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Radial JDI problem?

Coelho

Coelho

May 10, 2006
2,323
40
Astoria, NY
#1
:help:
I recently purchased a Radial JDI DI after reading rave reviews here, there and everywhere. Yesterday I was going to use it for the first time, this is what happened:

The sound guy hooked up to get the signal from the direct out of the GK head. I asked him if he could get the signal from the JDI instead, he said "sure".

I was playing a sadowsky jazz bass, with the active circuit engaged, going directly to the "input" of the JDI, and then running a cable to the amp from the "thru" jack and the XLR cable to the board from the "XLR mic level" output.

None of the switches on the JDI were depressed. I checked this several times.

The sound guy started asking me to give him more volume. The volume control on my bass was on max, there was no way to give him more gain. I explained him this, that the bass was going to him direct with no further gain possible. :eyebrow:

He said he couldn't work with the very very very low volume he was getting. Asked if I wanted to try the GK direct out again, and after we switched to the GK direct out, everything was fine. The gain control on the GK direct out was at 12 o'clock. I used the GK out for the entire show.

Am I missing something here or is the JDI useless? I can still return it to the store this week and I don't want to keep something that was supposed to be best of breed and in reality disappointed me a lot!

Maybe the sound guy messed up something in the board (had a -db on or something like that)?

What are others opinions/experiences with the JDI?
:help:
 
#2
It could be as simple as having low batteries in your bass' preamp. I always make sure my batteries are up to snuff on gigs. There may be a problem with the JDI itself. Radial's quality control is second to none in the biz, but nothing is infallable. I absolutely love gigging with my JDI. Give it another chance :)
 
#3
My batteries are fresh. Plus, if the problem was with the bass, it would tend to continue no matter where they got the sound from... Since he always take the signal from the GK out (the amp is provided by the house), and the sound guy works there everyday for at least 5 months, he would know something was sounding weird through the GK out as well...
 
#6
My guess is that the soundman didn't know what he was doing. Most pro soundmen salivate over the JDI with either passive or active basses without concern for gain issues.

He should have had plenty of gain adjustment at his board. If he didn't - or if he didn't have his gain structured correctly - its entirely his fault.
 
#8
AFAIK the Sadowsky doesn't have low output... I think Eric may be right about the gain structure.
Anyway, anybody else had a similar experience? Just want to know how often people have some sort of gain problem with the JDI.
 
#9
I can't see how it could be a gain problem. A bass output is huge compared to a mic level. You would need a monster loss in the DI before it would be a problem.

It almost was like the -30dB pad was on. Maybe the switch is broken?

Coelho, can you test it at home?
 
#10
seanm said:
I can't see how it could be a gain problem. A bass output is huge compared to a mic level. You would need a monster loss in the DI before it would be a problem.

It almost was like the -30dB pad was on. Maybe the switch is broken?

Coelho, can you test it at home?
Click to expand...

The switch seems to be fine, I tried pressing it (BTW, It is -15) and the signal got even lower.
 
#11
Another possibility is a busted mic cable (or one leg open on the balancing transformer). Lose one signal wire in a 3 pin XLR connector and you've lost 6dB right there. and there's a lot of connections between your bass and the mixing desk sometimes! (DI to multicore box, multicore tails to mixer etc.)

But, it's most likely that it was finger trouble. Pad left switched in on the desk.
 
#15
I've had the exact same problem using the JDI, and have drawn the conclusion that it was a sound guy problem.

The JDI is definitely lower output than active DI's, like my Avalon U5, but I still can't understand why this comes up from time-to-time. If the board can deal with a mic input from a passive direct box surely the sound guy should be able to work with the signal from an active bass through a passive DI.:confused:
 

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