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Advice on what D.I box to buy?

  • 19-04-2009 10:29pm
    #1
    Sergio
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,174 ✭✭✭


    Hey guys,

    Any of you gigging musicians can recommend a half decent D.I box for plugging in an acoustic guitar directly in to the mixing desk&PA system.
    Do i actually need to get one or does it make a difference?

    Cheers


Comments

  • #2
    Eoin Madsen
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,117 ✭✭✭Eoin Madsen


    Yes. Plugging a piezo pickup output into a line impedence input is every kind of wrong. Even a behringer or Thomann brand DI would be better than nothing. If you have the money, the BSS one is a good box - around 130ish, I think.


  • #3
    Savman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,323 ✭✭✭Savman


    Radial J48 ftw. Although there's very little wrong with the Behringers which are probably the cheapest on the market.


  • #4
    progsound
    Closed Accounts Posts: 136 ✭✭progsound


    Savman wrote: »
    Although there's very little wrong with the Behringers which are probably the cheapest on the market.

    Ok im not one of those Behringer haters as i do think they have some great stuff but there is in fact quite a lot wrong with the crappy D.I's they make they are noisey as hell and are pretty much junk compared to the competition.

    I have both a countryman type 85 and bss 133 both are good quality but i slightly prefer the countryman


  • #5
    Dord
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,817 ✭✭✭✭Dord


    I second the recommendation of a Radial box. nice stuff! :)


  • #6
    Savman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,323 ✭✭✭Savman


    I actually am a Behringer hater :o
    Still can't argue with their DI boxes for the price, which is all Uli & co. care about.

    I've never done a blindfolded Pepsi-challenge between a Behringer and a Radial or BSS, I'd say a lot more people than you might think would have trouble telling the difference in a typical rock environment.


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  • #7
    Dord
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,817 ✭✭✭✭Dord


    Maybe so, but when buying a DI box you want something that will last also. I wouldn't cheap out on a Behringer which may go poop in the middle of your show.


  • #8
    progsound
    Closed Accounts Posts: 136 ✭✭progsound


    Its pretty much night and day for me but then again im pretty critical, but for any type of serious recording purpose avoid it like the plague its junk period even for live its a bit pants but i guess the average joe in the crowed probably would not notice it in a live setting but then for live i would be wanting reliability and you cant beat the quality makers on this front hell the type 85 is built like a tank and i would have no problem with an artic lorry driving over it i garantee it would still work


  • #9
    Savman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,323 ✭✭✭Savman


    Whoah whaoh, I ain't defending B*hringer :eek:

    All I'm saying is, for the PRICE, you can get one Radial or 4 Behringer's and have 3 spares. Personally I'd prefer the Radial, but to the masses the Behringer will do what they expect it to for 1/4 the price.

    It's the Ryanair of Audio.


  • #10
    Dord
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,817 ✭✭✭✭Dord


    Savman wrote: »
    It's the Ryanair of Audio.

    Yeah, it ends up costing you more in the end! :p


  • #11
    darrenw5094
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,126 ✭✭✭darrenw5094


    Buying cheap gear only means that you have to spend more in the long run.....
    Buy a good unit in the first place could be the best option in the long run.


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  • #12
    Savman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,323 ✭✭✭Savman


    darrenw5094 wrote: »
    Buying cheap gear only means that you have to spend more in the long run.....
    Buy a good unit in the first place could be the best option in the long run.
    It depends. Don't assume just because something has a hefty price tag that it will be rock solid. These days with so much stuff made in China or the middle east you have to really search for quality and a lot of the big companies have released lemons in the pursuit of cheaper labour.

    Take the Behringer DI for example, the BSS is around three times the price. That does not mean it will sound three times as good.

    I've been bitten by both cheap crap and expensive crap in equal measure.


  • #13
    Eoin Madsen
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,117 ✭✭✭Eoin Madsen


    darrenw5094 wrote: »
    Buying cheap gear only means that you have to spend more in the long run.....
    Buy a good unit in the first place could be the best option in the long run.

    In theory I agree, but that's like arguing that there's no point in renting and that you should always buy. A Behringer DI will set you back about 40 quid. It's a minimal investment which serves an immediate purpose.

    I bought a pair in 2002 and sold them to a friend in 2007. They were treated well and they still work. They're a little noisier than the BSS boxes I replaced them with, but I would not consider them significantly noisy - certainly not compared to the competition, i.e. other sub-50 euro DI boxes. If you plug a 400 euro guitar into it, and plug it into a cheap mixer, most of the hiss you hear is not coming from the box.

    I mean, if the objective is to invest in a DI you'll never replace, I wouldn't touch any of the boxes mentioned. Get a Klark Teknik or an Avalon U5 or something serious like that.

    And you're never going to plug an acoustic guitar into a DI box for a "serious" recording. Ever.


  • #14
    Savman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,323 ✭✭✭Savman


    Eoin Madsen wrote: »
    If you plug a 400 euro guitar into it, and plug it into a cheap mixer, most of the hiss you hear is not coming from the box.
    Ain't that the truth. They should be including a BSS or Radial with every Taylor or Martin or high end acoustic sold in stores :D

    "You're plugging this into a what?"


  • #15
    Sergio
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,174 ✭✭✭Sergio


    Thanks for all the replies guys on this.Ive nothing against behringer as a manufacturer but i do believe in going the extra mile and buying good gear from the start so it will last firstly and it will be better quaility and reliability in the long run.

    Im goin to price a few of the good ones some of ye have mentioned.


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