It’s interesting because I remember you and I had a conversation about this a while back. I went and tried a few different DI boxes that you recommended, and I ended up preferring just going straight into my scarlet 2i4. Not sure why, it just felt more responsive to me haha and that’s how I’ve recorded all my albums since Coloratura.
i was also wondering why some of my guitars are clipping pre-interface. Found out that my hi output dimarzio brigde PU for example clipped the most. lowered it, problem solved.
I think you should make a comparison video wherein you just label them A B C and mix them up to see if listeners can pick the sound they like the most, then reveal the answers.
Makes sense, the JDI is borderline a preamp (radial says as much in the manual) and it’s def compressing the signal ever slightly. Amazing playing as always, the devil is always in the details 🤘🏻
Glad you mentioned the caveat of "depending on which interface you use" when talking about the necessity of a DI box. If you're running through something like an RME interface or something else high end thats super clear, I actually found that going direct was giving me a way cleaner signal than using something like a J48. I like the form factor of the J48 since it has a thru output but lately I've been either just going straight into the instrument input on my Babyface, or if I'm using the Quad cortex I create a DI lane at the bottom and send that to my instrument input in addition to the amp tone I use going into the xlr in on my interface.
7:38 is what did it for me. If you listen to the fist take and try to focus on what sounds like noise/distortion then the second take comes in, that portion of the audio is even more pronounced and noisy, imo. With that being said, there are times where the hi Z sounds more present (louder) to my ear. Listening on ATH-M20x
In a very humble and modest opinion (not to be taken very seriously), I think in a rich composition, this level of precisions might get lost in the mix especially with effects, loudness, compression,eq, etc. and you have 4 tracks of the same guitar, another guitar tracked 4 times, maybe a lead, a vocal, backing vocals, bass, drums, synth or keyboard and maybe effects etc. This precisions is probably more favorable to people who just post content on social media (tiktok and reels and shorts), where the focus is more on the guitarist playing and his prowess than the compositions (where it's not a compositions, but just a backing track to highlight the guitarist), and the more bright and precise the tone and the playing is, the more it will be picked on in social media since it's a matter of milliseconds to pick on if the guitarist is "good" or not. That's just an opinion, I believe we must focus on creativity and wildness of expression than the technicality, because right now, we truly need more records and more NEW THINGS than ever! Cheers!
In general I think I agree with you, but honestly why not both? If you can make the source tones of everything sparkle 10% more, while having an extremely strong composition - isn't that the best possible outcome? Cheers dude
@@tylerm8145 Cheers homie, I agree with you too, but sometimes you are "mentally" constrained with time, you put to yourself imaginary deadlines to get something done, sometimes it's the label that forces you, or your own budget... So realistically speaking, we have to find a balance between the best tone, best melody, best composition, best song structure, best harmony, best solo, best everything else, in the most optimal time with the lest expenses and efforts (because let's be honest, we are all lazy MFer lol) I also believe that an artist in 2024 should be aware with all the technology in between his hands to achieve what he want. You can literally get a high end tone ready to record from a TONEX (which is probably the cheapest, pro box that can do it), or go a notch higher, a headrush, or a helix, or a quad cortex, or an axe fx, or you go high end with expensive amp heads and crazy cabs with 1000$ mics, plugged into crazy analog gear... And being aware of all this will give you the possibility to choose depending on your budget the best choice possible. But at the end, between an artist on budget or a high end one, it's the best song, the one that's catchy, that you can headbang to or dance to, or sing with, or sing yourself later before sleep, that counts! Love u bro, take care!
@@InnAyyur yeah I get what you're saying. I think maybe there should be a time and place for tone chasing (which I guess can be all the time if you have that kind of free time lol), and hopefully you would end up with some presets you can use as a basis for lots of your music. There's also nothing wrong with a little bit of gear exploration/obsession, but there's also a lot to be said for learning to get the best out of what you have. I mean I feel like all of these practices synergize with each other and having good tones that inspire you leads to better demos, leads to being able to mold those into better finished songs etc. I've kinda lost the plot here, but focusing on composition good, bit of GAS can also be fine, fun, and inspiring. Honestly whatever it takes to get you to play and create. All love everyone, cheers.
@@tylerm8145 Cheers my man, 100% agree! shortly wont make another paragraph to you lol: Right now I'm building a HUGE pedalboard for rhythm, lead, and crazy atmospherics (+ bass tone too, cuz I write everything myself), and I'm doing that right now cuz on my plans, I already wrote 8 songs, they are not finished yet, but wanted a breather to come late with fresher ideas, and I'm pretty happy with the progress I'm making in both sides, since I'm okey financially and in my schedule. If I see myself not finishing at least 3 songs by the end of the year, then I'll be a little bit mad with myself haha. Hope everyone finds their muse and fulfilment in their artistic journey, best wishes!!
