What's the point of a direct box?

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
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Beatport
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What's the point of a direct box?

Post by Beatport » Sat Aug 04, 2007 12:28 am

What's the point of a direct box? Should I be using one with my synths if i'm going into a preamp?

solodky
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Re: What's the point of a direct box?

Post by solodky » Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:13 am

Beatport wrote:What's the point of a direct box? Should I be using one with my synths if i'm going into a preamp?
is that an XLR Mic pre amp?

synnack
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Post by synnack » Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:16 am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_box

If the preamp requires XLR input then yes.

longjohns
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Post by longjohns » Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:21 am

I may be talking out my ass but if you've got the cabling you need then I'd say no

With my old band we packed a 4x direct box 1U rack to shows, because most clubs we played at the time only had XLR inputs on their snakes and maybe 1 or 2 DI's at best.

sometimes it was handy to have the ground lift switch

Beatport
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Post by Beatport » Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:23 am

Yes, I am going into an XLR pre.

OK, I guess I'm confused about one thing.

Is a synth output line or Hi-Z? I only need a DI if it's Hi-Z right? What happens if I go line into the mic pre?

longjohns
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Post by longjohns » Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:43 am

Line level is WAY hotter than a microphone, that doesn't seem like a good idea

Beatport
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Post by Beatport » Sat Aug 04, 2007 2:20 am

yeah, but is the output of my synth line or Hi-Z? It's an old roland juno-6 and an old vintage ARP

Do I need a direct box to go into the Hi-Z or mic pre inputs of my preamp.

I'm jst wondering, what's the best way to record this?

knotkranky
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Post by knotkranky » Sat Aug 04, 2007 4:10 am

A di can be an adapter or a an impedance matcher. Yes, a synth is line level, but it's also ok to plug it into a mic pre, though you may have to turn down the level on the synth a bit. Line to line is the best way to go, but sometimes i'll plug synths into a pre for character. It's all good.

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