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Radial JDI or J48?

#81
troutfishing said:
And what is the general consensus about the quality of GK's DIs?
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In my experience I have always thought that they sounded really good.
When mixing live sound (which is my “day job”) I have had on a few occasions some noise issues with them with some of the older RB heads but this could be they were in need of repair / beat up older heads. And it wasn’t huge , just noticeable My personal 700RB head the DI sounds really good and I haven’t had noise problems with that but I also don’t use that DI that often.
I would say since you already have the head and I assume like the sound try a few times and see how the results are
 
#82
logdrum said:
I have the 2 bassbones V1 and V2. How are the DI's on those? I have a no name DI in an plain metal case that has a Jensen transformer. Probably shed - made. It came with my Mesa 400.
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The DI in my old (original) Bassbone was a major disappointment. I like radial DIs so I had high hopes. Never used it.
FWIW I have a JDI and a J48. I preferred the sound of the JDI with both old Fenders and Sadowskys (the only active basses I own).

They both collect dust as I moved first to the Avalon U5 and now the REDDI. I would keep the JDI as it's still handy to have around. The J48 I could sell without remorse.
 
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#83
Within the context of this thread, and the OP stating that he runs a preamp pedal, is it safe to assume that a passive bass running through a preamp BEFORE the DI is technically an active bass as far as the DI is concerned?

I always see the “JDI for active basses, J48 for passive basses” advice kicked around; but like the OP, I run a preamp with my passive basses. I would assume the JDI would be the better choice theoretically.
 
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#84
Texican said:
Within the context of this thread, and the OP stating that he runs a preamp pedal, is it safe to assume that a passive bass running through a preamp BEFORE the DI is technically an active bass as far as the DI is concerned?

I always see the “JDI for active basses, J48 for passive basses” advice kicked around; but like the OP, I run a preamp with my passive basses. I would assume the JDI would be the better choice theoretically.
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A JDI will work well with a passive bass buffered by some sort of active pedal. Whether it's better or not: It might be, it might not be. I think the answer would be entirely subjective and dependent on your goals.
 
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#85
Wasnex said:
A JDI will work well with a passive bass buffered by some sort of active pedal. Whether it's better or not: It might be, it might not be. I think the answer would be entirely subjective and dependent on your goals.
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I guess my main question was: does a JDI see your signal as “active” (in the same way it would see the signal from an active onboard preamp equipped bass) when using a stompbox preamp or buffered pedal like my TU-2?
 
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#86
Texican said:
I guess my main question was: does a JDI see your signal as “active” (in the same way it would see the signal from an active onboard preamp equipped bass) when using a stompbox preamp or buffered pedal like my TU-2?
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Basically yes. Running a preamp pedal before the JDI is basically the same as an onboard preamp as far as the JDI is concerned your signal will be hotter and have some EQ shaping added to it as well as a buffer for pickup loading / interactions with the input impedance would not / should not be an issue.

With just a buffer pedal like the tuner you describe that should Eliminate the chance of pickup loading but the signal wouldn’t be boosted so you may need slightly more mixer preamp gain for the JDI. I’m not talking a huge difference or anything just a slight boost.
So short answer the JDI would work great for this application as you describe.
 
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#87
Texican said:
I guess my main question was: does a JDI see your signal as “active” (in the same way it would see the signal from an active onboard preamp equipped bass) when using a stompbox preamp or buffered pedal like my TU-2?
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If the pedal is the true bypass type, the DI sees the bass in bypass mode. If the pedal is the buffered type, the DI only see the pedal.
 
#88
I agree with the last few posts. If you have an “always on” Cali 76 then the JDI will be perfect. The compressor will handle any hyping and smoothing and the JDI will give you a super solid footprint of that tone with excellent isolation. If you drive it pretty hard with the compressor output you can catch some additional smoothing from the Jensen transformer. This is a subtle effect but it’s a warm and thick tone. Your sound man will love that signal and you won’t have to worry about phantom power. It will be plenty loud and clear. A Cali 76 and a JDI used together (with suitable settings) should give you equivalent results to a higher end DI.
 
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#89
Thanks. Any suggestions for a 'higher end DI'? Thing is, I have about CA$350/US$250 in credit at a specific music store [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], and except for Tech21 and Radial, they don't carry any of the brands being most often named on TB.