Yes. a DI box still comes in handy. Always a must have. You could route the dry signal into one intput of an interface for an instance of an NDSP plugin while using the thru output to record a physical amp or ampl modeler into other interface inputs for example.
I can definitely hear the difference. One issue I've had with using Neural DSP plugins is that it often feels (for a lack of better words) too sensitive. It's like the algorithm is taking every little sound (and noise) coming from my guitar and applying the amp modeling to it. My real amp takes my signal and filters out those noises while the plugin seems to enhance them (make them louder). I could hear that same phenomenon in Keyan's takes without the DI box while the DI box takes were much cleaner sounding when the amp tone was applied to it. After seeing this, I am definitely going to save up and buy a DI box. Thanks Keyan!
Great video, definitely an audible difference which to me favours the DI, same reason i got a countryman 85 DI, once you hear/try the difference it's hard to go back, i think this is even more apparent on Bass DI tones
Facinating to see how well the Focusrite holds up. No surprise the dedicated DI (especially a Radial) had a cleaner sound BUT: Cheaper Focusrite interfaces did not always perform this well. They only fixed it because enough people complained. I owned Saffiire pro24 for years and while it was a great interface for that time period the instrument inputs were basically useless. Any plug-in or reamped tones had a weird low mid hump and even with pickups that were not highest output it would clip the input stage. When I asked people for advice online they either would tell you "just pick lighter lol" or to purchase a DI or dedicated preamp. Which is eventually what I did. Anyone who was there remembers the struggle. So technically, a DI isn't absolutely mandatory in this era but there was a point in time you absolutely needed one if you wanted any quality guitar sound whatsoever. The inputs had zero headroom back in the day and only existed for convenience rather than purpose. Thankfully it seems to have also improved across the board, my secondary recording setup is a small Audient ID14 that not only has headroom but the pres have a half-decent sound when you drive it instead of just nasty clipping.
Thank you for KSE ❤ I've been using active DI box for years for exact same reason as you. It just has more juice 😅 But this year I bought used RME Babyface Pro, tried it face-to-face VS my active DI and found out that I cannot really hear much difference 😅 So, my setup finally got some optimisation without any sacrifices in sound 🎉 Also the RME driver stability is nuts ❤
That was a super helpful, informative and insightful comparison! 👍👍👍 Any thoughts you can share about any substantial differences in the signal that might be between the Radial and the Rupert Neve designs (RNDI)?
Awesome video. It definitely seems to make a bigger difference in situations with audio interfaces that don't convert the signal as well, I almost feel like it depends on how you want it to sound too, you may want a more pronounced pick attack through going direct. Personally, I think I'm going to continue to use a DI box anyhow :)
From what my ears are telling me, it seems that the DI helps to control the transients and provides a richer tone. The input straight into the interface seems to "bleed" more and comes across more harsh.
Yeah in the Focusrite the instrument input sounds pretty shitty, using the mic input with a DI box helps a lot. However, after I switched to an Audient interface the instrument input actually sounds really good so I don't need to use the DI box for recording. Regardless, to anyone considering buying one, don't be afraid to get a passive DI box which is cheaper. Metal guitars have plenty of output and are fine with a passive DI (even for passive pickups).
@@athmaid Humming can occur from different reasons, and not necessarily a ground loop. Even then, just using a DI box might not fix the problem but it doesn't hurt to try. It's also a good tool to own
@@HerkeveyHanoar yeah I know, I'm suspecting my guitars might not be shielded properly for example. I'm mostly considering it to rule out ground loops, if it doesn't solve the issue I'll just send it back lol
@@athmaidI record through an iD44 and never had any noise issues. Do different guitars all have the same issue? You might want to take a look inside the guitar and see if everything’s soldered correctly. (Output jack, pickups, control cavity)
Bro I was looking into this during the week and you're one of the only sources I trust, was legit planning on messaging you on Insta for advice but didnt want to bother you lol Instead of buying this DI box to use with my Scarlett Solo, I just bought an Audient iD4 instead
The difference isn’t substantial. BUT when you’re stacking tracks in a recording, 2, 4, 6 guitars going at the same time panned, all those slightly harsher picks and little bit of noise gradually add up and I can say from first hand experience, it makes the guitars painful. It’ll make them sound louder than everything else, turn them down and then they’re just thin. Trying to pick the frequencies out is a challenge too because then you loose clarity.
Wow. I’ll admit, I don’t have the best ear, and often when you show comparisons I don’t notice the difference. But I actually heard way more than I expected! Especially on the low end. That “thinness” the Focusrite has is something I’ve heard a lot when tracking my guitars and I never would’ve guessed this was the cause. As much as I’m an in the box guy, I might actually check one out now. Thanks!
