What You NEED to know about Direct Boxes (and why you need to know it)
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- Опубликовано: 2 авг 2022
- In this video, we talk about why the Direct Box, or DI, is one of the most important and underrated pieces of bass gear. We discuss what direct boxes do, their common features, and what bass players need to understand.
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I must say when you show up to a gig or recording session with a quality DI, it always gives the sound engineer/recording engineer/producer a sense of relief. A worthy investment IMO. Love my Tone Hammer
Well said!
If you show up at a studio and they don't ALREADY have a quality DI then you're in the wrong place.
Things I’ve always wanted to know but was afraid to ask. Thanks for another great video.
Thank you for watching!
Fantastic explanation, thank you!
I always have a tuner which has a buffer plus a compressor pedal so my passive P bass’s high impedance drops to low impedance before it hits the rest of the chain. I think that’s what active basses do besides tone shaping. For a very clean and full sound this is great into an RNDI or Radial J48 which are both active. (I haven’t tried a JDI yet). But when I want some vintage saturation, I’ve gone down a rabbit hole of gear to get there but all too often it gets fizzy sounding which I don’t want.
You get a great, harmonically rich sound so I’m eager to see your next video and where you head next in your tone journey.
Thanks, Phil: I used Direct Boxes for key's, but this really helped me understand what they are doing. Keep it up!
Thank you ⚡️
Just needed this, THANKS Phil!
Thanks for watching Victor!
5 years ago I did this same di shoot out: Redi brick, Noble, JDI passive, Palmer passive. My take playing mostly in ear monitors- Redi sounded good, but wasn’t practical for gigging, bought the JDI passive preferred it for gigging. Bought the noble - great old school tube tone - after 2 hours I remembered why I moved away from mushy tube tone. Bought a Palmer and still have it today. I play 5 string bass so the Palmer was more open sounding and musical to my ears. All are great it is just what your ears prefer. Great video and production🤘🏼👍🏼
Great video Philip. Thank you for taking the time to make this. I learned about cheap vs industry std. Vs boutique DIs the hard way. Settled on a Shift Line Olympic MK III and some quality IEMs that actually reproduce bass and I couldn't be happier. Looking forward to the next video. Hoping to see some eq RTA data along with people's perceived sounds. Sometimes we may not have the ear to hear a big difference but a FOH or Studio engineer can spot it in the mix in a heartbeat. Cheers mate.
Thanks for watching Travis! Excited to share the blind shootout ⚡️
Yes, an excellent Olympic MKIIIS preamp, and besides, with a built-in cabsim, which is very important for working on stage, since the linear bass sound is a bit flat, and the cabsim gives the desired microphone tone, the preamp is made in Russia!
I just picked up a Microtubes B7K and am super excited to use it this weekend.
Enjoy!
Thanks for this "bass basics" video. I never understood what DI boxes actually did (to my discredit).
Clear explanations. Thank you.
Thanks for watching!
Your channel is very nice and I am learning a lot from it. Thanks! Made sure to subscribe and ring the bell 🎉😊
Great overview Phillip. Can’t wait for the shootout. The best DI I ever hear and used was a Evil Twin by Elcair Engineering, if you ever get the chance you should try one and see what you think.
I’ve heard great things. Thanks for sharing!
I gigged last week and I used the balanced output from my amp since it is not powerful at all (just 100W). The sonic engineer had no trouble during the sound check. I might consider a DI Box considering my pedal board has pre-amps and amps simulations. I guess it adds on complexity but it offers its own rewards, especially in sound shaping.
I really appreciate the technical videos. Right now. I'm using an MXR EQ pedal with DI, and I'm very interested to see how others stack up, especially dedicated DI vs DI with "stuff."
Thanks for watching Clint! Stay tuned…
Super great info! Can’t wait for the shootout
Thanks for watching Conor!
Great explanation. Thnx.
Thanks for watching!
Looking forward to the follow-up video!
🙏🏻
I have one of those DIs. Looking forward to your blind test!
Nice! Stay tuned…
Doing great man!
Subscribed. Great channel
Well explained
Good video and the blind test was great too. Radial has both passive and active DIs. I have been told passive DI goes with active bass, and active DI goes with passive bass, but is this difference important?
