Seperate D.I. box or line out from amp head?

[burno70]

Basically what are the pro's and cons?

Is either obviously preferable to the other to does it all depend on the quality of equipment used?

Thanks and Merry Chrimbo.

[Silent Fly]

I think a lot depends on what you want to achieve.

In a live situation, if you need a balanced out for the PA, the XLR out of your amp should be ok.

If you need it for recording, where sounds are more clean and defined, you may need a separate DI. Alternatively, you could record on 2 channels, one from a DI and another from a mic positioned in front of the cab.

It does depend on the quality of equipment but also how equipment are used and the result you need.

[Huge Hands]

Some amplifiers with internal XLR balanced out are often "post EQ" (and amp gain) which means what you do on stage (or in the recording live room) for your own sound can colour what is sent to the mixing desk.

Some people prefer this as it means they are putting out "their sound", but from an engineer's point of view it can be better to get the signal before all that and then mimic it using the EQ in the control booth/area in case a lot of that EQ is just to make the cab sound good and not the signal!

However, a lot of amps will allow you to switch between post/pre EQ, some DI boxes have better electronics, some are active, some are passive, some have various inputs to allow you to correctly insert at various points in the signal path etc etc.

I think that only experience of trying the various options and how well you come out of the scrap with the sound engineer is the only real way to decide!
Some guys will try to sell you the "gold plated super duper DI box for £150, but you may get just as good results for what you need using the XLR socket on your cab or a £20 DI from Maplins.

Remember the golden rule: the sound of a system can only be as good as the weakest part in the chain. Listening to a bass via a "gold plated" DI box into a noisy old amplifier running tatty speakers means you'll still get hum and noise!

Edited December 23, 2008 by Huge Hands

[Silent Fly]

[quote name='Huge Hands' post='362092' date='Dec 23 2008, 03:58 PM'][...]
Some guys will try to sell you the "gold plated super duper DI box for £150, but you may get just as good results for what you need using the XLR socket on your cab or a £20 DI from Maplins.[...][/quote]

Although I agree that price is not the only way to determine the quality of a device, I wouldn’t recommend a £29.99 Maplin DI (order code: DU93B) as a solid investment. I haven’t tried this Maplin DI but I would be surprised if it performs (at least mechanically) as well as a professional DI.

I have nothing against low-cost devices – if people are happy with them I am equally happy for them. I still haven’t found a Maplin or a Behringer DI that performs like an Avalon U5 though.

I spent the last few months studying DI design and I can assure you that there can be some significant differences between DIs. Some differences can be, not only heard, but also measured.

...but again, it depends what the DI is for. I wouldn’t use a Behringer for a recording but to go in a cheap PA it [i]might[/i] be the right choice.

[Huge Hands]

[quote name='Silent Fly' post='362212' date='Dec 23 2008, 06:19 PM']...but again, it depends what the DI is for. I wouldn’t use a Behringer for a recording but to go in a cheap PA it [i]might[/i] be the right choice.[/quote]

[i]That[/i] is what I was trying to say.

[burno70]

Hey thanks for the replies,

I've bought the MXR D.I. and whilst it sounds nice I couldn't really tell the difference between using this and the line out from my amp at a recent gig - (but then it's always difficult on stage isn't it?).

I was thinking of selling on the D.I. but I may keep hold of it now as it makes sense for recording.

Thanks and a Merry Chrimbo to you.

Cheers

[katri]

I like to have a seporate DI pedal so that if I am at a gig and not using my own amp I can still get the sound I want through the PA I have even hugged with no amp just a DI pedal and some good monitors

[casapete]

A lot of engineers prefer to use a seperate DI box - in case the bass amp stops functioning then they still have a signal to use out front.
I have a BSS box which I've used for years,no probs.

[rmorris]

All the views here seem to me to have merit. But I do think it's a good idea to define what you want a 'DI' to do - basically do you want to send a balanced low impedance 'pure' signal to desk etc. or are you looking for signal processing - eq / drive / speaker emulation etc. in which case it's really a pre-amp function combined with the appropriate output signal electrical 'format'.

yeah - the BSS DI has been an 'industry standard' for years. Not cheap but has the reputation of surviving under the feet of musicians / roadies and all that.
Certain other DIs look very similar :-)



[quote name='casapete' post='365533' date='Dec 29 2008, 03:34 PM']A lot of engineers prefer to use a seperate DI box - in case the bass amp stops functioning then they still have a signal to use out front.
I have a BSS box which I've used for years,no probs.[/quote]

[chris_b]

If you have a good quality amp then, for live, the onboard DI with Pre/Post output should be good enough for FOH engineers. Most house PA systems and all studios will probably have better DI boxes than you anyway so why bother to buy your own?