There could be a problem with input impedance. Here different input impedances: JDI: 140 kΩ J48: 220kΩ Scarlett 4i4: 1500kΩ (instrument hi-z) SSL2: 1000kΩ (instrument hi-z) (mine in my case) If your input impedance is not high enough you are not going to get a true representation of the sound of your pickups. A solution could be use a buffer pedal to lower the impedance before you get to the direct box. Are you using any buffer pedal between your guitar and the direct box?
I listened to this very loud on my headphones, and the only differences I could notice were extremely miniscule and I would say indiscernible in the context of a full band mix. If I had to sell the DI box, I would say "it improves your signal-to-noise ratio by filtering unwanted RF and electrical noise." For the average home studio guitarist, this amount is not worth the money. But, for somebody who is recording all the time and is also performing music live on a regular basis (which is probably where DI boxes shine the brightest), I'd say it's probably worth it.
Listening on HD Headphones and the DI sounds great and straight into the Scarlett added a strange and noticeable mid range coldness. My ears also noticed a "cold" sounding tonality from the high end. I'm genuinely curious what this does to a VST coding, specifically.
To my ears the scarlett DI sounded pokier and crispier, which, when compared to the JDI, didn't translate that well into high gain, and the low end being pulled back on heavy strumming is insane. Radial DI was balanced with no low end fluctuations and through the amp sounded more "produced".
Seems, Radial just color a signal like every analogue device do. Not sure, it's "more frequencies, passing through", because Radial is going straight to Scarlett. You can lose high frequencies, if you use long cables or connect to line output without di-box, but low and lower mid frequencies are not filtering.
i’ve gotten SO much further in my guitar playing, recording, mixing, EQing and basically everything else from you my man. Thank you so much, love from adl 🩷 Yeah buddy!
I get a lot of noise from many electronics around my desktop where I record straight into my IK Multimedia AXE I/O One which has an Hi-Z input, it happens with many guitars with different pickups. Would you recommend getting a DI Box to help with noise even though the Hi-Z in my interface is supposed to apparently already deal with noise? How much less noise have you experienced going DI Box into interface when sitting in front of many electronics? If it clears the noise by a noticeable difference then that reason alone is a reason I would get one Thanks for the excellent video!
Could you have the mic level output of the di box go into the interface input 1 and then have the throughput cable go straight into the interface input 2 (Hi-Z) so we can hear the audio differences of the exact same performance?
Hi Keyan 👋 I am a fellow Radelaidian (I know that made you cringe) 😂 love your channel and been watching it for many years! A question, I bought a Radical J48 Active direct box and as it's phantom powered I have never been able to get it to work through my audio interface which is a IK Multimedia axe io. I have active pickups I am assuming I picked up the wrong one 😬 did I need to buy the passive one you recommended or is there a way to get the active one working! Doesn't seem to be any information online about this.
Maybe i have an older gen Scarlet interface but i found my passive pickups were just way too quiet to record with, while my emg's were just right. I think I need to get a DI box.
Specifically if it's the 2i2 3rd gen. I was having the same problems just with my guitar pickups. You may have to have the gain on the interface set pretty low but you might have more luck than I did.
@@theders8590 I (think) I have the 2nd gen. The gain is very low when recording my bass, just above 0. My other bosses are fine, but that Spector ... Sounds great but a pain to record with (Euro 5 LX 2004ish)
Out of interest what level do you aim for with the DI, about -6 with the DI box in place or do you just have the HIZ input on the interface set at 0 when plugging in directly?
Whooooooa ease up on the slurs drude. You're using the H word pretty liberally at the end there lol. I can actually hear a difference tho. Even tnrough phone speakers. Thank you for the info I didn't know I needed! Great insight as always. Cheers brother
Guys! I ran into the issue of my pickups being too hot and it clip the DI box , even padding it, it would just sound like shit, like its muffled and it doesnt react like a guitar should, hard to explain but when you play you know.. (My audio waveform has way smaller transient then straight to the apollo, sounds like that too all the articulation is gone.. )then I go straight back to my apollo interface and then it reacts how it should be, although it is still clipping for some chugging but it reacts how it should be. Hopefully this issue could be adressed .. ps im using bareknuckle pickups on my mayones guitar
The only difference I can see happening here is the DI box has the ground lift option. That’s a huge advantage for us in the US that currently are relying on Smart Electric Meters that send pulses of electricity instead of the old fashioned steady flow. Smart Meters sending electricity in bursts like that results in an inconsistent flow of energy and makes loop noises really fucking loud and annoying. You can’t get away from it with passive pickups.
Guys help me pls. After connect the di box when i go into hi z audio interface i need to set the gain of the audio int. as always? try to not clip and more signal as possible? thx.
I just got into electric guitar earlier this year and still very much a beginner. When I did research on di boxes, I read that active di boxes were designed for passive pickups?