I truly need to get a DI. Definitely looking at one with a transformer (Radial JDI or Warm Audio active DI), but the Noble and the Caveman BP1 Compact (a bit more affordable than the Noble) both sound MAGNIFICENT!
I can't wait for your DI reactions/shootout video!
Thanks for sharing Patrick! Stay tuned for shootout…
The Nobel uses the same Jensen transformer as the radial, which is what’s really doing the DI part of this. Its tone comes from its tubes, so it’s less of a magic box and more a tube preamp and a radial di in one box. As they’re impossible to get off the shelf these days and I sanely overpriced, you can just get a radial di and a preamp of your choosing in front of it to achieve much the same thing.
Phil - I just started playing Bass 6 months ago but it's all I can think about, and a big part of my excitement has been a direct response to your videos. Thank you for being so motivating and encouraging!
I'm interested in beginning to record some tracks into my DAW and would like a DI to make sure that what I'm sending to the DAW is quality. I've been looking at the Radial JDI online for a long time but I'm getting hung up on the different models, particularly the stereo Radial JDI vs the Mono JDI. I notice you use the mono JDI, is there EVER a time as a bassist where having the stereo JDI would come in handy?
PS - I love the Tiny Songs 2 album, The Dirigible is AMAZING!!
Thanks again for everything - I can't wait for new content!
Hi there! Thanks so much for watching and the kind words. Sometimes stereo bass can be cool with certain effects, but most of what I do is mono and I do not have a stereo di. Hope this helps. Glad to have you a part of the channel!
I’m always curious about the difference between a “regular” direct box versus a load box/cab sim. They both can be great but I’m always siding with the cab sim because it’s closer to my sound that I actually am used to hearing from an amp.
I personally use a mooer DI with a cab sim. It gets the job done but I am looking at the Radial JDI
Nice! ⚡️
Good stuff Philip
Thanks John ⚡️
An important topic. I actually bought, begged and borrowed a lot of them and tried them out into GarageBand of all things. I ended up selling my MXR DI pedal as a result. The DIs I liked was the passive radial you have, the phantom powered stage bug (it’s tiny so it lives in the gig bag as a get out of jail) and the one on my Markbass MK3 combo. Recently bought a Laney pedal DI for the board. Need to A B compare it to these. But it’s great as a pedal on the board regardless. Looking forward to part 2.
Thanks for sharing! I hope you enjoy the next video ⚡️
@@philipconradmusic No probs, keep them coming. My favourite place in RUclips to hang out right now.
Wrong! This is super important and just the kind of info I really want to here right now.
I've been shopping for a good bass preamp/ DI, and quite unclear as to what product will serve me best.
So keep this stuff coming!
Cheers!
Stay tuned for next week! I think that one will be especially helpful for you ⚡️
Excellent video! Is that the Life Aquatic ship in the background?
Good eye!
So how about more info on a direct box built into an amp? Glad to hear you mention that as a possible option in some cases.
Depends on the amp. Can be great! But sometimes having a smaller separate unit comes in handy (especially when flying).
I’m very interested to hear the follow up video. I hope you’ll include an unbalanced signal so we can hear how crappy it sounds with no direct box.
Thank you for making a technical video like this. I doubt it’s going to be a viral hit, but maybe it’ll have a longer tail since there are so few videos on direct boxes out there.
Thanks for watching! ⚡️
Do a blind test of bass direct into a Focusrite pre vs. three passive direct box choices. How many will hear any difference?
Hi, Love the video. Could you do one of these for a USB interface? Are they as important and nuanced as the direct box? Thanks
Thanks for watching! I may do that in the future ⚡️
Can’t wait for the next episode. Great stuff!
On a tangential topic: I prefer a slightly overdriven sound for bass. But I really dislike going direct with an overdrive and no amp/cab sim. What’s your experience with that in a live situation?
Get something like a Sansamp. Works for me just fine. Sounds like an amp if you wish and is a great DI on its own. also can get distortet easily. I push it with a Comp to get more juice out of it and sometime even hit my B3K from Darkglass. Works for any Rock oriented music pretty well. Even did a Raggea/HipHop gig with that setup. :-)
Another vote for a Tech 21 Bass sansamp, or something similar. I use one at every gig - it filters the harshness of direct-run drive pedals really well.
