$35??!! We're not all made of money (ok, maybe you lot are, but I'm not - yet!!) $35 could buy me a fair few genuine speakons, or XLRs or another 3 sets of plans (and $1.05 to add to the BB fund!). I've had far too many "oh, it's only £xx" on this journey, I've easily spent £1000 ($1712 at the time of posting!) on small odds and sods like this I know all about buy once, but if you ain't bought it in the first place, then there is certainly no need for the tears. And if you DO get it working, then it's all good - I thought this was a DIY forum after all
EDIT:
Bruce Weldy wrote:you can buy a real direct box without all the extra work and expense
Expense, you say??.... well that kind of buggers up my argument (and my plans to get more plans)
If it's just the connector, then yeah, swap it out. But, if you are going to put it in a box and add a switch.....then it's just because you want to play with it....and that's ok too.
But, being a rich, 10-gallon hat - gold belt buckle - platinum spurs wearing, $20 cigar smoking, oil baron from Texas.....I'd just buy one.
"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."
Bruce Weldy wrote:But, being a rich, 10-gallon hat - gold belt buckle - platinum spurs wearing, $20 cigar smoking, oil baron from Texas.....I'd just buy one.
Goddamit... we should have never let you win that Independence War thing. Those platinum spurs should be MINE!
I can't comment on the quality of the transformer or connectors on the Rapco box, but $35.00 won't buy you much of a direct box.
High quality transformers alone are $50.00+ wholesale cost before you even consider the enclosure and connectors. Jensen's are even more.
byacey wrote:I can't comment on the quality of the transformer or connectors on the Rapco box, but $35.00 won't buy you much of a direct box.
High quality transformers alone are $50.00+ wholesale cost before you even consider the enclosure and connectors. Jensen's are even more.
I buy the Rapco/Horizon boxes for that. They are just fine for live performance. I'm not putting a $200 Radial on the ground for some guy to stomp on......9 times out of 10 the DI box is the least of the worries when it comes to quality in the signal path for some of the bands you do sound for. I've seen some basses that should be laid to rest....in the fireplace.
Seriously though, the difference in DI for live sound isn't worth the expense at the level we are working at. (if I was at a higher level, I wouldn't have ended that last sentence with a preposition)
"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."
Most of my Dis are used in the studio more often than live events, so I place emphasis on signal quality. I have a few passive ones left with Beyer and Jensen transformers, but the majority are Countryman FET85 clones that I built up for myself. They are indeed an industry standard that has withstood the test of time and abuse.
I changed the connectors out and used them at a show over the weekend. They sound just as good (or bad?) as any of my other passive DI's. Still no contest for any active box, and I am sure I could spend significantly more than these are worth and find something that sounds marginally better. But for a live setting? These are more than fine. Might put them in the regular rotation for a while and see how they hold up.
As long as whatever signal source you are driving the DI box with doesn't have an AC ground reference, you'll probably never need a ground lift switch.
(ok, maybe you lot are, but I'm not - yet!!) $35 could buy me a fair few genuine speakons, or XLRs or another 3 sets of plans (and $1.05 to add to the BB fund!). I've had far too many "oh, it's only £xx" on this journey, I've easily spent £1000 ($1712 at the time of posting!) on small odds and sods like this
I know all about buy once, but if you ain't bought it in the first place, then there is certainly no need for the tears. And if you DO get it working, then it's all good - I thought this was a DIY forum after all
