Berri UltraGain DI's, so I don't know. I used one on a limited basis with a friend's recording setup, and never had an problems out of it.
Click to expand...

Yea, I know. I was just trying to point out the problems with the ones you can hook to the speaker out's of guitar amps. I finally rewired one so the speaker out can't wind up grounded on DC amplifiers in case I forget to unplug the guitar output. A ohm meter is a good idea to check them out before using 'em from the speaker. I of course found out the hard way..lol. Also, you're probably right, a tube pre-amp would probably work better for just connecting from the instrument to the mixer.
 
Yes, the behri (DI or GI 100) will be fine for what you are doing. However, like apl said, you can just plug the guitar straight into the 1/4" input on the mixer if it can accept an instrument level. That will save you some $ since you're just laying scratch tracks.
 
DO NOT PLUG YOU AMP'S SPEAKER OUTPUT TO YOUR SOUNDCARD!!!!

Just in case that wasn't clear.
 
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