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Topic: Direct Box Question |
James Sission
From:
Sugar Land,Texas USA
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Posted 10 Mar 2006 5:51 pm |
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| Could someone explain to me, in simple terms, what a direct box does? I have used them for years, but I have no idea what they do, other than connect an amp to the PA. I was wondering why is this better, if it is better, than just going from the “headphones out” jack on an amp to the PA. What exactly does the direct box besides eliminate stage noise that is picked up when one mics an amp…….James |
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James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 10 Mar 2006 7:16 pm
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* A device used to buffer or isolate guitar and bass signals so they can be “DI’d”. Many of the direct boxes designed for electric guitars and basses do not have a sufficiently high input impedance for interface with piezo pickups. Direct boxes can either be passive, using transformers, or active, using tube or transistor based circuitry. D-TAR's Solstice serves as a high quality direct box.
www.seymourduncan.com/website/support/glossary.shtml
* a device that allows a guitar or amplifier to be connected directly into a mixing board without the use of a microphone. There are two basic types of direct boxes, those that go between the guitar and the amp, feeding a clean guitar signal to the board, and those that go between the amplifier output and the speakers, feeding the amp signal to the board. The latter usually contain some type of frequency compensation, or "speaker emulation" to give a sound similar to a miked speaker.
www.aikenamps.com/AmpTerms.html
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James Sission
From:
Sugar Land,Texas USA
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Posted 10 Mar 2006 7:32 pm
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| Thanks James, but I read all those and I still looking for a simple answer, anyone ?...James |
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Leon Grizzard
From:
Austin, Texas, USA
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Posted 10 Mar 2006 8:03 pm
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| My understanding is the main thing DI boxes do is change the high impedence, unbalanced signal to low impedence, balanced, which enables you to use a longer cable length without loss of high frequency sounds, and with less noise interference. So in the home studio where you are eight feet away, you don't need it. You also sometimes need to use one to go into a low impedence input such as a snake. There are, as I understand it, but don't really understand it, other virtues. [This message was edited by Leon Grizzard on 10 March 2006 at 08:07 PM.] [This message was edited by Leon Grizzard on 10 March 2006 at 08:25 PM.] |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 11 Mar 2006 3:08 am
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| Leon pretty well 'splianed it in simple terms. |
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James Sission
From:
Sugar Land,Texas USA
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Posted 11 Mar 2006 6:22 am
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| Thanks Leon.....James |
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HWHYoYo
From:
West Sunbury, PA
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Posted 11 Mar 2006 10:02 pm
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I've used the Peavey EDI direct box for years, for steel, lead, bass, whatever. It's what my sound technician prefers and seems to give a true reproduction of the amp.
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Wayne Hetzler
04 BSG SD10
98 Carter SD10
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Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
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Posted 13 Mar 2006 9:50 am
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The Countryman Type 85 FET DI is the industry standard as far as pro audio goes, unlike transformer-based DI's it does not affect the tone of an instrument run through it and it also has a switch that pads it down so as to allow connection to a speaker output rather than a line or guitar.
It's a bit spendier than the transformer units but well worth the added expense if you are serious about getting the best sound possible. |
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