I'm Confused!

  • Thread starter Thread starter King_Cobra
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King_Cobra

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Okay!

I plugged a moog voyager into the neve portico line input. The sound was amazing! The moog sound warmer, wider and cleaner. I know it had something to do with the pre amp, but would a D/I active do the same job?
 
That really depends on the DI. Many DI's are designed to try and pass the siganl cleanly and at proper level without changing the tone. Other DI's however are designed to impart their own set of sonic characteristics to a source signal. This kind of DI however is typically more expensive. Avalon and Demeter both make some pretty cool ones that aren't super spendy. In general, I am pretty fond of the instrument inputs and nicer preamps. Mostly because I can also use them for mics:)
 
xstatic said:
That really depends on the DI. Many DI's are designed to try and pass the siganl cleanly and at proper level without changing the tone. Other DI's however are designed to impart their own set of sonic characteristics to a source signal. This kind of DI however is typically more expensive. Avalon and Demeter both make some pretty cool ones that aren't super spendy. In general, I am pretty fond of the instrument inputs and nicer preamps. Mostly because I can also use them for mics:)
Click to expand...

Would a direct box give a wider and cleaner sound?
 
It would depend on the DI. By the time you've spent the dough on an active DI good enough to do what you want, you might as well have bought the Portico for a little more.
 
In what way will you be using the DI, and with what gear? It's really hard to know how to respond without a few more details.
 
I run my Voyager through the instrument inputs on a Davisound TB-10.

I knock back the volume on the Voyager to clean it up a bit and then I can get all the clean gain I want from the Davisound.

I wanna hear it through a Great River MP2-NV.

For 8-16 channels I would think to stay within a reasonable budget you'd be looking into line mixers with transformer inputs.
 
The trouble with line mixers is that they will do just that: mix. I get the impression that King_Cobra wants to run his gear through the DI's and then to his mixer.
 
Absolutely!

I just want to clean up the airy sound form my snyths. I have monster cables and that helped. But went I plug the moog into the line input of the portico that airy sound went away. Basically, i'm looking for something to clean up the signal. Although, I was looking for a multi channel.
 
Oops. Find something with direct channel outs.

Maybe rent a Ghost or a Midas or something in that league and try it out.

What is the ultimate drop-dead budget??? You could get 16 channels of Great River for $18,000 or a used Ghost24 for prolly $3,000. No transformers but pretty much what goes in comes out louder. ;)

If you're handy with electronics there's lots of older boards on Ebay. Trouble is do you wanna solder or record???
 
SonicAlbert said:
In what way will you be using the DI, and with what gear? It's really hard to know how to respond without a few more details.
Click to expand...
I will be using the D/I for studio recording, I plan to use it to connect multiple synths and sound modules to the 192 i/0.
 
Do you really need 16 channels at once???

Could you squeak by on 4 REALLY GOOD instrument pres???

I'm kinda torn too at this point. I'm using a crappy old mackie and want a NICE board. A Midas Venice240 to be precise. :) But really I only use the mackie for monitors. But sometimes I think how wonderful life would be and the great orgasms I could have with a really pro board at my service.

But I'd also like an MP2-NV, need a decent guitar amp, tons of cables, more patchbays, more Moog stuff....... the list goes on and on of course.

And my truck is 13 years old. Running well too (knock on wood). ;)

damn this is an expensive hobby!
 
So basically you want to balance the signal going into the Digi hardware?

I find a major part of the magic of the DI is what preamp you follow it up with. However, with some instruments, like bass, the DI alone can make a huge difference in the sound.

I haven't heard that multi DI box you linked to. For $2,500 it better sound spectacular, that's all I can say. Perhaps you should buy it from a dealer that will let you return it if you don't like it. It's the kind of thing you really need to hear to know if it is for you.
 
Going through a DI is a different process. That converts the line level synth to mic level and that needs to go through a mic preamp before being recorded. It will definately color the sound more. It will make it sound different but it's up to you if it's better.
 
Given the extra information, I would consider some 4 channel BSS Direct boxes (actually they are rack mountable). This will give a clean signal, with plenty of depth. This way you have all of your lines balanced. As you can afford it you may want to add some preamps/etc... to put inline between the DI's and the DIgi converters. Basically, by starting with the DI's, it gets you in the door with 16 channels for MUCH less, but still allows felxibility for in the future:)
 
Okay! i'm planning to get the Control 24, what if I connect the snyths to the pre amps of the Control 24-using !/4 to XLR cables. Will I still need a D/I?
 
I'm not terribly familiar witrh the Control 24, but I believe it has 16 mic inputs and also 8 line inputs? You'd probably need the DI's to patch into the mic inputs, unless those channels have 1/4" inputs in addition to the mic inputs. But you certainly don't need a hugely expensive all in one rack active DI like the one you linked to earlier in this thread. Passive DI's would be just as useful and less expensive to get 16 channels worth of.
 
Okay, I read I would not need any batteries for a passive D/I, but it sounds like I will need a external mixer for a power suppy. I'm confused again! How can I power a passive D/I with the Control 24?
 
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