Buy Di box if you got pretty good and pricy setup cuz Di costs around 200$ and of you have a 200$ sound interface, then, cmon man wtf! 😅 As about how i use mu passive Di box - i bought myself sm57 with this tiny sound interface, it is called x2u. So the routing is guitar to Di box with guitar cable, then Di to this x2u card with xlr since this card is for sm57, then you go straight to your laptop with USB BOOM BABE!👌 And you enjoy your tiny clear setup juiced with our usb input🏄🏿♂️🏄🏿♂️🏄🏿♂️
@@adam2178 I was talking about low budget lads and you say they should get Babyface Pro is everything ok with ya? 🤔 Also i dont wanna start this, but i went UAD Apollo over RME and i will do it again 100%. It works flawlessly with Mac over Thunderbolt ❤️
If all you play through are dsps(which is a shame) and you're worried about headroom based on your pickups then you might pick one up sure, aside from that no, you don't need one
I know this is a popular di box, but I think it’s attenuation is too much. When the signal is too low and it’s being stored in 24 bit int and you need to increase it you might end up with distortion cause integer is not enough to describe small amplitudes. I’d recommend a di box that has a switch to chose between -3, -6 and -12 db attenuation. You probably never need to go lower than -6 and -3 should work for most people
Now that I said that, I’m not sure weather your test is as apples on apples as it could or not. What do you mean by trying to get your gain staging as close as possible. You should end up with the -15db attenuated signal from your di box. Or did you not attenuate? And why didn’t you send the signal from a looper or reamped it through the di box? The differences you hear probably come from the differences in amplitude. I’d need to know more about the method to fully understand your results
Wym it shouldn't matter? Do you only ever listen to music in that context or what? I don't get it. Even so, would you not want it to sound the best that it can? Also I CAN hear the difference in both the di and the amplified signal, so to some people it makes a difference. I don't know that it "matters" necessarily, but one does sound better than the other to me.
@@tylerm8145 If you can afford and have the funds for it, by all means, get the best gear possible, I definitely would. All I'm saying is whatever DI you can afford and have right now, it should work and shouldn't matter. Yes, there will definitely be a difference, even expensive DIs differ in sound to an extent. But to answer the question "Do you NEED a DI Box (when you already have a bulit-in DI)?", then No.
@@dhendart nah you're absolutely right. I doubt anyone actually NEEDS a di box if they have a perfectly good interface. Maybe if you start to take music production a little more seriously that changes a bit. When that's the case I think you owe it to yourself to improve your signal chain as much as you can within reason/budget. Small upgrades can add up to a big difference as well.
Digging the DI Box Engage riffs.
It’s interesting because I remember you and I had a conversation about this a while back. I went and tried a few different DI boxes that you recommended, and I ended up preferring just going straight into my scarlet 2i4. Not sure why, it just felt more responsive to me haha and that’s how I’ve recorded all my albums since Coloratura.
i was also wondering why some of my guitars are clipping pre-interface. Found out that my hi output dimarzio brigde PU for example clipped the most. lowered it, problem solved.
I think you should make a comparison video wherein you just label them A B C and mix them up to see if listeners can pick the sound they like the most, then reveal the answers.
I have a cheapo Behringer active DI box and it improved the sound of my signal significantly while cutting down on interference
Do you have the name of the model ?
@@adamhafiz6341 it's the Behringer Ultra-DI DI-100, $35 new
@@adamhafiz6341 it's the Behringer Ultra-DI DI100, it's $35 new
@@adamhafiz6341 probably Ultra G something,
I got a passive DI box a while ago for recording bass and my Bass VI, there's definitely more low end information as you clearly displayed here.
Makes sense, the JDI is borderline a preamp (radial says as much in the manual) and it’s def compressing the signal ever slightly. Amazing playing as always, the devil is always in the details 🤘🏻
dang I can totally hear the difference, might have to grab a DI box and do some experimenting, great vid!
Glad you mentioned the caveat of "depending on which interface you use" when talking about the necessity of a DI box. If you're running through something like an RME interface or something else high end thats super clear, I actually found that going direct was giving me a way cleaner signal than using something like a J48. I like the form factor of the J48 since it has a thru output but lately I've been either just going straight into the instrument input on my Babyface, or if I'm using the Quad cortex I create a DI lane at the bottom and send that to my instrument input in addition to the amp tone I use going into the xlr in on my interface.
So you recommend the babyface instrument input over a good DI box?
