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Best DI Box $200 and under?

#61
Bassworship1 said:
So will the Countryman and Radial JDI allow me to use my bass EQ for changes? Do they use battery power or Cord?
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I've been using the Radial JDI for several years. It's top of the line. Plug your cord in and go. No additional power needed. Yes, you can still do all of your EQing from your bass, and of course the house mixer. Built like a tank! It sends the true sound of your bass to the mix. Highly recommended!!
 
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#63
jimgrinnell said:
I've been using the Radial JDI for several years. It's top of the line. Plug your cord in and go. No additional power needed. Yes, you can still do all of your EQing from your bass, and of course the house mixer. Built like a tank! It sends the true sound of your bass to the mix. Highly recommended!!
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BTW....I play an active Sadowsky bass. If your bass isn't active, you might wanna try the J48 active as well to determine which one works best with your bass.
 
#65
I just bought a pair of Neve RNDI's for my sound company and I like them a lot.
Clean, transparent, rugged.
And they can be run from speaker-level inputs for those guitar guys who are wedded to their amp-based effects.
Require phantom power, but it's my board and I always have it on anyway...
Little over $200, but on the 'best' list for a lot of people.
If I were buying new on a $200 budget I'm pretty sure it'd be some Radial with a Jensen transformer.
 
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#68
I'm a bass player, and also a sound guy. I own 4 DI's - mostly I use what's availalble at the venue, but for sepcial circumstances and the like, I have some of my own. I have 3 Radials - A J48, a JDI, and a Stage Bug SB-1 (active). I also have a Countryman type 85. The Countryman is really great for passive piezo acoustics - it's got a high enough input impedance that they don't lose low end. Saved my butt a few times - one time a band told me they'd have to use a mic on their guitar, because it never works with DI's. There were wrong...but pleasantly surprised. It'll also work for bass just fine. My fave for bass is the J48 - it just works. Plenty of headroom, plenty of output, very low distortion. The JDI also works, but it's lower in output level, which can sometimes (not too often) give you noise issues, depending on the board, gain structure, etc. The little Stage Bug works well enough that I keep it in my cable bag for bass gigs - if I get somewhere and their DI is sketchy, I've got one that works just fine, and it's small and light enough that I don't notice it otherwise.

So, to the OP's question, My first reccomendation is a Radial J48. If you'd like to get another piece of gear within your budget as well, the Radial SB-1 is quite decent. While it's specs are a little less impressive w.r.t. headroom, I don't really notice that in practice, and it's less than half the price.
 
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#69
Bassworship1 said:
I have one church that I play at that uses IEM that I want to get a good Cheap DI box. I have been using just my Genzler 800 head as the DI out to feed the house and it does good but I'm wanting something a little smaller that I could thrown into my gigbag and not worry about it. What is the best options for new or used at $200 or less?
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I'm sure someone has already said it, but Sansamp BDDI? Used they're $150ish.
 
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#71
I have the Genzler MG-800, but on some gigs I've used the SansAmp VT Deluxe and I'm currently using the MXR M81 when I want to travel light.

The SansAmp is every bit that Ampeg sound. Fantastic if thats the sound that you want.

The MXR M81 is, to me, the best parts of Trace Elliot, SWR, Eden Sadowsky and Genzler rolled into one.

If you want the Ampeg sound, SansAmp

If you want HiFi, MXR M81.
 
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#73
Texan said:
I have the Genzler MG-800, but on some gigs I've used the SansAmp VT Deluxe and I'm currently using the MXR M81 when I want to travel light.

The SansAmp is every bit that Ampeg sound. Fantastic if thats the sound that you want.

The MXR M81 is, to me, the best parts of Trace Elliot, SWR, Eden Sadowsky and Genzler rolled into one.

If you want the Ampeg sound, SansAmp

If you want HiFi, MXR M81.
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If you want Ampeg sound, shouldn't you get a Ampeg Scrambler?
 
#74
Bassworship1 said:
I have one church that I play at that uses IEM that I want to get a good Cheap DI box. I have been using just my Genzler 800 head as the DI out to feed the house and it does good but I'm wanting something a little smaller that I could thrown into my gigbag and not worry about it. What is the best options for new or used at $200 or less?
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Interesting question. I'm a big fan of Radial gear, so if I were to strictly stick to your price guidelines, the JDI has no equal I'm aware of as far as passive direct boxes go. Especially If you've got everything dialed in from your active bass, the JDI will do the trick in the smallest, simplest package, and offers a very pleasant passive compression that will probably be noticeable, unless Genzler uses an equal quality DI transformer. I'd venture a guess he doesn't, but I love that guy's gear too, so who knows.

But let me also suggest the Radial Firefly, which is a tube DI box that offers a little more practical flexibility as well, in that it has volume controls, a drag control (which may not be of much consequence on your active bass), and IMO the most useful feature, a high pass filter, that allows you to dial out unwanted low rumble and really sing through a mix. The REDDI is also pretty sick, but it only does one thing, albeit very well. It's a great box, I have no intention of selling mine but I have to say it's moved down the bench for a few reasons. I usually want more transparency and flexibility for bass and guitar, so for the last 3 years or so my one go-to box is the Firefly. It's also much smaller and has a handle, the REDDI is a beast, I haven't used the Genzler amp but I would venture a guess the REDDI might actually be physically longer and heavier. I have a tiny recording space so my REDDI only makes a few appearances a year now, the Firefly sits on top of my interface when I'm not using it at a gig.

The Firefly is way out of your price range, but if you ever had designs on getting a fantastic active DI equally good for recording and live use, it might be worth saving up a few more months.

Oh yeah, to be clear, the Firefly and REDDI are both active and require mains power. The simplest solution is the JDI, no plugs, no battery. There are also Radial boxes powered by phantom power, I don't own any as I don't want to rely on the venue having phantom for me. They also cost a lot more.
 
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#76
Texan said:
Up to your ears. The Scrambler is nive, but the SansAmp just has a better sound to me.
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I have a VT , just think it's funny that many consider it to more Ampeg than what Ampeg makes.

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#77
Nickweissmusic said:
I'm a big fan of Radial gear, so if I were to strictly stick to your price guidelines, the JDI has no equal I'm aware of as far as passive direct boxes go. Especially If you've got everything dialed in from your active bass, the JDI will do the trick in the smallest, simplest package, and offers a very pleasant passive compression that will probably be noticeable, unless Genzler uses an equal quality DI transformer. I'd venture a guess he doesn't, but I love that guy's gear too, so who knows.
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I've been using a JDI for a long time and it's a great DI. I never even think about it. No buzz, it's solid as a rock, and you just plug in and go. I wasn't aware of any compression but it may be there. I use an MXR M87 but it's set to be very subtle. More like a peak limiter than a compressor. When I turn it off, I barely notice a difference. I know the JDI is great, but I hadn't heard anyone mention "passive compression" with it. Not sure I know what "passive compression" is.
 
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#80
For pure, clean, transparent DI, a Radial J48, Countryman Type 85, or Radial JDI is all you need. Or an RNDI, but that's more expensive.

There are a few trade-offs, though: the J48 requires phantom power. The JDI has a 22dB loss (that's the nature of transformer-based impedance matching), so a poor-quality mixer will become noticeable as you have to crank the gain by 22dB to get to unity. The Type 85 does operate off a battery, which can be helpful if you don't have phantom power, but any decent mixer will have it.

Personally, I use a J48, Manley Tube DI, and Aguilar DB900, depending on my needs.
 
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