suggestions for DI box?

steakmusic

steakmusic

New member
Hey people,

I've been plugging my ESP EC-1000 deluxe directly into my Firewire 410 and recording into Pro Tools with Amplitube 3. Amp3 is awesome, but my raw, unprocessed guitar tones are pretty anemic and unsatisfactory.

My guitar input level is peaking in PT at about -10 dBfs, but I'm getting quite a bit of noise and hiss (because of the FW410's not-so-good preamps, I believe, and I know that the FW410 doesn't have the greatest A/D converter). I'm going to upgrade to an Apogee duet for my interface, but I'm wondering if I should get a DI box as well?

From what I've been reading, most audio interfaces don't come with high impedance inputs, which means there's an impedance mismatch from guitar to interface. Do DI boxes do a significant job in creating a richer, fuller tone by changing the impedance level of the guitar signal before hitting the interface? And if so, any suggestions for quality DI boxes for passive electric guitars in the under $300 range?

Sorry, I know this is probably really self-evident to everyone here, but I don't know sh!t about DI boxes, and hey, it's the n00b forum. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
 
THIS is the only Di that I use and have several of them for the sole purpose of them being undoubtedly one of the best in the world!
 
Thanks for the reply! Yeah the amp and mic'd cab option would be cool, but I can't exercise that option at the moment. No good room to record one--hell I don't even have mics yet. I know real amps are superior to amp sims for sure, but I do love the versatility of amp sims.

And yes, I was just looking at the Radial JDI last night on their site! Would it work well with a guitar with passive electronics? I know that Radial is supposed have excellent quality DI boxes, but from what I could gather reading their product info and watching their videos, most of their DI boxes are suggested for basses (both active and passive), acoustic guitars, elec. guitars with active pickups, and digital keyboards.

Just want to make sure the JDI would work OK with passive humbuckers.
 
A DI uses a transformer to convert the guitar/bass/synth output to mic level. You then run the output of the DI into your mic preamp.

Using the "thru" output to your amp you can record both the direct signal and mic the amplifier at the same time.

Radial JDI Jensen equipped passive direct box
 
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steakmusic said:
Thanks for the reply! Yeah the amp and mic'd cab option would be cool, but I can't exercise that option at the moment. No good room to record one--hell I don't even have mics yet. I know real amps are superior to amp sims for sure, but I do love the versatility of amp sims.

And yes, I was just looking at the Radial JDI last night on their site! Would it work well with a guitar with passive electronics? I know that Radial is supposed have excellent quality DI boxes, but from what I could gather reading their product info and watching their videos, most of their DI boxes are suggested for basses (both active and passive), acoustic guitars, elec. guitars with active pickups, and digital keyboards.

Just want to make sure the JDI would work OK with passive humbuckers.
Click to expand...

It works well with keyboards and bass (both passive and active) so I don't see why not.

If you live near a GC I would suggest going on down with your guitar or find one there similar to yours and trying it out to be sure.
 
Hey dude, I just got the behringer ultra-g and so far its been great! not too expensive and lots of options for hooking it up. It has a 4x12 cab emulator switch on it too that sounds pretty good when you run the DI off the back end of an amp (from the speaker output). It has a ground lift switch on it and 2 -20db pad switches so you can run it straight from the guitar, after your stomps, after your whole amp, from your effects send... I tried a bunch of different options. This box is the same as their ultra-di with the addition of the cab emulator. Its the same price as the other one so I got this to try it out. It also has a direct through 1/4" on it so you can run it from the back end of your amp and then still run it to your speaker cab so you can have both the DI and maybe a mic'd cab. Thats what I've been doing and mixing the 2 signals together for almost limitless combos of sounds.
 
Active direct boxes present a higher impedance load than passive direct boxes. That can have a significant effect on tone with certain pickups. The Countryman Type 85 is a great unit, an active DI with a transformer output.
 
Excellent.

OK, the Behringer Ultra-G, The Countryman Type 85, and the Radial JDI Jensen...I'll look at some reviews and when I'm back home, I'll head over to guitar center to see if I can try out any of these boxes with my guitar.

Thanks!
 
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live-wire-solutions-spdi-passive-direct-box-with-attenuation-pad.jpg
. I use this model primarily for recording bass and I like it alot, I only paid 40$. Also bouldersoundguy if the d/i box changes the impedance wouldn't that defeat the purpose of a d/i box?
 
I have several different kinds...some passive and some active (Radial, Whirlwind, Groove Tubes...and a few others)
I got the Groove Tubes just recently...and it's pretty nice.

They can each make your instrument sound a little different...so there is no single one IMO that is always the one to use...but I can't argue about the Radial stuff being top-notch. I have a few of their audio tool boxes..and will probably pick up more in the future.

That said...I never use to DI guitars (*see below), prefering to mic the speaker cabs, but I always DI bass, and I prefer a FET style of DI...which is usually a DI on one of my preamps rather than a standalone DI box, but the standalone boxes have been used on occasion.

One cool DI box I have is the Radial JDX "Amp DI". It's much more than a basic DI and costs more...but it allows you to take an output *from the amp*, with a split out to the speaker cab. That way...you get to play through the amp, hear the amp...but the JDX gets a reactive load back from the speaker cab...and that's the signal you send to your preamp or interface (it's a Mic Level balanced signal). So you record your amp signal sans-mic. :cool:

Radial JDX Reactor reactive amplifier direct box

(*)I just also picked up a Radial X-Amp and plan to experiment with some re-amping, since it seems to be all the rage these days. :D
I'm going to still put up a mic in front of my speaker cab...but I will use a split to a DI to capture a "dry" signal off the guitar, and then maybe even add the JDX to the mix to also capture a DI'd amp signal. That will give me a mic track, a dry DI track for re-amping, and also the DI'd amp signal. I think that should cover every "what if" angle!!! ;)
 
steakmusic said:
Excellent.

OK, the Behringer Ultra-G, The Countryman Type 85, and the Radial JDI Jensen...I'll look at some reviews and when I'm back home, I'll head over to guitar center to see if I can try out any of these boxes with my guitar.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Personally I'd only consider the latter two choices.
 
I would also suggest getting Radial's Dragster which helps with the impedance matching.
You should pick this up regardless of of which DI option you get, if you're having impedance issues (tone suck).

I have a PB-1 instead with the dragster control on it, but looking back the dragster would have been a great option, and it's only like $40 bucks.

It does make a difference! You can definitely hear the tone going from warmer to brighter as you adjust it.

In my experience, using my Radial DI box actually didn't do too much to the sound of my guitar vs going direct into my crappy Pre Sonus audiobox 2x2 interface, so I'm not sure how much of a difference it's actually going to make. I would suggest waiting until you upgrade your interface first because guitars are quite noisy anyways depending on your pickups and there's no point in wasting money on gear you don't need (or is there...).
 
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