DI Box input required.

[okusman 17]

Hello All

Need.....or perhaps....want a DI pedal.

In the past, when called on, I have just used my Genz 9.0 as my DI for ‘those’ sort a gigs.

To hell with it. Let’s leave the amp in the case and have a pedal do the job.

It must:

Be able to work off Phantom Power

Have some basic Eq.

Be a ‘quality’ piece of kit with a ‘quiet’ and un-knackered signal.

It doesn’t need

Any Drive/Grind/Fuzz/Gravy - always clean as a whistle, me! Realise I can just not use the Dirty functions...but if they weren’t even there - that’s even better!

That’s it really. £200ish Max 

Input required. 

Mark

[Phil_T 41]

people seem to rate these

https://www.studiospares.com/Microphones/DI-Boxes/Studiospares-DI-BoxPreamp_458190.htm

 

[jrixn1 714]

I found this was good EQ, build quality, and clean:  https://www.jimdunlop.com/mxr-bass-preamp/ 

[ClassicVibes 1,109]

On 26/05/2020 at 17:48, jrixn1 said:

I found this was good EQ, build quality, and clean:  https://www.jimdunlop.com/mxr-bass-preamp/ 

Great DI pedal. Ticks all the boxes for the OP. 

[Rollin Thunder 62]

On 26/05/2020 at 17:45, Phil_T said:

people seem to rate these

https://www.studiospares.com/Microphones/DI-Boxes/Studiospares-DI-BoxPreamp_458190.htm

 

Yeah uve got one excellent for the price see my little review 

 

[Jack 539]

On 26/05/2020 at 17:45, Phil_T said:

people seem to rate these

https://www.studiospares.com/Microphones/DI-Boxes/Studiospares-DI-BoxPreamp_458190.htm

 

 

5 hours ago, Rollin Thunder said:

Yeah uve got one excellent for the price see my little review 

 

Like the stuck record that I am, I was going to recommend these but it seems I've been  beaten to it. Oh well then, consider this a plus one. M81 has also been mentioned and is also great. Lastly I know hartke make a nice one but I've never used it so can't comment further.

[sblueplanet 96]

I use an Eden WTDI. Nice bit of kit and makes my acoustic sound great.

 

[okusman 17]

Like the Eden.... but doesn’t work off Phantom Power

[LukeFRC 1,248]

Depending on the gig... an Orchid DI box will do everything the sound guy wants... the Eq on the desk is more powerful. 
I've done that and then ended up with an HX stomp for the amp modelling 

[okusman 17]

TBH. A featureless DI would probably be fine!

Me sound is in me fingers!

[Bobthedog 1,025]

On 26/05/2020 at 17:48, jrixn1 said:

I found this was good EQ, build quality, and clean:  https://www.jimdunlop.com/mxr-bass-preamp/ 

This and works off phantom power.  I have one and very happy with it. 

Edited May 28 by Bobthedog

[Jack 539]

36 minutes ago, okusman said:

TBH. A featureless DI would probably be fine!

Me sound is in me fingers!

Then I thoroughly recommend either the Orchid Electronics or the Countryman 85. My 85 has been to pretty much every gig I've done for almost 20 years now.

Edited May 28 by Jack

[LukeFRC 1,248]

35 minutes ago, okusman said:

TBH. A featureless DI would probably be fine!

Me sound is in me fingers!

http://orchid-electronics.co.uk their DI box is v good, and not just for the money

[DiMarco 173]

I was looking for a really good DI box myself and checked out quite a few.
Ended up picking one that has analog speaker cabinet emulation on board in favor of this one, but if you want to keep things simple and phantom powered the RNDI does sound phenomenal, and it isn't that much over your budget.

https://www.rupertneve.com/products/rndi/

[ClassicVibes 1,109]

On 28/05/2020 at 22:07, LukeFRC said:

http://orchid-electronics.co.uk their DI box is v good, and not just for the money

I have just bought one myself and can confirm. I actually found out about them because of a gig I did last year where the soundguy used one of these and we had a great discussion about phantom power!