7:38 is what did it for me. If you listen to the fist take and try to focus on what sounds like noise/distortion then the second take comes in, that portion of the audio is even more pronounced and noisy, imo. With that being said, there are times where the hi Z sounds more present (louder) to my ear. Listening on ATH-M20x
I noticed that as well. The second take sounded like it had more fizz in it
@@ngaugeblading9690it did for sure
In a very humble and modest opinion (not to be taken very seriously), I think in a rich composition, this level of precisions might get lost in the mix especially with effects, loudness, compression,eq, etc. and you have 4 tracks of the same guitar, another guitar tracked 4 times, maybe a lead, a vocal, backing vocals, bass, drums, synth or keyboard and maybe effects etc. This precisions is probably more favorable to people who just post content on social media (tiktok and reels and shorts), where the focus is more on the guitarist playing and his prowess than the compositions (where it's not a compositions, but just a backing track to highlight the guitarist), and the more bright and precise the tone and the playing is, the more it will be picked on in social media since it's a matter of milliseconds to pick on if the guitarist is "good" or not.
That's just an opinion, I believe we must focus on creativity and wildness of expression than the technicality, because right now, we truly need more records and more NEW THINGS than ever!
Cheers!
In general I think I agree with you, but honestly why not both? If you can make the source tones of everything sparkle 10% more, while having an extremely strong composition - isn't that the best possible outcome? Cheers dude
@@tylerm8145 Cheers homie, I agree with you too, but sometimes you are "mentally" constrained with time, you put to yourself imaginary deadlines to get something done, sometimes it's the label that forces you, or your own budget... So realistically speaking, we have to find a balance between the best tone, best melody, best composition, best song structure, best harmony, best solo, best everything else, in the most optimal time with the lest expenses and efforts (because let's be honest, we are all lazy MFer lol)
I also believe that an artist in 2024 should be aware with all the technology in between his hands to achieve what he want. You can literally get a high end tone ready to record from a TONEX (which is probably the cheapest, pro box that can do it), or go a notch higher, a headrush, or a helix, or a quad cortex, or an axe fx, or you go high end with expensive amp heads and crazy cabs with 1000$ mics, plugged into crazy analog gear... And being aware of all this will give you the possibility to choose depending on your budget the best choice possible.
But at the end, between an artist on budget or a high end one, it's the best song, the one that's catchy, that you can headbang to or dance to, or sing with, or sing yourself later before sleep, that counts!
Love u bro, take care!
@@InnAyyur yeah I get what you're saying. I think maybe there should be a time and place for tone chasing (which I guess can be all the time if you have that kind of free time lol), and hopefully you would end up with some presets you can use as a basis for lots of your music. There's also nothing wrong with a little bit of gear exploration/obsession, but there's also a lot to be said for learning to get the best out of what you have.
I mean I feel like all of these practices synergize with each other and having good tones that inspire you leads to better demos, leads to being able to mold those into better finished songs etc.
I've kinda lost the plot here, but focusing on composition good, bit of GAS can also be fine, fun, and inspiring. Honestly whatever it takes to get you to play and create. All love everyone, cheers.
@@tylerm8145 Cheers my man, 100% agree!
shortly wont make another paragraph to you lol:
Right now I'm building a HUGE pedalboard for rhythm, lead, and crazy atmospherics (+ bass tone too, cuz I write everything myself), and I'm doing that right now cuz on my plans, I already wrote 8 songs, they are not finished yet, but wanted a breather to come late with fresher ideas, and I'm pretty happy with the progress I'm making in both sides, since I'm okey financially and in my schedule. If I see myself not finishing at least 3 songs by the end of the year, then I'll be a little bit mad with myself haha.
Hope everyone finds their muse and fulfilment in their artistic journey, best wishes!!
THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS. I’ve been wondering about this for a while
Yes. a DI box still comes in handy. Always a must have. You could route the dry signal into one intput of an interface for an instance of an NDSP plugin while using the thru output to record a physical amp or ampl modeler into other interface inputs for example.
I can definitely hear the difference. One issue I've had with using Neural DSP plugins is that it often feels (for a lack of better words) too sensitive. It's like the algorithm is taking every little sound (and noise) coming from my guitar and applying the amp modeling to it. My real amp takes my signal and filters out those noises while the plugin seems to enhance them (make them louder). I could hear that same phenomenon in Keyan's takes without the DI box while the DI box takes were much cleaner sounding when the amp tone was applied to it. After seeing this, I am definitely going to save up and buy a DI box. Thanks Keyan!
its most noticeable for me in the noise floor with the full and open distorted chord examples.
DI box + focusrite for sure !
Great video, definitely an audible difference which to me favours the DI,
same reason i got a countryman 85 DI, once you hear/try the difference it's hard to go back, i think this is even more apparent on Bass DI tones
Does it help? Yes!
Is it needed? No.
So precise in your playing!
