Members diecidue Posted November 21, 2003 Members Share Posted November 21, 2003 I play in an acoustic duo. We have two nice guitars with electronics (Martin and a Taylor 514CE). Here is a list of some of the PA stuff:Mackie 1402vlz proBehringer compressorTC Electronics M300 for general effectsTC Electronics G-Force for the taylor I have been running my Taylor like this: Taylor -> direct box -> mixer -> insert to G-Force -> back into line level input My question is this: What am I gaining by using the direct box? The 1402 has a quarter inch input on each of it's mic channels. Do I need to run through the direct box or should I just plug into the quarter inch input? Sorry if this is a dumb question for this group. I am primarily a guitar player, not an sound man. Thanks for any help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Audioeast Posted November 21, 2003 Members Share Posted November 21, 2003 the signal will be hotter coming from the DI (balanced) then direct from your guitar (unbalanced) but in short distances (20') the guitar direct into mackie should work just fine........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Somerled Posted November 21, 2003 Members Share Posted November 21, 2003 You will get a much better sound running into the direct box. I would also suggest running through the g-force before the direct box, rather than inserting it at the board (thats just me, I like to keep my guitar stuff as separate from the pa as possible) personally, for acoustic I use a tech 21 acoustic DI, which has a built in effects loop for all my acoustic guitar effects Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Daniel Smart Posted November 21, 2003 Members Share Posted November 21, 2003 Better sound really depends on the DI. My guitar sounds really nice plugged into a decent preamp or plugged straight into the board. It sounds awesome plugged into a decent acoustic amp and DI out of that. It also sounds pretty good plugged into a cheap passive DI (Proel or something?) It sucks big time plugged into the 4 channel Behringer active DI we've got at church - sounds like cardboard. My advice is to do whichever sounds best to you. -Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members diecidue Posted November 22, 2003 Author Members Share Posted November 22, 2003 Thanks for the replies. I guess my more specific question is what is different in the signal chain with the two types of inputs. If my quarter inch cable is about 20 feet and then I run into a direct box and run another 20 foot cable to the mixer what have I gained? I could just run the quarter inch cable directly into the mixer. Does the balanced input go through a different preamp section or is it just a hotter signal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted November 22, 2003 Members Share Posted November 22, 2003 The biggest difference is the input impedance that your guitar will see. Most active DI's are around 500k, where a typical unbalanced board input is from 10k - 47k. This difference can load down your pickup if it is a passive one, but may also interact with many active pickups as well, but not to as great of an extent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Picker Posted November 22, 2003 Members Share Posted November 22, 2003 I have a quick question..... Do you think running through a DI would help prevent feedback from the accoustic? or would it not matter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted November 22, 2003 Members Share Posted November 22, 2003 Originally posted by Picker I have a quick question.....Do you think running through a DI would help prevent feedback from the accoustic? or would it not matter? Wouldn't matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tommy Tune Posted November 23, 2003 Members Share Posted November 23, 2003 Do you think running through a DI would help prevent feedback from the accoustic? or would it not matter? Try one of these...........http://proaudiomusic.com/accessories/feedback-buster.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thundercranium Posted November 23, 2003 Members Share Posted November 23, 2003 I use a Baggs PADI with excellent results. Reduced piezo "quack" and excellent gain before feedback. Just my $.02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Picker Posted November 25, 2003 Members Share Posted November 25, 2003 Try one of these...........http://proaudiomusic.com/accessorie...back-buster.htm Yeah... I've seen those, and it would be nice, but unfortunately I have an accoustic with an unusual soundhole... Sort of like a rounded triangle. Maybe I'll have to try fabricating something similar on my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tommy Tune Posted November 29, 2003 Members Share Posted November 29, 2003 Yeah... I've seen those, and it would be nice, but unfortunately I have an accoustic with an unusual soundhole... Sort of like a rounded triangle. Maybe I'll have to try fabricating something similar on my own. I have had a few Taylors in my day. I remember reaching into my gig bag for the "feedback buster" and it was gone. Being an end result kind of guy, I slapped some duct tape over the sound hole. Go figure......duct tape on a $1700 guitar. The sound guy just looked at me and smiled. Hey, whatever works. It looked like {censored} but it was effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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