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Walrus Audio Canvas doing anything a DI doesn’t?

SquareWaves

SquareWaves

Mar 16, 2011
187
49
#1
I’ve been using a Darkglass Element as a DI/Cab sim for gigs for the last few years, recently I grabbed an HX Stomp and really like the cabs in there, but since there isn’t an XLR out I thought I’d use element still for the XLR output it has and the additional EQ it offers if I need it. I’ve noticed a lot of people with modelers use the Walrus Audio Canvas and was curious if there was any benefit sonically to using it over the Element?
 
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#2
SquareWaves said:
I’ve been using a Darkglass Element as a DI/Cab sim for gigs for the last few years, recently I grabbed an HX Stomp and really like the cabs in there, but since there isn’t an XLR out I thought I’d use element still for the XLR output it has and the additional EQ it offers if I need it. I’ve noticed a lot of people with modelers use the Walrus Audio Canvas and was curious if there was any benefit sonically to using it over the Element?
Click to expand...

The Canvas has a DI out and a Line Isolator option which according to Walrus plays nicer with Low Impedance outputs and specifically modelers with Cab Sims. Gives you a stronger signal going to the board so that engineers don't have to gain up pre's as much as thus keep the noise floor lower! From what I've read the coloration is pretty minimal on these and switching between DI and LI modes is just a single button. Hope this helps
 
#3
I liked the sound of an IR loaded into the Darkglass, I guess I’m just not sure how the cabs in the Helix might differ when it comes to sending a signal to FOH with the Element or with the Canvas.
 
#6
SquareWaves said:
I honestly don’t really know what that means, like I know what a TRS cable is I just don’t know the difference between the signals I’m sending to FOH.
Click to expand...
A TRS (tip, ring, sleeve) cable can carry a balanced signal, just like an XLR cable, but with a different connector. The desk might have 1/4” balanced inputs, or you might need a 1/4” TRS to xlr cable. But you don’t need an additional DI box, because the Stomp can send balanced signals all on its own (just like a DI box does).

A balanced signal helps prevent noise from interference creeping into the signal path, as well as preventing loss of upper frequency content over longer runs.
 
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#8
There's only one difference between the "line isolator" mode and the "DI" mode, and that is the winding ratio of the transformers and the resulting output impedance and the level of attenuation applied to the input. Walrus Audio's Canvas products are newcomers to a very well established industry dominated by companies like Radial, Countryman, Whirlwind, and others who have been making DI boxes for decades.

They didn't reinvent the wheel, just discovered a marketing angle that guitarists who aren't aware of the pro audio realm hadn't heard before.

(edit: I just realized the Canvas is a passive box, so I've edited this.)

Being that they are passive boxes, the Canvas products use audio transformers to do what they do, and have a separate pad attenuation function. Therefore, the only difference between the "DI" mode and the "LI" mode is that the transformers they are using either have coil taps to allow the transformers to function with 1:1 winding ratios in LI mode, or they are using two entirely separate transformers for the two functions.

Given the price, it's pretty obvious WA aren't using Jensen transformers, they are using a cheaper brand, more equivalent to Radial's ProD1 and ProD2 (non-Jensen) than their JDI and Stereo JDI (Jensen). I haven't seen inside the Canvas products, but Jensen transformers command a premium.
 
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