Facinating to see how well the Focusrite holds up. No surprise the dedicated DI (especially a Radial) had a cleaner sound BUT:
Cheaper Focusrite interfaces did not always perform this well. They only fixed it because enough people complained. I owned Saffiire pro24 for years and while it was a great interface for that time period the instrument inputs were basically useless. Any plug-in or reamped tones had a weird low mid hump and even with pickups that were not highest output it would clip the input stage. When I asked people for advice online they either would tell you "just pick lighter lol" or to purchase a DI or dedicated preamp. Which is eventually what I did. Anyone who was there remembers the struggle.
So technically, a DI isn't absolutely mandatory in this era but there was a point in time you absolutely needed one if you wanted any quality guitar sound whatsoever. The inputs had zero headroom back in the day and only existed for convenience rather than purpose.
Thankfully it seems to have also improved across the board, my secondary recording setup is a small Audient ID14 that not only has headroom but the pres have a half-decent sound when you drive it instead of just nasty clipping.
Yup, back when I had a 2nd Gen Solo I required a DI box to get a clean signal and avoid clipping. Once I got my 3rd Gen 4i4 I found it unnecessary.
Thank you for KSE ❤
I've been using active DI box for years for exact same reason as you. It just has more juice 😅
But this year I bought used RME Babyface Pro, tried it face-to-face VS my active DI and found out that I cannot really hear much difference 😅
So, my setup finally got some optimisation without any sacrifices in sound 🎉
Also the RME driver stability is nuts ❤
What were you having driver issues with before?
@@rowanb4395audient id14. Came with no possibility to update firmware straight out of the box🎉
@@rowanb4395 Audient ID14
Bro was on a killswitch stint (I so welcome it fr fr)
That was a super helpful, informative and insightful comparison! 👍👍👍 Any thoughts you can share about any substantial differences in the signal that might be between the Radial and the Rupert Neve designs (RNDI)?
Awesome video. It definitely seems to make a bigger difference in situations with audio interfaces that don't convert the signal as well, I almost feel like it depends on how you want it to sound too, you may want a more pronounced pick attack through going direct. Personally, I think I'm going to continue to use a DI box anyhow :)
thank you for doing a video on this, i have had so much issues with interface, ill igve it a go
i'm actually surprised that i either actually hear a difference in the DI or that i got placebo'd into hearing one
From what my ears are telling me, it seems that the DI helps to control the transients and provides a richer tone. The input straight into the interface seems to "bleed" more and comes across more harsh.
Yeah in the Focusrite the instrument input sounds pretty shitty, using the mic input with a DI box helps a lot. However, after I switched to an Audient interface the instrument input actually sounds really good so I don't need to use the DI box for recording. Regardless, to anyone considering buying one, don't be afraid to get a passive DI box which is cheaper. Metal guitars have plenty of output and are fine with a passive DI (even for passive pickups).
I often get asked why I use a passive DI box with passive pickups, and you explained it very well!
I have an Audient iD4 but what I'm guessing is ground loop noise makes it impossible to use the instrument input. Seriously considering a DI box now
@@athmaid Humming can occur from different reasons, and not necessarily a ground loop. Even then, just using a DI box might not fix the problem but it doesn't hurt to try. It's also a good tool to own
@@HerkeveyHanoar yeah I know, I'm suspecting my guitars might not be shielded properly for example. I'm mostly considering it to rule out ground loops, if it doesn't solve the issue I'll just send it back lol
@@athmaidI record through an iD44 and never had any noise issues.
Do different guitars all have the same issue?
You might want to take a look inside the guitar and see if everything’s soldered correctly.
(Output jack, pickups, control cavity)
Bro I was looking into this during the week and you're one of the only sources I trust, was legit planning on messaging you on Insta for advice but didnt want to bother you lol
Instead of buying this DI box to use with my Scarlett Solo, I just bought an Audient iD4 instead
The difference isn’t substantial. BUT when you’re stacking tracks in a recording, 2, 4, 6 guitars going at the same time panned, all those slightly harsher picks and little bit of noise gradually add up and I can say from first hand experience, it makes the guitars painful. It’ll make them sound louder than everything else, turn them down and then they’re just thin. Trying to pick the frequencies out is a challenge too because then you loose clarity.
Wow. I’ll admit, I don’t have the best ear, and often when you show comparisons I don’t notice the difference. But I actually heard way more than I expected! Especially on the low end. That “thinness” the Focusrite has is something I’ve heard a lot when tracking my guitars and I never would’ve guessed this was the cause. As much as I’m an in the box guy, I might actually check one out now. Thanks!
Soundwise nothing a EQ can't do.
Beside that Groundlift is an argument.
Thx for the work
Thanks for watching!
Absolutely need I usually use J48 for recording guitar and bass (Interface Rme babyface). Di box has high quality more than interface di
There could be a problem with input impedance. Here different input impedances:
JDI: 140 kΩ
J48: 220kΩ
Scarlett 4i4: 1500kΩ (instrument hi-z)
SSL2: 1000kΩ (instrument hi-z) (mine in my case)
If your input impedance is not high enough you are not going to get a true representation of the sound of your pickups.