Great thoughts all. I don’t typically use amp sim live, just some saturation/boost and a good DI and have been happy. I personally notice more of a difference with amp/cab sim when recording.
In this case, well suited for stage work and recording in the studio preamp dibox with cabsim from Shift line Olympic MkIIIS or dibox / cabsim from Shift line CabZone Bass, this is an ir-bassed cabinet simulator, with built-in ten different impulses of bass cabinets and bass amplifiers!
@@shapa-47 The Shift Line Olympic is absolutely killer. LOVE. IT.
Correct me please if I am wrong, but you said the unblanced high impedence signal coming from your instrument (line level) was stronger than the balanced low impedence signal coming out of the DI box into mixer. Since impedence is the same as resistance it stands to reason and from my experience that the unbalanced high impedence (more resistance) signal will not have the strength of the balanced low impedence (less Resistance) signal. Where the DI does match impedence from line level to mic level so the signal is stronger going into the mixer?
I prefer to keep a Tech-21 DI-2112 on my board. Whether or not I've got an amp, I've got a good direct sound that sounds like I want it to. I'll carry a standard DI too, but I much prefer to have my bass sound, rather than the sound engineer's idea of a bass sound.
That’s a great one! Thanks for sharing ⚡️
Thank you, sir, for your very down to earth & understandable explanation of basic things one should know about Direct Boxes. I first came upon, listened intently to, & took notes on, your subsequent video, "Blind Bass Direct Box Shootout", which I also found to be excellent.
Though I own an 8 string bass (4 pairs of strings, paired like a 12-string guitar), which I have a lot of fun with, I am not a bassist. I am a guitarist. I've been particularly impressed by how good a 12-string electric can sound with Direct Injection, and also how clean Jazz guitar playing can sound with Direct Injection, when striving for a cleaner, clearer, less muffled, more articulate tone.
Thus, my question to you is, do you know if the same models of Direct Boxes which you've explored specifically for use with your bass, would also work well for use with a 6-string or 12-string guitar? My guess would be that they could!
I see no reason why they wouldn’t work! A di could work for a bass or guitar equally well. If you like the sound or not is up to you! Thanks for watching ⚡️
@@philipconradmusic Much appreciated! From my electronics layperson understanding, audio circuits have a big challenge in handling with fidelity bass signals. So, if they can handle a bass signal well,...
I’ve been struggling with understanding mic Vs instrument levels for the longest time. Thanks for the clarification!
So glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching!
Good video. Thanks. But what about if you have a good preamp pedal with DI included - as for example the Orange Bass Butler. Do you still need an extra DI box?
If it’s working for you, totally cool. Just having a reliable xlr out that you like the sound of is what’s important IMO
What are your thoughts on the ampeg scr-di? I have a pf800 w/ 410hlf cab. Would it be over kill or bad to stack the eq of both?
Hello Philip, great video. I have one question. I am using HX Stomp XL for both my Bass and Bass Station 2 processing (L/R ins and outs) directly to FOH. Would you recommend running both signals to passive stereo D.I. or do you think it is overkill and simple TRS cables should be enough in this case. Internet opinions are conflicting as always.
If you are live, I’d go mono to a di (I find stereo for shows is overrated, especially for bass). If you are recording, getting stereo would be great for a wide image. but may not be necessary for a di with a short cable run. Pinstripe makes some really cool options for the stomp you may find interesting. Thanks for watching!
Question if you see this: What about the DI from my (Fender Rumble 40) amp? I mean, it’s an XLR out, so… Other than the bells and whistles, it’s not really “necessary” to have a DI box. Am I right?
Great video. Curious on your thoughts on how a sound engineer set me up on a gig last week. I have an Origin Effects SV BassRig on my pedal board and often use it as my DI. I often play amp-less if the PA has a sub. I did bring my amp on this gig for on-stage monitor. I expected the engineer to either take the DI from the BassRig or the DI from my amp. Either would have been fine with me. But, he had me run my bass into his DI box (Radial JDI), then from there into my pedal board. He wanted to get the cleanest signal and was worried about distortion. I can understand that idea, but I also spent a lot of time and money dialing in my pedal board to sound the way I want the audience to hear me. And it's pretty clean, I just like a little edge, not distortion or fuzz. I didn't want to be a prima-donna so I rolled with it, once I pointed out I had to at least run the bass into my tuner first so I could mute between sets. Have you ever seen that type of set up?
