Everyone who acquainted with these industry standard DI's knows that a 10 mg ohm signal gets passed from the device's XLR out to the PA desk or recording console. But what type of signal gets passed to the amp via the quarter inch "amp" jack? The same lovely buffered 10 mg ohm signal? Or something else. I've been traveling the world for two decades with one these in my box of stuff just in case of emergencies. It's been used on gigs in China and Hong Kong. I'm now living in Bangkok and very greatful to be gigging frequently around this amazing city. It's great but as always I deal with whatever amp is available at the various venues I perform in here. Some amps are better with double bass than others are that I encounter. I have always thought that my piezo pickups sounded somewhat better when plugged the Countyman than what they sound like if "raw dogged" staight into an amp. Is this just my imagination? Or might I use my faithful Type 85 as an acceptable substitute for a preamp if nessasary? Oh esteemed Talkbass Gurus of all things electrical I respectfully implore your sage advise and wisdom!
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Double Bass Countyman Type 85 DI advise please!
- Thread starter Mike Carr
- Start date
A buffered signal needs power. Either from phantom or from a battery or an external power supply.
If the power is missing and the signal is buffered to the through signal nothing will get out.
A parallel connection from in to through always works regardless of any potential power losses.
If the power is missing and the signal is buffered to the through signal nothing will get out.
A parallel connection from in to through always works regardless of any potential power losses.
Pretty sure the Thru is unbuffered. So if you run the Thru from the Type 85 to an amp, the input impedance of the amp is placed in parallel with the 10Meg input impedance of the Type 85.
So if your amp's input impedance is 1Meg your bass will see
1/(1/10meg + 1/1Meg) = 909K
Radial makes a couple of DIs with buffered Thrus.
StageBug SB-4 has a 5Meg input impedance and the Thru is always buffered.
The PZ-DI has selectable input impedance: 220K, 1Meg, 10Meg. The Thru can be toggled between parallel and buffered. The switch for this is recessed in the small hole on the side of the PZ-DI.
So if your amp's input impedance is 1Meg your bass will see
1/(1/10meg + 1/1Meg) = 909K
Radial makes a couple of DIs with buffered Thrus.
StageBug SB-4 has a 5Meg input impedance and the Thru is always buffered.
The PZ-DI has selectable input impedance: 220K, 1Meg, 10Meg. The Thru can be toggled between parallel and buffered. The switch for this is recessed in the small hole on the side of the PZ-DI.
