Use my amp's DI or buy a Radial?

[MicG]

Greetings everyone,

I own a Mesa MPulse 600 head. I believe that it has a balanced XLR and option to send signal pre or post eq (I think I would switch it via post).

Is there any reason why I shouldn't send my signal to the board using the Mesa? Would the Radial be better and if so, why?

My ultimate goal is to Mic (Shure SM 57) + DI for a better FOH mix but I'm kind of new to the DI thing.

Thanks

 

[JimmyM]

the only reason you'd need a radial is if the di tone of your mpulse sucks. i find that highly unlikely. but it's possible you might like the sound of the radial better, so it's not entirely out of the question. i certainly liked the sound of my countryman better than the di in my old lmii. but if you like the sound of the mpulse di, then you're just wasting money.

 

[Stereo Joe]

Jimmy is right, although I can think of one extra reason to have a DI: a backup in case your amp dies on a gig.
For convenience, I usually use the DI out on my amp heads but I always bring along my Radial J48 as a back up.
In one situation, the DI on my Shuttle head was noisy and the Countryman DI the sound tech had was no better. In the end, my J48 was the only DI that gave a clean signal in that venue.
I don't think it can ever hurt to throw a DI box in your gig bag for emergencies.

 

[MK1]

I went through this same dilemma a while ago. I have a Mesa 400+, and I was using a Radial because the DI on the 400+ is post EQ. But the more I played out the more I realized most FOH engineers at small to medium clubs don't care what you use as long as they get a clean signal. I've also realized that nine times out of ten I won't ever get to hear the DI signal, so if the engineer is happy I'm happy. So I sold the Radial.

 

[TimmyP]

Try the Mesa's DI. And try to borrow a Radial (J48 or Pro48), Countryman, BSS, or Audiopile.net (active) to compare - just so you know.

If you get a DI just as a backup, I'd get the Audiopile active - it sounds very good and is inexpensive.

 

[MNAirHead]

Just have a sound guy put a set of cans on and give your amp di a thumbs up or down... they're probably modding the tone/sound anyways for the FOH.

This said from a guy who has 5 DIs.. and uses the one coming out of the amps.

Bass guys forget that that the frequency is not as distinguishable as others.

Tim