Side note: not sure if you do your own closed captioning or not, but kudos for using the correct spellings of "insure" and "ensure" in the same sentence (5:46)
That’s really strange. I’ve never encountered that. I probably would have done the same thing and just gone with it. Weird that he didn’t want that bit of saturation. Thanks for sharing ⚡️
Yeah, I've actually done that, but only in addition to the pedalboard output. I do music for television, and have had a few instances where the sound coming out of the bassist's pedalboard significantly compromised the song, usually in the disappearance of the low octave. A pathway with the clean bass low-passed and mixed in gently with the wet signal can usually fix that issue. Before you all jump on me for getting in the way of the artist's intent, I always put the album cut on the timeline and A/B between the two during rehearsals and playbacks, striving to get as close to the original as possible given the constraints of television (and the bass is nearly always full-range on the album cut). In this case it sounds to me like the engineer overreacted, and at the very least should have taken your wet signal as your primary, only using using the upstream signal as a sweetener.
@@peterbaird7597 Yep, makes perfect sense on blending the signals. I think I was just a victim of the sound guy making an assumption.
Pausing at 6:16 to write this, so I have no clue if it’ll be covered in this one or the following, or even an entirely different video, but if everything that’s been said to that point is the case, when adding a DI to a pedalboard, where (before/after effects, etc) would you suggest placing the DI?
I always put it at the end. Unless I’m recording; sometimes I’ll use the DI as a clean option then run effects and blend in a saturated amp sound. Just depends on t situation. For live I always put it last.
Philip, what do you prefer ONLY DI BOX or a DI with Pre Amp? I use the Tech 21 VT Bass Deluxe and it works fantastic for live and recording
Both are cool! Depends on what all else I am using ⚡️
I use the direct out on my fender rumble amp to feed the board at church. I use the amp for a stage monitor. i can run without the amp. I use a tube preamp/compressor which has a balanced output sometimes if we have a service in the gym. Amp is too much for that environment. It works for me whichever way.
Sounds like you are approaching each situation with good strategy. Thanks for sharing! ⚡️
Likewise, Rumble 40 with the balanced out… works great as a monitor.
Bonus, plug in a set of headphones or a stereo “dummy” plug to disconnect the built-in speaker = Instant direct box w/ EQ and switchable distortion.
What about wiring the bass with a balance xlr output instead of or along side the normal instrument jack?
Yes, makes sense if you can do it.
3:01
My question is, do those wireless guitar receivers cause hum or input lag? Are there any disadvantages to using them (other than swapping the batteries)
Great question! Wireless systems can be tricky based on the RF environment. You can find yourself on problem frequencies with lots of interference depending on where you are and what’s already flying around in the air at the frequency you are on. You just need to coordinate and scan frequencies and be prepared to adapt. Some say they can hear the difference between a hard line and wireless.
Saw the next video, could discern enough difference for the price between the 2...
Hey! I’d like to collaborate on a future bass DI video.
Good rule of thumb, Passive Bass gets an active direct Box, Active bass gets a passive DI.
So interesting this view prevails. Decades ago my late friend Gary and I (one of maybe three real golden-ears mixers I ever worked with) spent an interesting afternoon with a bass player friend of ours who had an active Yamaha and a passive Precision, and every DI we could lay our hands on. Strangely enough we all ended up with the same conclusion: the most satisfying sound was the Precision through a Whirlwind Imp 2 (the JDI was years away), and the most in-your-face was the Yamaha through a Type 85. None of the other DIs even got close. We all had the same sensation of the Precision starting to sound like a synthesizer through the Type 85, and the Yamaha losing its attractive immediacy through the Imp. The limiting factor in this is of course how much more forgiving of noise issues active DIs are, and the requisite troubleshooting and foomfering around required to get a low-level bass to sound clean through a passive DI.
You are using a passive DI and basses with passive pickups. I've always read that you should use an active DI with passive pickups and vice versa. What are your thoughts? Is there a sound difference?
