D.I. box, do I really need it?

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13 years 10 months ago #11285 by bjm362
D.I. box, do I really need it? was created by bjm362
I want to run my electric bass www.ibanez.com/BassGuitars/model-GARTB20 through my home recording mixer www.behringer.com/EN/Products/X1204USB.aspx . Preferably without either buying something I don't need, or destroying a channel on my mixer!

I would have asked Behringer's support my question, but I am reasonably confident they are going to try and sell me a direct box,whether I need one or not.

It seems to me that I should be able to run 1/4 from my bass to 1/4 in on any channel on my mixer. They all have attenuation.
The first 4 channels have a variable gain control (-10 to +40). While the other 2 have two presets available, either -10 OR +4.
I knew someone 30 years ago that blew out a channel on a mixer by running a bass into it but I am not sure if they hooked it incorrectly, had active pickups or what.

A direct box is not a real expensive item, but if I don't need it I would rather spend my money on other things (like new machine heads for my acoustic bass ) !

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13 years 10 months ago #11286 by tony.a.s.s.
Replied by tony.a.s.s. on topic D.I. box, do I really need it?
I would have thought you can go in at line level.

Peace and goodwill to all speaker builders

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13 years 10 months ago #11287 by Tony Wilkes
Replied by Tony Wilkes on topic D.I. box, do I really need it?
yep, should be no problem to go direct, lack of gain could be the only issue.

Tony

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13 years 10 months ago #11293 by MAutopsy
Replied by MAutopsy on topic D.I. box, do I really need it?
We record quite often. Don't use a di box, the more stuff you got in the way, the more noise. To record bass guitar direct, just plug it into the channel. Run your effects thru the mixing desk.
Mike

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13 years 10 months ago #11294 by bjm362
Replied by bjm362 on topic D.I. box, do I really need it?
From what you guys are all saying things are the way I understand them in this situation. I guess I just needed some reasurance since the memory of the horror story of this chick I knew that blew out a channel was just throwing me.
She MUST have had something wrong.


Thanks for all the replies !!!!

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13 years 10 months ago #11302 by MAutopsy
Replied by MAutopsy on topic D.I. box, do I really need it?
you should turn all gains and volumes down on the channel and your bass before plugging it in. If it is as active pickups, the signal will be stronger

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13 years 10 months ago #11303 by bjm362
Replied by bjm362 on topic D.I. box, do I really need it?

MAutopsy wrote: you should turn all gains and volumes down on the channel and your bass before plugging it in.

I certainly would do that anyway,but thank you very much for being sure and pointing that out,as some times the most simple basic thing gets overlooked and can cause big bad problems!

MAutopsy wrote: If it is as active pickups, the signal will be stronger

It has passive pickups.

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13 years 6 months ago #13865 by AudioDreemz
Replied by AudioDreemz on topic D.I. box, do I really need it?

bjm362 wrote: I want to run my electric bass www.ibanez.com/BassGuitars/model-GARTB20 through my home recording mixer www.behringer.com/EN/Products/X1204USB.aspx . Preferably without either buying something I don't need, or destroying a channel on my mixer!

I would have asked Behringer's support my question, but I am reasonably confident they are going to try and sell me a direct box,whether I need one or not.

It seems to me that I should be able to run 1/4 from my bass to 1/4 in on any channel on my mixer. They all have attenuation.
The first 4 channels have a variable gain control (-10 to +40). While the other 2 have two presets available, either -10 OR +4.
I knew someone 30 years ago that blew out a channel on a mixer by running a bass into it but I am not sure if they hooked it incorrectly, had active pickups or what.

A direct box is not a real expensive item, but if I don't need it I would rather spend my money on other things (like new machine heads for my acoustic bass ) !

Go with the DI it has its benefits ,going directly to line will create a weak signal and while you increase the gain to compensate you will also be adding electrons noise.

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13 years 6 months ago #13896 by chaudio
Replied by chaudio on topic D.I. box, do I really need it?
Line inputs on a mixing desk have a relatively low input impedance (10k Ohm) compared with the very high impedance (1M Ohm) of an instrument amplifier or DI box.

While this won't do any damage, it will have a negative effect on the sound. There will be significant signal loss, especially at high frequencies. Passive pickups will suffer from this much worse than active ones.

For the best sound, I would seriously recommend using an active DI box, it doesn't have to be an expensive one.

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13 years 5 months ago #14018 by Ron
Replied by Ron on topic D.I. box, do I really need it?
At the risk of really showing my ignorance I will tell you my application and you decide if it has any relavence to yours. My wife and I have a duet and she plays a Yamaha PSR 550 keyboard. It has active electronics and we plug 1/4 instrument cable and run directly into a 1/4 inch Hi Z channel input. We set her keyboard volume at 1/2 and adjust system volume via channel gain. She can fine tune her volume at the keyboard during performances and we have never damged anything. Quite frankly, we have never used the Direct Box unless we need to make a longer cable run or we are running our laptop into a channel for DJ purposes.

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