Recording straight in or with di box

[sambaker]

Hey!

I have an AudioFire Echo 2, I've yet to get the firewire cable for it so I haven't used it just yet but I'm wondering if I should record my Hofner straight into it or via a di box like the Art Zdirect?

Any suggestions?
Sam

 

[Robus]

If you can set the impedance on the input then you should be able to do it
either way is my guess. I'd like to hear opinions on which is best.

 

[bongomania]

Most audio interfaces these days ARE a DI box. That is, they are designed for you to plug your instrument straight in to the recorder, which is the point of a DI box.

 

[sambaker]

do you know if the audio fire echo 2 is such a device? cheers for your help

 

[bongomania]

The "Echo 2" by Echo is a DI. The "Audiofire 12" by Echo is not.

 

[Andy_D]

I have a nice interface and after trying many, many different configurations I am quite happy now using the Balanced out on my Shuttle 6.2 into My Saffire 24. With the tube pre-amp cranked up I get a nice thick tone that doesn't sound fake, artificial, or like it's missing something. I set the gain at close to 3 o'clock, pre-amp volume around 10 o'clock with EQ near flat and I am in tone city. I was not able to achieve this using VST's, The AMP Sims in my Zoom B3 always felt like they were missing something. This is probably the closest I can get to a Reddi Box type of tone with my existing gear and not spending $700 I have done a LOT of experimenting to get to this point. Anyway thought I'd throw that out there. Wish I had figured it out a long time ago and I'm still learning more every day.

 

[nick98338]

Most of the audio interfaces will do all of the level matching and impedance matching. So, you don't need a "plain" DI between instrument and interface to perform those functions. Just plug straight in if all you need is signal matching. But, for 'tone shaping', before the interface, you will need something. It doesn't have to be a DI, but it could be. Some things that are called a DI are much more than a "plain" DI. They perform the functions of a DI, plus much more. They perform tone shaping as well as DI functions. Andy_D's Shuttle 6.2 is a DI, and it does tone shaping. It has eq knobs to adjust the tone before it goes to the interface.

 

[groooooove]

Most audio interfaces these days ARE a DI box. That is, they are designed for you to plug your instrument straight in to the recorder, which is the point of a DI box.

yup.

i've plugged right into many different things over the years. it's always worked.