rotero said:
I agree with the last few posts. If you have an “always on” Cali 76 then the JDI will be perfect. The compressor will handle any hyping and smoothing and the JDI will give you a super solid footprint of that tone with excellent isolation. If you drive it pretty hard with the compressor output you can catch some additional smoothing from the Jensen transformer. This is a subtle effect but it’s a warm and thick tone. Your sound man will love that signal and you won’t have to worry about phantom power. It will be plenty loud and clear. A Cali 76 and a JDI used together (with suitable settings) should give you equivalent results to a higher end DI.
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#90
In your scenario I would confidently buy a JDI and never look back. Tech21 makes great stuff as well but those are closer to preamps than DIs. They’re designed to add EQ and usually some amount of dirt, blended or full tilt. You’re already getting a lot of the good stuff from your Cali 76. Certainly listen to the Tech21 tools as well but I consider those preamp/effect DIs. High end DIs would be the Noble, the Firefly, the RNDI, etc. These are studio style designs, superb but more than most of us need for live situations. There is another set of high end preamp DIs like the EBS Microbass or the Mesa DIs. Much more expensive and really a different type of multi-tool. All of these are great tools but it’s about what fits your needs and store credit scenario. I’d say either one JDI or a ProDI and a Pro48 if you want to know for yourself what active vs passive DIs do. There’s not a gigantic difference between the ProDI and the JDI but the latter has a few more options and is built with the very best components. It’s also about the most rugged piece of gear you’ll ever pick up. It’ll have your back in a bar fight and drink you under the table. ;)
 
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#92
The Mesa DIs look interesting... Ahh too many options! Thanks for your help.


rotero said:
In your scenario I would confidently buy a JDI and never look back. Tech21 makes great stuff as well but those are closer to preamps than DIs. They’re designed to add EQ and usually some amount of dirt, blended or full tilt. You’re already getting a lot of the good stuff from your Cali 76. Certainly listen to the Tech21 tools as well but I consider those preamp/effect DIs. High end DIs would be the Noble, the Firefly, the RNDI, etc. These are studio style designs, superb but more than most of us need for live situations. There is another set of high end preamp DIs like the EBS Microbass or the Mesa DIs. Much more expensive and really a different type of multi-tool. All of these are great tools but it’s about what fits your needs and store credit scenario. I’d say either one JDI or a ProDI and a Pro48 if you want to know for yourself what active vs passive DIs do. There’s not a gigantic difference between the ProDI and the JDI but the latter has a few more options and is built with the very best components. It’s also about the most rugged piece of gear you’ll ever pick up. It’ll have your back in a bar fight and drink you under the table. ;)
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#93
You’re welcome and good luck. The Mesa ones are unbelievably well designed to the point of having a DI as well as a preamp XLR. But again, far from what a basic DI is trying to do. The Aguilar Tone Hammer is another great preamp/DI that is roughly in the same price range as a JDI. I have that one and love it as well but I wound up using it as a stomp box before a compressor because the dirty and clean volumes in that unit don’t play well together. It saved my butt the other day when an amp failed and I was able to use it as a preamp into a class D power amp. Sounded awesome and that’s something a basic DI can’t do.
 
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#94
So to revisit this thread...

I’m been looking at high end DIs again for live use instead of the Q-Strip.

It’s intresting to hear that there is not much of a tonal difference between the JDI and J48 because I hear a quite noticeable differance between the JDV and JDI (yes I know they are completely different animials) but I would exspext the J48 to be closer to the JDV.

Granted rail voltage (if I’m not mistaken) is as follows for the 3.

JDV 30v
J48 9v
JDI 3v

Granted I’m guessing (again total speculation here) if someone has more input please share it, but this is my hypothesis.
The reason I’m hearing a big differance is between the JDI and JDV is my Basses have a significant amount of output and the saturation of the JDI is mellowing our the top end a fair amount. Very noticeable to me.

I’m running (big singles, in series, with a pre, I’m using strings known for louder output and have a heavy touch) :oops:

On a side note the JDI is very quite.

I just bought a J48 on here so I will be able to comment on the differences soon.
 
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#95
rotero said:
You’re welcome and good luck. The Mesa ones are unbelievably well designed to the point of having a DI as well as a preamp XLR. But again, far from what a basic DI is trying to do. The Aguilar Tone Hammer is another great preamp/DI that is roughly in the same price range as a JDI. I have that one and love it as well but I wound up using it as a stomp box before a compressor because the dirty and clean volumes in that unit don’t play well together. It saved my butt the other day when an amp failed and I was able to use it as a preamp into a class D power amp. Sounded awesome and that’s something a basic DI can’t do.
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Great post. I have to say though, (for my own personal tastes) the Tone Hammer left me unsatified in quite a few ways. However, I’m floored by how well the JDI is working for me. Sounds great with my stingray. Sounds great with my passive basses ran through a Sansamp VT Bass character pedal (into the JDI). And surprisingly, I even like a passive P bass straight into the JDI and into the PA system despite the theoretical potential for impedance issues. Tone Hammer was not for me, but it was definitely a superb piece of gear.
 
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#100
I’ve played a borrowed JDI for months with our band. When the time came for my personal DI, I gave the J48 a shot, too, because I only play passive basses and I considered the reasoning given here in the thread (passive bass -> active DI etc.). And yeah, going bass -> DI -> mixing desk, I preferred the J48’s signal.

… but …

that’s not how I actually play. There’s always a pedal board between bass and DI, with at least two of the boxes being always-on, i.e. working like buffers and lowering impedance. In this situation, I was hard pressed hearing a difference. I tried out a ProDI as well, and well, that’s what I bought in the end. Smaller than either of the two others, lighter, and also half as expensive – as it’s mostly meant as a emergency backup device, I couldn’t justify the additional cost for either of the “better” options.
 
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