Direct Injection

[Opax]

I'm looking at buying a DI box, but I'm unsure which one to go for. It's mainly for hooking up my guitars to my sound card.

Should I be looking at active or passive?

Does anyone have any recommendations?

[hasenbraten]

Passive ones are all you need. Active ones are good for live situations when the cable from stagebox to FOH is very long.
No recommendations though. Ive only ever used rather cheap ones and they were alright.

[amarule]

Passive ones are all you need. Active ones are good for live situations when the cable from stagebox to FOH is very long.
No recommendations though. Ive only ever used rather cheap ones and they were alright.

This is completely false. Active boxes have nothing to do with cable length.

Depending on budget, I'd recommend the following, assuming you have a mic pre with phantom power.

My fav, the Radial J48. Not cheap at $180, but they sound amazing particularly on acoustic guitar, but of course dependant on the quality of the guitars pickup system.

On the cheap, a Wurlwind IMP2. Around $40. Passive wtih a ground lift, basic but very good quality.

If this is for studio recording of an acoustic guitar, I'd recommend micing over a DI or a combination of the two. Samson makes a great, and I do mean great inexpensive sdc mic that they sell in pairs for $120, the CO2. Don't let the price fool you. I'm a mic snob, and these cheap mics sound amazing. I've used them on acoustic guitars, percussion, strings, and grand piano all with superb results.

[lotus2035]

I had a behringer active DI box..the red one..cant remember what its called...it was fine and worked as expected..cheap too..
I only sold it because I bought a toneport...since then I have sold the toneport and now I use a Tapco MIX60 mixer for input (it has a gain knob which raises the impedence level)...

[Opax]

Guys, thanks for your input, it is much appreciated.

Does anyone else have anything to add?

[hasenbraten]

This is completely false. Active boxes have nothing to do with cable length.

Of course they have. When there are long multicores used (Open Air etc.) its a safe bet that they have active D/I on stage to get a hotter signal into the FOH Desk so that all the crap that gets picked up or gets lost on the way doesnt matter that much.

[rockstar_not]

Guys, thanks for your input, it is much appreciated.

Does anyone else have anything to add?

You can also think about buying one of the small table-top mic/instrument pre-amps for about the same price range.

ART Tube MP series
PreSonus Tube Pre

Well, instead of listing all of them, here's Sweetwater.com's listing:
http://www.sweetwater.com/c662--Single-Channel_Preamps

These can come in handy for mic pre-amping as well if you have some spare line-in ports on your Sound card without pre-amp circuits.

-Scott

[amarule]

This is completely false. Active boxes have nothing to do with cable length.

Of course they have. When there are long multicores used (Open Air etc.) its a safe bet that they have active D/I on stage to get a hotter signal into the FOH Desk so that all the crap that gets picked up or gets lost on the way doesnt matter that much.

Again this is competely false. I think you are confusing running unbalanced with active/passive di's. An unbalanced signal can not be run more than 15-20 ft, as it is suseptable to RFI and high end loss due to cable capacitance, inductive energy, and the use of the shield as a conductor.

A balanced, low impedance signal (what any DI's output is) can safely travel hundreds of feet down shielded multicore with no audible loss. I've been on many a tour and done many a remoter recording that ran 300ft snakes to FOH and used passive DI's with absolutely no problems.

Many passive pickup systems (that are used by top professionals) are far too loaded down by an active DI, and cannot be run through them. In addtion, a passive DI can have as hot an output signal as an active, depending on it's transformer.

[RockLobsterNet]

Guys, thanks for your input, it is much appreciated.

Does anyone else have anything to add?

You can also think about buying one of the small table-top mic/instrument pre-amps for about the same price range.

ART Tube MP series
PreSonus Tube Pre

Well, instead of listing all of them, here's Sweetwater.com's listing:
http://www.sweetwater.com/c662--Single-Channel_Preamps

These can come in handy for mic pre-amping as well if you have some spare line-in ports on your Sound card without pre-amp circuits.

