Anyone ever use 2 DI boxes in-line?

[Hoffman6000]

My club setup right now is a my effects board into a Little Labs Redeye DI using the Balanced XLR out to drive my amp, then use the DI on the back of the amp for FOH. I've had some ground hum issues lately, so I'm wondering if there's any Impedence/pickup-load issues with using a JDI AFTER my Redeye DI, and sending that signal FOH....that would cut the amp out of the equation, using it only as a stage monitor, and possibly get rid of the ground issue, since I never have the issue when only using the Redeye (witout the amp).....

The balanced out of the Redeye seems to extend the range of and slightly boost the low end (90hz and below), as opposed to the general Inst. Out, which gives me a thinner brittle sound, and the JDI is a really crisp and clean DI.... I think used in conjunction with each other, I would send a crisp clean version of the Redeye's great low end response to FOH.... (in a perfect world)

[bongomania]

Is your amp one of those Markbass or Acoustic Image heads with an XLR in? If not, then how are you connecting the balanced out of the Redeye to the amp?

The Redeye is an active DI, so pickup loading is not an issue at all. And the JDI works perfectly with active instruments, so the impedance is not an issue either.

However, the JDI does not have a balanced input. So you'd be lifting one pin of the balanced Redeye output... Kind of a waste, considering 99% of what a DI is for is to balance an unbalanced signal.

I know the Redeye is a nice piece of kit, but honestly you would be much better off just buying the right tool for the job, rather than cobbling together components that were not meant to be used together, using custom cables.

[Hoffman6000]

Yes, I'm using a Markbass...My Redeye is Passive....no battery, no A/C power, no lights, and no phantom options....but you're right about the JDI not having a Balanced input. I could go into the JDI first, then balanced into the Redeye, then Balanced out of the Redeye. The sacrifice would be having an unbalanced input to my Markbass, which is exactly what I'm trying to avoid.....

Bongo, do you know of a piece of gear that would solve my lack of balanced out problems?

[bongomania]

Ah yeah, I forgot about the Redeye being passive--the other Little Labs products I've looked at were active.

On their site they recommend using two Redeyes together for exactly what you're describing, by sending the expansion output of one into the instrument input of the other. That way you get "Redeye balanced tone" from both XLR outputs, without using custom cables. Or, you could look at their PIP, which has two parallel balanced outputs (one XLR and one TRS).