A solution could be use a buffer pedal to lower the impedance before you get to the direct box.
Are you using any buffer pedal between your guitar and the direct box?
Great video, do you know if the JDI would add anything to something like an Apogee or RME?
I listened to this very loud on my headphones, and the only differences I could notice were extremely miniscule and I would say indiscernible in the context of a full band mix. If I had to sell the DI box, I would say "it improves your signal-to-noise ratio by filtering unwanted RF and electrical noise." For the average home studio guitarist, this amount is not worth the money. But, for somebody who is recording all the time and is also performing music live on a regular basis (which is probably where DI boxes shine the brightest), I'd say it's probably worth it.
Listening on HD Headphones and the DI sounds great and straight into the Scarlett added a strange and noticeable mid range coldness. My ears also noticed a "cold" sounding tonality from the high end. I'm genuinely curious what this does to a VST coding, specifically.
To my ears the scarlett DI sounded pokier and crispier, which, when compared to the JDI, didn't translate that well into high gain, and the low end being pulled back on heavy strumming is insane. Radial DI was balanced with no low end fluctuations and through the amp sounded more "produced".
bought di box day ago and it was the gamechanger, because my pickups is clipping the shit out of the arturia minifuse 1
Seems, Radial just color a signal like every analogue device do. Not sure, it's "more frequencies, passing through", because Radial is going straight to Scarlett. You can lose high frequencies, if you use long cables or connect to line output without di-box, but low and lower mid frequencies are not filtering.
Because I saw you used DI box many yeats ago I also bought dbx 12dB DI box on Focusrite 6i6.... But i never heard much difference...
I've made a test on my u tube channel with dbx db12 and I hear substantial difference
@@demondrive147 i will check it out, thanks...
@@spiraldrop4897 welcome 😁
i’ve gotten SO much further in my guitar playing, recording, mixing, EQing and basically everything else from you my man. Thank you so much, love from adl 🩷
Yeah buddy!
Thanks for watching and I’m glad they’ve all helped! ADL represent 🫶
Wow, I didn't know I needed a DI box
I get a lot of noise from many electronics around my desktop where I record straight into my IK Multimedia AXE I/O One which has an Hi-Z input, it happens with many guitars with different pickups. Would you recommend getting a DI Box to help with noise even though the Hi-Z in my interface is supposed to apparently already deal with noise? How much less noise have you experienced going DI Box into interface when sitting in front of many electronics? If it clears the noise by a noticeable difference then that reason alone is a reason I would get one
Thanks for the excellent video!
Could you have the mic level output of the di box go into the interface input 1 and then have the throughput cable go straight into the interface input 2 (Hi-Z) so we can hear the audio differences of the exact same performance?
Hi Keyan 👋 I am a fellow Radelaidian (I know that made you cringe) 😂 love your channel and been watching it for many years! A question, I bought a Radical J48 Active direct box and as it's phantom powered I have never been able to get it to work through my audio interface which is a IK Multimedia axe io. I have active pickups I am assuming I picked up the wrong one 😬 did I need to buy the passive one you recommended or is there a way to get the active one working! Doesn't seem to be any information online about this.
I should be using headphones but I think what I'm hearing is the DI Box is retaining more of the low end.
Maybe i have an older gen Scarlet interface but i found my passive pickups were just way too quiet to record with, while my emg's were just right. I think I need to get a DI box.
Which generation?
@@thisguy2973 I don't remember. I bought it a year ago used.
Song name at 5:52?
My spector bass is such a pain to record with because the EMG pickups are so hot. I need to try this out (using a 2i2 interface)
I could be wrong, but the DI seems to have a more dynamic range, this could be a good or bad thing depending what you're recording/playing
Specifically if it's the 2i2 3rd gen. I was having the same problems just with my guitar pickups. You may have to have the gain on the interface set pretty low but you might have more luck than I did.
@@theders8590 I (think) I have the 2nd gen. The gain is very low when recording my bass, just above 0. My other bosses are fine, but that Spector ... Sounds great but a pain to record with (Euro 5 LX 2004ish)
5:11 is that Gravemakers and Gunslingers by Coheed and Cambria or am I mistaken?
Save Me by Killswitch Engage
@@quotebrainiac2593 the main riff sounds similar
Would you recommend using a DI box into the quad cortex?
Out of interest what level do you aim for with the DI, about -6 with the DI box in place or do you just have the HIZ input on the interface set at 0 when plugging in directly?
Whooooooa ease up on the slurs drude. You're using the H word pretty liberally at the end there lol.