I have never found that to be a problem. Although I do tend to use something to boost my signal (an overdrive or boost pedal) although it’s not always necessary.
@@philipconradmusic I just had a problem with that yesterday: we were trying to record a rehearsal session, I brought my Radial JDI and my Mustang and the signal reaching the computer was waaaay to low. the guitarist lent me a crappy 20€ active DI and the volume was perfect. i've always used the JDI with my P-bass without any problem, but now i'm wondering if i'd need to buy an active DI to record the mustang...
I would go (based on experience) passive bass into active DI (and vice versa for active basses).
The worst experience as a bass player is crafting an amazing live tone and having the Sound Engineer bypass this with a direct box that neuters your tone. I've never understood how this helps? With recordings it makes sense but how does this preserve the raw tone from the amp?
philip what DI are you using now and do you use a delay pedal
Currently using the origin effects super vintage. I don’t typically use delay. Thanks for watching!
Is there a benefit to having a DI box vs coming out of the DI of your amp?
Excellent question. A lot of amps have dis that are fine. Some amps have not the best dis. Sometimes an amp is not an option and is not practical. And some dis can have better components and sound quality than the ones inside your amp.
The Behringer BDI21 Bass Preamp Di is only $30usd. Its an excellent copy of the Tech21 Sansamp Bass Driver at around $300usd.
The person on the sound person has allot of controll they can set the EQ as they like, and tweak your sound so it doesn't sound how you want it to be.
Where is the link to the 2nd video.
ruclips.net/video/A6X5w8Hwusk/видео.html
Do we have to use a DI Box after Preamp pedal which has DI output ?
No
Are DI boxes as critical for amps with an XLR output thats going direct to the board?
No you can use your amp di! Although they are not all great, and some of them you can’t use with the amp muted. Some sound great though!
nice
Passive basses are affected more than a Bass with a Preamp which already has a Low Impedance output.. Tonal sound and introduced noise has More to do with IMPEDENCE and Capacitance with long cables .. Not so much to do with Balanced and unbalanced .. The DI WILL Balance your signal and change impendence. BUT will it still be a Balanced signal when you Ground Lift teh DI?
a balanced signal still remains balanced if the ground is lifted. the 2 legs that make it balanced are separate to the ground. and yes, balanced cables reject noise. I'd recommend you do some research on how balanced cables work. it's really quite fascinating, but it's too much for me to get into in a comment... lol
Sound bud but you should explain passive DI box's are only for active low impedence bass's...if you use old school passive Fender bass's etc you have to use a buffered signal or active buffered DI box ,passive DI box's will not travel long distances through XLR at high impedence ,balanced or not bud....if you use a passive bass you need a buffered, low impedence,100ohm or lower output, active DI box for passive bass signals to travel long distances with an XLR cable....
I prefer to turn up to a practice studio with a EQ pedal with XLR out and go straight into the PA rather than relying on the amps and cabs in a room I don't know. I can play with the sound right there on my pedalboard and be where I want to be in minutes.
Thanks for sharing! ⚡️
I'm going to go right ahead and say, bases and guitars should have had XLRs from the start. Especially guitars driving higher gain amps.
I play the bass and guitar and I do not like amps because they are heavy and are not needed in our digital world. I can get a great sound from one fx unit and direct box.The less that I need to carry to a rehersal or to a gig and the less place on the stage my equipment takes, the better for me. I record on vst amp simulators and they sound great for bass and guitar, so no need to make noise and disturb the people living around my place.
If my pedal has a line out option, is the DI box still needed?
Is it a balanced output?
@@christianboddum8783 I’m not sure 🤔
@@punkrocker28 If it has an XLR (3 pin) socket, then it is has balanced out ;-)
@@christianboddum8783 oh. Then I guess its not balanced. Meaning i need a DI?
@@punkrocker28 Well, yeah. It needs to be balanced and a Di. does that, even a simple passive one, also most will give you a ground lift option, in case of humming.
"We're going to jump in" starts at 2:06.
😆
Hey, whoa! Since when are D.I. boxes not sexy anymore?
There's a third thing a D.I. box provides, galvanic isolation.
