Hi All.

I'm looking to buy a DI box for My semi acoustic.
I also play a Tanglewood tse 501 gc on stage.
Do I need to DI the Tanglewood?

The second reason for writing this topic is that I have looked on ebay and saw this.
What would make this be so expensive when some can be, £30?
I have never used a DI hence the reason I ask.

Any recommendations for my situation please?

John Denim.

ps, icon used cos I like it, nothing to do with barf!

The BSS AR133 is kinda known as being the industry standard - and they seem to be relatively reliable in most circumstances

Linky

They are roughly £100

Alan

Do you NEED a DI? Possibly not. Is it a good idea? Yeah. Basically, all a DI box does is take the high impedance unbalanced feed from your guitar and give you a balanced output at mic level suitable for the input to your mixer. You can often get away without the DI box but it provides an extra insurance policy against things like spurious noise or earth loops.

As for the price of the unit you saw on eBay, that's not just a simple DI. It's can also be used as a mic pre-amp--and for either use it's a specialist tube unit.

At their simplest, a DI box is just a basic balun in a case. As with all baluns, there are varying levels of quality. Beyond that though you can also get active DI boxes with powered electronics. These differences account for the range of quality and price you see.

Bob

So as a general rule its wise to DI all unbalanced or 'jack out' instruments?

Is the any multi channel DI boxes out there?
I realize that the EQ would be the same, but I could use the Eq on each guitar to help this?

John Denim.

To Add; I may have just answered my own question.
Any opinions on This?

I quite often find that with guitar pickups and keyboards with double isolated transformers I can plug directly into the jack in on the back of my desk when I'm doing sidestage mixing. then again I dont have a lot of lighting equipment either..

If you are using it regularly then as Alan suggests the BSS AR133 would get my vote for reliability (and aesthetics). I also have the Behringer DI20 in my box which is a little cheaper at around £26 and does the job. If you don't need a link output to an amp then the DI20 will also give you 2 DI's in one box.

You may find http://www.blue-room.org.uk/index.php?showtopic=6828 useful, including the reference by Mr Si to a rackmount 4 channel DI

There's a couple of these at work & they're good for some things. Note that the inputs are on the back & the outputs are on the front. Also it need mains power. This makes it an excellent unit for musicians, not so good for a PA company.

The 8 way one has front inputs, outputs on the back & each channel may be phantom powered. IIRC there's not a huge price difference in price between these two units.

Well, As it's behringer - tis cheap and chearful - will do a very good job until someday it'll mysteriously stop working out of the blue!!!

Alan

Emo make quite nice passive DI boxes in ones, twos or sixes, as here from the Canford Audio website very flexible, can be used for instruments, with a parallel to go out to a combo, or you can do it the otherway round - instrument to combo or amp, feed from external speaker link to DI box, and has a line level input as well. Singles about £65 plus VAT, twos about £120, not sure about the sixes.

Oh, and the differences for higher cost? most likely build quality, reliability, hum rejection, signal to noise...

The DI20 discussed above is noticeably hissy. I have some but they are a last resort. I also have other Behringer DI boxes which are much better but cost more.

I also have one of these which works very well and doesn't need a power supply. I use it for electro acoustic classical and steel strung guitars. It has a link out for the unbalanced signal and a front and rear output for the balanced signal. I send one to the monitor mix and one to the FOH mix. Suits me.

Cheers guys.

I am keeping an eye on this,
and this on ebay.

John Denim.

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

Sorry meant to ask, as I have a wireless guitar pack, would this be affected by a DI?

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

ME again!

I have just been pondering, on the DI20, how can phantom power be applied?


It this put through the output side of the XLR?
And if I activate phantom power on my Dyancord desk won't 48v be sent to my other dynamic mics as well?

John Denim.

I would go for the BSS AR133s above the behringer units. The main reason being they sound a lot better and are better build.

As far as DI boxes go, it's all about Radial for me. Wonderfully built, superb sounding boxes.

The DI20 is capable of being battery powered or powered by phantom powering, which does indeed come from the desk via the XLR connector. Yes, on many desks that means that phantom power is applied to all the mic inputs, but that isn't normally a problem provided all mics are connected using balanced cables - it won't harm a dynamic mic at all.

A guitar pack may have TRS or XLR outputs from the receiver; again, if you are using XLR balanced cables to connect from there into a mic channel on the desk, no problem. If the receiver only has an unbalanced TRS connection, then the unbalanced jack-XLR lead would cause a problem for phantom powering, and that signal would be better off going into the desk via an input that didn't have phantom power on it, or via a DI box.

But the phantom power on the XLR connector of the DI box does not make it through to any of the unbalanced inputs to the box.

Warning: The DI20 is a completely different kettle of fish to the DI100. I have also had reliability issues with the 4 channel one. Also, rackmount DIs are only really useful on small stages or for keyboard racks.

Hi

Iv found the beringer range great - there cheap & simple to use

Its the DI BOX/SIGNAL SPLITTER, DI-20

brad

Hi

You should listen to a Opus Audio DI box.

I eventually went for the DI120,( the same one Brad.)

During use I find no problems, I use it for both of my guitars, one electric and one semi.
There is no hum, buzz or hiss, although many say they are not very good.
maybe I bought one that was made with care!?

John Denim.