I can actually hear a difference tho. Even tnrough phone speakers. Thank you for the info I didn't know I needed! Great insight as always. Cheers brother
In most examples, straight into the interface lacks body. 👍
Guys! I ran into the issue of my pickups being too hot and it clip the DI box , even padding it, it would just sound like shit, like its muffled and it doesnt react like a guitar should, hard to explain but when you play you know.. (My audio waveform has way smaller transient then straight to the apollo, sounds like that too all the articulation is gone.. )then I go straight back to my apollo interface and then it reacts how it should be, although it is still clipping for some chugging but it reacts how it should be. Hopefully this issue could be adressed ..
ps im using bareknuckle pickups on my mayones guitar
The only difference I can see happening here is the DI box has the ground lift option. That’s a huge advantage for us in the US that currently are relying on Smart Electric Meters that send pulses of electricity instead of the old fashioned steady flow. Smart Meters sending electricity in bursts like that results in an inconsistent flow of energy and makes loop noises really fucking loud and annoying. You can’t get away from it with passive pickups.
Do you use the air setting on your focusrite? I have the 4th gen i really like how it sounds on the di
I can already hear the hundreds of dollars flying out of the wallets of people who now think a di box is gonna fix their shitty tone lol
Guys help me pls. After connect the di box when i go into hi z audio interface i need to set the gain of the audio int. as always? try to not clip and more signal as possible? thx.
I just got into electric guitar earlier this year and still very much a beginner. When I did research on di boxes, I read that active di boxes were designed for passive pickups?
Yes. And Passive DI boxes are for guitars with active pickups or on-board preamps like acoustic-electric guitars.
I use my DI box every time. They just work.
Could u use a re amp box to make the performance not a variable?
Does adding di box before a modeller like fm9 help?
no
The D.I. sound with more body and highs
mercccc keyvan jan,aalii boodd
I know all these riffs but cannot remember the song names 😂
My Curse, Save Me, This Is Absolution
Killswitch engage ❤😊
Buy Di box if you got pretty good and pricy setup cuz Di costs around 200$ and of you have a 200$ sound interface, then, cmon man wtf! 😅
As about how i use mu passive Di box - i bought myself sm57 with this tiny sound interface, it is called x2u.
So the routing is guitar to Di box with guitar cable, then Di to this x2u card with xlr since this card is for sm57, then you go straight to your laptop with USB BOOM BABE!👌
And you enjoy your tiny clear setup juiced with our usb input🏄🏿♂️🏄🏿♂️🏄🏿♂️
or just buy an RME babyface pro...
@@adam2178 I was talking about low budget lads and you say they should get Babyface Pro is everything ok with ya? 🤔
Also i dont wanna start this, but i went UAD Apollo over RME and i will do it again 100%. It works flawlessly with Mac over Thunderbolt ❤️
So if you listen carefully through the Scarlett there is much, much more distortion. That's all.
If all you play through are dsps(which is a shame) and you're worried about headroom based on your pickups then you might pick one up sure, aside from that no, you don't need one
I know this is a popular di box, but I think it’s attenuation is too much. When the signal is too low and it’s being stored in 24 bit int and you need to increase it you might end up with distortion cause integer is not enough to describe small amplitudes. I’d recommend a di box that has a switch to chose between -3, -6 and -12 db attenuation. You probably never need to go lower than -6 and -3 should work for most people
Now that I said that, I’m not sure weather your test is as apples on apples as it could or not. What do you mean by trying to get your gain staging as close as possible. You should end up with the -15db attenuated signal from your di box. Or did you not attenuate? And why didn’t you send the signal from a looper or reamped it through the di box? The differences you hear probably come from the differences in amplitude. I’d need to know more about the method to fully understand your results
The difference is negligible.
I don’t know man, don’t think you need one nowadays unless you’re recording a real amplifier
Honestly, I don't hear the difference. I'm listening while I'm playing a game. It shouldn't matter. LOL
Wym it shouldn't matter? Do you only ever listen to music in that context or what? I don't get it. Even so, would you not want it to sound the best that it can?
Also I CAN hear the difference in both the di and the amplified signal, so to some people it makes a difference. I don't know that it "matters" necessarily, but one does sound better than the other to me.
@@tylerm8145 If you can afford and have the funds for it, by all means, get the best gear possible, I definitely would. All I'm saying is whatever DI you can afford and have right now, it should work and shouldn't matter. Yes, there will definitely be a difference, even expensive DIs differ in sound to an extent. But to answer the question "Do you NEED a DI Box (when you already have a bulit-in DI)?", then No.
@@dhendart nah you're absolutely right. I doubt anyone actually NEEDS a di box if they have a perfectly good interface. Maybe if you start to take music production a little more seriously that changes a bit. When that's the case I think you owe it to yourself to improve your signal chain as much as you can within reason/budget. Small upgrades can add up to a big difference as well.
First like first comment pin me
How much gain do you put on the interface gain for the mic input compared to the instrument input