Radial JDI or J48?

[rotero]

I'm after a DI box which runs on phantom power and has an LED to indicate when doing so. The only pedal I use is a TC Polytune. I play a passive Jazz bass.

Would the Radial J48 be what I'm after?

Pro48 FAQ - Radial Engineering

J48 or Pro48. Pro48 is significantly less expensive and little smaller and lighter. J48 has a few more “multi-tool” functions but if you don’t need those you’d be totally fine with a Pro48. Same build quality and signal path. If you’re used to just a tuner a Pro48 is a similar-sized box that will do exactly what you want.

 

[rotero]

Also if you have one of the newer buffered PolyTunes (3?) you can use a passive DI with no issue and not have to worry about phantom. My older PolyTune is true bypass so if it was the only thing in a chain with a passive bass I‘d go with an active DI.

 

[Stan_da_man]

Also if you have one of the newer buffered PolyTunes (3?) you can use a passive DI with no issue and not have to worry about phantom. My older PolyTune is true bypass so if it was the only thing in a chain with a passive bass I‘d go with an active DI.

I do have the Polytune 3 with the Bonafide Buffer. Would the Pro DI has mentioned above be a good option?

 

[Sascha Erni]

I do have the Polytune 3 with the Bonafide Buffer. Would the Pro DI has mentioned above be a good option?

That‘s one of the two always-on pedals I mentioned in my post above. The ProDI works fine for me, playing passive basses only. (The other is a Broughton HPF.)

 

[rotero]

Yes. As confirmed above. I have one of those as well as a JDI and it’s excellent. The difference in sound is hair-splitting, particularly for live work. It’s the same thing as the two levels of active DIs from Radial. The big brother has a few more functions and in this case a different transformer but Radial bought Jensen and they put a very good transformer in the ProDI. With that simple Tuner/DI rig I’d say go with the Pro level DI. If you know you’re gonna run sound for other acts (where it may be used with different instruments like keys that might need stereo to mono) and do a lot of studio work then the added features might tip you to a JDI but for taking your bass line to the board from your tuner and jamming out the ProDI is great! Smaller lump in your gig bag and half the price. I prefer the sound of the passive DI in most cases. It is plenty loud so don’t feel like you’re gonna have a wimpy signal and you should’ve gone active. You might still find you use the -15db pad and those passive Radials sound fat and punchy.

 

[rotero]

As to “when would the JDI transformer sound better than the ProDI”: I’d consider the JDI sound worth it if you have a really hot bass, particularly if your sound features a big bass boost on an onboard EQ. So a Stingray 5 with a the bass knob dimed, a six string beast that you love playing on the B string, a Moog synth bass you wanna make even fatter, or after an EQ or FX pedal with similar results. Those are the kinds of signals that might benefit from that better transformer and could push it to saturation where you can hear a different sound. And that’s not to say you couldn’t push the ProDI in a similar way but it may be where the slight difference in their sound shows up. If it’s a four string with traditional dynamic range, meaning it’s a nice round sound but you’re not sending a big bass boost up front through the DI, then I don’t imagine you’d ever hear the difference between a ProDI and a JDI. I loved the sound of my Modulus with a bass boost into the JDI. It handled all of it and kept it together with no clipping. Never been able to “push” it with a passive 4 string bass. It sounds super solid but it’s totally different from hearing it handle a huge signal that saturates the transformer.

 

[hbabels]

I'm after a DI box which runs on phantom power and has an LED to indicate when doing so. The only pedal I use is a TC Polytune. I play a passive Jazz bass.

Would the Radial J48 be what I'm after?

Yes the J48 will sounds great and meets those requirements. You toggle the low cut switch on the back and and the LED on the front will flash if phantom power is connected.

 

[Stan_da_man]

Update to this:

I changed my main axe to a Sandberg California TM4 SL.

I ended up going for the Radial Pro DI.

Very happy with the combination!

 

[FirewalZ]

I keep a Radial Pro DI in my gig bag and use it as a "just in case"...passive or active, doesn't seem to make a distinguishable difference live. I like the bullet/fail proof aspect of a good passive DI.

 

[Zbysek]

I like the bullet/fail proof aspect of a good passive DI.

As to “when would the JDI transformer sound better than the ProDI”: I’d consider the JDI sound worth it if you have a really hot bass, particularly if your sound features a big bass boost on an onboard EQ. So a Stingray 5 with a the bass knob dimed, a six string beast that you love playing on the B string, a Moog synth bass you wanna make even fatter, or after an EQ or FX pedal with similar results. Those are the kinds of signals that might benefit from that better transformer and could push it to saturation where you can hear a different sound. And that’s not to say you couldn’t push the ProDI in a similar way but it may be where the slight difference in their sound shows up. If it’s a four string with traditional dynamic range, meaning it’s a nice round sound but you’re not sending a big bass boost up front through the DI, then I don’t imagine you’d ever hear the difference between a ProDI and a JDI. I loved the sound of my Modulus with a bass boost into the JDI. It handled all of it and kept it together with no clipping. Never been able to “push” it with a passive 4 string bass. It sounds super solid but it’s totally different from hearing it handle a huge signal that saturates the transformer.

That's why I bought JDI recently...