Active DI's- recommendations please.

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Grant Bunter
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Joined: Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:12 am
Location: Ilfracombe Queensland Australia
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Active DI's- recommendations please.

#1 Post by Grant Bunter »

Looking to get some active DI's, I've already got a couple of the DBX di1's at a good price, but looking for a couple of 2 channels.

Some choices on Aussie e-bay:
ART Xdirect
Alctron D12700N

Has anyone heard of or used either?

Any other contenders in the budget market?

Is a Radial 48 active 2 channel DI really worth $570AU????

Thanks...
Built:
DR 250: x 2 melded array, 2x CD horn, March 2012 plans.
T39's: 4 x 20" KL3010LF , 2 x 28" 3012LF.
WH8: x 6 with melded array wired series/parallel.
Bunter's Audio and Lighting "like"s would be most appreciated...

Bruce Weldy
Posts: 8301
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 11:37 am
Location: New Braunfels, TX

Re: Active DI's- recommendations please.

#2 Post by Bruce Weldy »

For a live rig, I wouldn't bother. I've considered them over the years, but with abuse DI boxes get, it just never seemed worth it to me. I've yet to encounter a passive bass or acoustic that I couldn't get enough signal from to get in the PA. And I just don't think you'll hear enough difference to justify the price of a really good active DI.

Plus, the majority of basses and certainly acoustic have active electronics nowadays, so you really don't want to put an active DI on the other end. The old adage was passive source - active DI, active source-passive DI. But, passive-passive has always worked good for me.

Studio is a different animal.

6 - T39 3012LF
4 - OT12 2512
1 - T24
1 - SLA Pro
2 - XF210


"A system with a few knobs set up by someone who knows what they are doing is always better than one with a lot of knobs set up by someone who doesn't."

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Seth
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Location: Sacramento, California, USA
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Re: Active DI's- recommendations please.

#3 Post by Seth »

I've had experiences similar to Bruce. My little mixer, Behringer XR18, has the Neutrik combo ¼"/XLR plugs and both, Hi and Lo Z inputs. I've plugged direct into either and also used budget active DI's and haven't been able to tell any real difference. I don't know if the bass's were active or not (guessing they were). I've also plugged multi channel electric drums direct without issue. When I was learning all this stuff (I'm still learning and don't see an end to the curve yet) the internet guys were adamant about needing a DI box in both cases, to match impedance's (or something along those lines). Maybe today's mixers have more gain available? That's my best guess. I'd hate to think all those guys were just spreading thoughtless misinformation. Something I've read, but haven't experienced is that longer cable runs might benefit from an active DI. Haven't had to run more than 20' between an instrument and stage box and have had plenty of signal to work with and no noticeable change or coloration in tonal quality.

If it's reasonable to do so, I multi track record most of the gigs I do. So in that case, if the performer insists on using their rig, I typically use a DI to get a dry lead to record. Same with an electric guitar. That way I have a dry signal to fiddle with in the DAW. Otherwise, I haven't experienced the need for a DI on my small mixer. However, my larger mixer, Midas M32C, doesn't have any ¼" inputs in the stage box and I've considered puting a Behringer DI 800 alongside to make the option easy. Haven't really had the need yet, but have almost pulled the trigger a few times.

This might also be a good time for Bruce to tell his story about batteries. Oh, I'll just tell it... He was getting a horrible signal from a bassist and asked him if he'd replaced the battery recently. The bassists said "there's a battery in this thing?" That story tickled me, thanks for sharing it Bruce. TBH, I'm not sure I knew they had batteries in them either until I heard that story.

Anyway, sorry Grant... I don't have the recommendation you're looking for. I am happy with my budget DI's though, Behringer DI120 and Samson MDA1
Last edited by Seth on Fri May 15, 2020 12:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Build in process - 2 WH6, one Alpha 6a loaded, one PRV Audio 6MB250-NDY loaded

Two 2x6 shorty SLA Pro's
One T39, 16", 3012LF loaded
Tall AutoTuba, 20" wide, 2x 8" MCM 55-2421
TruckTuba, 8½" wide, 2x 8" MCM 55-2421

NukePooch
Posts: 371
Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2014 8:07 pm
Location: Berea, Kentucky

Re: Active DI's- recommendations please.

#4 Post by NukePooch »

Agree with Bruce on the passive stuff. I used to work with a production company that had all lower-end Whirlwind passive DI boxes. Once the Radial stuff hit and everyone was praising them, the company bought all new Radial stuff, mostly JDIs and some J48s.
Us techs really couldn't tell much of a difference in daily usage. Once I found out how much they cost, it was a no brainer. You don't want them so cheap that they are constantly broken, but we didn't need expensive gold-plated farkles on something that sits on a stage floor and lives in a road case. But hey, the bosses were happy. This was also in the days where there was 125' of wire between the bass and the console preamp...

That said, it was nicer to have good DIs (with RCA ins) when dealing with DJ/PC/DVD players on stage...
Built:
4 Jack 112L- 3012HO, melded array
17.5 wide AutoTuba with Infinity 860w
6 Wedgehorn W6 w/ Panel Mount Piezos
2 T48 Slims (15" wide) with 3012LF
4 T48 Fattys (32" wide) with 3015LF

Grant Bunter
Posts: 6915
Joined: Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:12 am
Location: Ilfracombe Queensland Australia
Contact:

Re: Active DI's- recommendations please.

#5 Post by Grant Bunter »

Thanks all,
I do have a bunch of the DB-1 style passive's, and they have been ok, not failed, done what they meant to do, blah blah blah.
I might just stick with the couple of actives I got already, and look at some other options...
Built:
DR 250: x 2 melded array, 2x CD horn, March 2012 plans.
T39's: 4 x 20" KL3010LF , 2 x 28" 3012LF.
WH8: x 6 with melded array wired series/parallel.
Bunter's Audio and Lighting "like"s would be most appreciated...

Bruce Weldy
Posts: 8301
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 11:37 am
Location: New Braunfels, TX

Re: Active DI's- recommendations please.

#6 Post by Bruce Weldy »

Just to be clear, I always use a direct box rather than plug a hiZ guitar cable into a mixer. Cable runs aren't any different with and active or passive box.....it converts the hiZ to loZ, so it's good for 300 ft. without a problem.

My neighbor across the street plays guitar in The Randy Rogers Band.....big deal in Texas - tour all over the south and a swing through the west coast every year....he's been doing some duet stuff. He was running a nice Tonebone preamp on his acoustic but coming out with a guitar cable to the mixer for his little Bose Sticks..... I went through his rig with him and built him proper cables (he was running everything unbalanced) and got him to use the xlr out on the Tonebone. He played last night. Hollered at me this morning about how much better everything sounded......and I couldn't turn my guitar up past 2!

Run the right cable with the proper signal and everything just works better.

6 - T39 3012LF
4 - OT12 2512
1 - T24
1 - SLA Pro
2 - XF210


"A system with a few knobs set up by someone who knows what they are doing is always better than one with a lot of knobs set up by someone who doesn't."

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