[paul_5 1,024]

These have been getting a lot of love on here recently:

https://www.studiospares.com/Microphones/DI-Boxes/Studiospares-DI-BoxPreamp_458190.htm

[Higgie 200]

On 26/05/2020 at 17:41, okusman said:

Input required.

Plug something in then! 😛

[rmorris 37]

I've never seen mention of this on here but it's from a UK pro-audio 'Giant'

Raindirk DI

Option to go in via active circuit (Higher Z) or passive into the transformer.

Discussed this with Cyril Jones some years ago and he mentioned that most bass users preferred the passive option.

[Jack 539]

Are they still going? SoundOnSound seems to suggest it's over £350, which does seem like a lot...

Edited June 16 by Jack

[okusman 17]

Sorted.

Secured an immaculate EBS MicroBass.

lovely.

Thanks

[Chienmortbb 475]

On 28/05/2020 at 21:21, LukeFRC said:

Depending on the gig... an Orchid DI box will do everything the sound guy wants... the Eq on the desk is more powerful. 
I've done that and then ended up with an HX stomp for the amp modelling 

Totally agree, the Orchid is Orsome.

[rmorris 37]

On 16/06/2020 at 11:39, Jack said:

Are they still going? SoundOnSound seems to suggest it's over £350, which does seem like a lot...

Good Question. I've emailed to ask.

Definitely not a budget option but the OP seemed to be willing took at £100s at least.

The requirements seems fairly basic and I'd say the Orchid stuff sounds fine. As it happens I have the Studiospares box and I wouldn't see a problem with it. I guess it comes down to how bothered about noise levels and absolute fidelity or 'Colour' and whether the EQ characteristics suits what you want.

Ultimately I'd advocate DIY building your own - but I am an electronics design engineer with a background in pro audio though now working in a different field.

 

[Clarky 952]

Dumb question (as I do not understand electronics): if I add an Orchid phantom powered DI to the end of my 9V brick-powered pedal chain, will the phantom powering introduce any issues? Also for gigs when I don't need the DI function can I still use the Orchid pedal as a silent 'pass through' for my cables (akin to disengaging a regular pedal with the footswitch) or do I need to fully disconnect it from the signal chain? Thanks!

[Jack 539]

51 minutes ago, Clarky said:

Dumb question (as I do not understand electronics): if I add an Orchid phantom powered DI to the end of my 9V brick-powered pedal chain, will the phantom powering introduce any issues? Also for gigs when I don't need the DI function can I still use the Orchid pedal as a silent 'pass through' for my cables (akin to disengaging a regular pedal with the footswitch) or do I need to fully disconnect it from the signal chain? Thanks!

I used to say there was no such thing as a dumb question, but then I became an adult teacher and I changed my mind. 😀

 

Yours however is not dumb. Firstly, the phantom power doesn't make it past the transformer, so your pedals won't even know it's there.

 

Secondly, that depends on the DI box. I think the Orchid boxes are buffered, so the answer there is a yes but the sound will pass through some of the circuitry in the DI, so it'll sound (probably imperceptibly) different.

 

Are any of your pedals buffered? Cos then you could do away with all of this and use a passive DI.

[Clarky 952]

4 minutes ago, Jack said:

I used to say there was no such thing as a dumb question, but then I became an adult teacher and I changed my mind. 😀

 

Yours however is not dumb. Firstly, the phantom power doesn't make it past the transformer, so your pedals won't even know it's there.

 

Secondly, that depends on the DI box. I think the Orchid boxes are buffered, so the answer there is a yes but the sound will pass through some of the circuitry in the DI, so it'll sound (probably imperceptibly) different.

 

Are any of your pedals buffered? Cos then you could do away with all of this and use a passive DI.

Very helpful, thanks! It sounds like a good passive DI (Radial Stagebug perhaps?) would probably work for me as an always-on-pedalboard option.

Edited August 12 by Clarky