Active or Passive DI following preamp or EQ pedals?

[jacoby75]

Many times an effect like a compressor will have a volume control after the circuitry which will affect the output impedance. Unless the effect is buffered, it probably won't work well as a buffer.

True enough. I'm not smart enough on the technical/electronic side of things to really answer that question, so don't take my word for it. For what it's worth, I try to set my compressor (which is first in my chain) for unity volume when it's on or off, if that has any impact on anything buffer-ish. I just know I had read somewhere that having a pedal that was "always on" could act as a buffer of sorts to keep the signal hot through chains of effects. You know what they say. If you read it on the internet, it must be true. I think Abraham Lincoln said that.

But I would trust "tech21nyc's" advice on anything and everything. They're the bee's knees. I use my VTBassDI second to last in my chain with the +10DB switch engaged for the 1/4" out, and I have no concern about my signal not being strong enough to hit the direct box adequately.

 

[tech21nyc]

That works in theory, but if you're running that pedal into other pedals, then into a bass amp there are too many impedance variables to accurately make that claim. A properly designed buffer will allow you to run long cable lengths directly to the mixer. I've hooked up 140' of cable in a true bypass looper box to test this for myself with our buffers. There was no difference in tone whether the cable length was 140' or 3' in length. If you try that same experiment with the average true bypass compressor I doubt you will have the same results. Even pedals with a dedicated output buffer don't always have the proper output impedance to drive long cable lengths. A 12k output impedance is technically "low" but if you feed that into a mixer that is 1.5-10k depending on the input you will hear a noticeable change in tone. In a circuit like a compressor there may be a level pot as the last component of the circuit which means you have a variable output impedance. Not a big deal if running into a typical 1 MegOhm input like on an amp but a problem when running into a mixer.

I'd rather not comment on the "...read it on the internet, it must be true" statement.

 

[jacoby75]

True enough. But numbers make my head hurt. I should add the caveat that my pedalboard is primarily used when I'm not using an amp, hence the sansamp and speaker sim, etc. So my only concern is if the signal is strong enough to make it through my plethora of pedals and straight to the FOH through a DI. I would be interested in trying an actual dedicated buffer at different points along the chain to see it makes any discernable difference. Also, at this point, this is being tested out in my bedroom through a monitoring USB interface. Not even through a soundboard or amp. So much of my testing only leads me to conclude that it all sounds good in headphones, but I have no real world experience to base it on, as I haven't played out with this set up yet - or any setup - in over a couple of years. Last time I played out I used a tuner and a ToneHammer, and it worked fine. But now I have significantly more pedals.

All that is to say, in the immortal words of Levar Burton, "Don't take my word for it."

 

[tech21nyc]

In the end if it sounds good to you that's all that matters. In terms of a live situation though, if you have your setup configured incorrectly you may get a note from FOH. If our pedal is last then the output impedance to the board won't be an issue. I can't speak for everything ahead of it or behind it though. Are you talking about a specific pedal? What's your signal chain?

 

[jacoby75]

I'm not currently experiencing any issues (that I know of). But here is a pic of my current setup:

Passive bass > Philosopher compressor (always on) > TC Sub 'n Up > Darkglass VMT > Aguilar Agro > Dunlop bass wah (buffered bypass) > Luxe chorus > Tuner (only on when muted tuning) > VT Bass DI (always on) > Digitech Cab DryVR (almost always on) > Radial ProDI.

 

[tech21nyc]

Without looking up the specs on everything it looks like you have a number of buffered units there. You should be fine.