Mmmm, it's an impedance matching thing, not amplitude/output/gain levels thing, to be particular about vernacular. So the JDI output impedance is 600 ohms, as all DI boxes ought to be. It's what the earliest boards were and it stuck, like why photographs are 8x10, it's one of those things, standards wise Gain/output's made up at the board input channel strip with a passive DI. Reddi has a gain stage in it, like Colorbox, Noble and any of them with a gain knob, obviously. Reddi, Zod and Noble make up that gain with a tube or two, Colorbox with jfets. Reddi and Zod have no EQ, Colorbox and Noble do. Imo EQ sells players and front of house, sometimes maybe producers, almost never engineers, but honestly after recording stems all bets are off.
But back to gain stages and so-called saturation: somehow tubes can actually be less noisy than jfets and opamps but it's spendy. The Noble ends up getting chosen most often because it's got super clean gain stage circuitry, a surgically clean power supply and a virtually invisible output transformer noise floor. All that lets all of the tube-ish ineffability (saturation) carry your signal and I'm sure the output trafo helps which is likely the most expensive component in the Noble.
Sir Rupert would interrupt me at this point to remind me solid state saturation and color depends completely upon the transformers. Which is why the Colorbox both works and doesn't, quite. It's fun, but it's an expensive cheap thing. When the o.g. GroupDIY privateers were working out our first 1073 clone it all came down to the transformer which got chosen off the shelf from the couple of winders that somehow survived the collapse of analog recording, Cinemag and Lundahl. We tried Carhills. They were good preamps and were actually the testbeds for the 500 series stuff from Warm Audio and other current makers but at the time we never got to the essence of channels actually salvaged from Neve desks. Because: the iron.
Anyway.
Pedalboard DIs can be okay if the direct out is before the drive stage, I have a Russian jfet one that can switch between parallel out/post EQ/post drive but the signal is electronically coupled, no transformer. The induced noise is where they fall short. The Reddi's okay at unity with a nice preamp In front of it (even after a pedal board.) The BAE 1073dmp is way better, tttt, for a similarly shaped box of comparable specific density and it actually drives a bass signal with great character... But like Rhett said in the follow up video, listening to the inoffensive ones in a pop mix it's hard to point to the best of the rest. Jazz foursomes with no horns and brushes on drums with dynamics down to pianissimo and captivating vocals is a different story. That's when you pull out the big guns
Bon aventur!
Well said! Thanks for sharing your perspective and watching this video. Glad to have you here ⚡️
Modern rock concerts crank the PA bass too loud . No way the audience is hearing the bass amp at a rock concert.
Bass amp can't be decent source for concert if you aren't playing in class.
The JDI in your hand, and most other DI boxes, do more than the two things you describe.
The JDI limits or eliminates hum and noise by isolating the signal via a transformer in the circuit as well as an onboard ground lift switch. The transformer in the JDI is a Jensen component that is high quality and has earned a reputation for its clean, noiseless, warm sound.
The JDI also has a polarity reversal switch to help detect and eliminate phase cancellation. It has a 15db pad switch to accomodate hot signals from loud sources. And it has many more beneficial features.
In my experience, it is well worth it's price.
You should learn a bit more about this subject before making an instructional video.
And there's no such word in the English language as "firmiliar".
Thanks for watching my video and sharing your opinion. Glad to have you here.
Nope
Not sure what the nope means but thanks for watching the video!
The actual difference in DI boxes/preamps on bass guitar are barely discernible, even soloed. It's really pointless to spend a ton of money on a box that only converts to balanced. May as well get one which has that one distortion everybody seems to like (Darkglass) or a smoking hot parametric EQ (Tech21 Q-Strip) or a bad-ass compressor (UA LA-610).
Thanks for sharing! Stay tuned for next week to hear the blind test ⚡️
The days of giant bass amps overpowering the PA that is just for voices have gone the way of the dinosaurs. No DI…no gig.. no moolah
Exactly ⚡️
I’ve been that guy (1980s/90s) who the sound mixer said over and over “turn down!” The bass always sounded thin on stage from my perspective but was blowing the audience’s hair back. Playing church gigs over the last 20 years I’ve learned to appreciate DI bass with in-ears. The rumble folds back from FOH and I get articulation from my in-ears