-Scott

I've seen even the most professional settings just use the Whirlwind IMP2's. They get the job done and sound fine. Plus they're cheap(and not Behringer). If you want one hell of a preamp for acoustic instruments, go on eBay and find a Presonus Acousti-Q. Presonus quit making them since nobody bought them, but they were probably just not marketed too well. The things are amazing. They can make the crappiest acoustic guitar passable and make good ones sound just amazing.

[hasenbraten]

Again this is competely false. I think you are confusing running unbalanced with active/passive di's. An unbalanced signal can not be run more than 15-20 ft, as it is suseptable to RFI and high end loss due to cable capacitance, inductive energy, and the use of the shield as a conductor.

A balanced, low impedance signal (what any DI's output is) can safely travel hundreds of feet down shielded multicore with no audible loss. I've been on many a tour and done many a remoter recording that ran 300ft snakes to FOH and used passive DI's with absolutely no problems.

Many passive pickup systems (that are used by top professionals) are far too loaded down by an active DI, and cannot be run through them. In addtion, a passive DI can have as hot an output signal as an active, depending on it's transformer.

Well I dont really want to argue about it and start a lengthy discussion about the laws of physics. If what you described above always worked for you. Great.

Next time I see my old "LiveAE" Tutor, who has been doing FOH for decades, is getting booked around the world and mixed for people like Elton John, im going to tell him that what he had to say about DI Units was a bunch of crap and completely false.

[vonRed]

I'm looking at buying a DI box, but I'm unsure which one to go for. It's mainly for hooking up my guitars to my sound card.

Should I be looking at active or passive?

Does anyone have any recommendations?

A DI box goes into a mic preamp. Unless that's what you want, you don't need a DI box, you need a preamp.

[amarule]

Again this is competely false. I think you are confusing running unbalanced with active/passive di's. An unbalanced signal can not be run more than 15-20 ft, as it is suseptable to RFI and high end loss due to cable capacitance, inductive energy, and the use of the shield as a conductor.

A balanced, low impedance signal (what any DI's output is) can safely travel hundreds of feet down shielded multicore with no audible loss. I've been on many a tour and done many a remoter recording that ran 300ft snakes to FOH and used passive DI's with absolutely no problems.

Many passive pickup systems (that are used by top professionals) are far too loaded down by an active DI, and cannot be run through them. In addtion, a passive DI can have as hot an output signal as an active, depending on it's transformer.

Well I dont really want to argue about it and start a lengthy discussion about the laws of physics. If what you described above always worked for you. Great.

Next time I see my old "LiveAE" Tutor, who has been doing FOH for decades, is getting booked around the world and mixed for people like Elton John, im going to tell him that what he had to say about DI Units was a bunch of crap and completely false.

Tell Clive Amada says hello, we're very old and good friends. I went to primary school with his wife, and we get together whenever I'm in the UK. they are wonderful people. I'll be sure to let him know you spelt through DI 101.

[hasenbraten]

I'm afraid the guys name is not Clive. But since you meet that wonderful Clive anyways you can ask him why he uses preamped DI whenever there are long multicores.

On a more serious note its not like I'm making this info up by myself. I've seen it being done more than once for the reason I stated above. I've been thaught by 2 different people who both have quite a career going and its even mentioned in my old printed SAE scripts.

Time for the Mythbusters or for you to get your facts straight.

[amarule]

Next time you want to show off your feathers, do your homework first. Clive Franks has been mixing FOH for Elton John for over 2 decades exclusively now, as well as producing many of his recorded releases. He's one of the most notable live and studio engineers on the planet, having won many awards for his skills over the years.

And, FWIW, the DI's he uses (and endorses) on Davey Johnstone's acoustics is a Radial JDI, a PASSIVE DI.

Your myth, BUSTED!!!!!!!

[hasenbraten]

Show off _my_ feathers? lmao
Im outta here, merry Christmas and may the passive DI be with you.