Do you need a Direct Box? - Test Results!

LOL it all sounds exactly the same on my laptop speakers. I played this also on my phone and it makes no difference.

i must say that the scarlett solo (i guess its the same for 2i2) works horrible with active pickups. i have a bridge emg 81and i just could figure out whay the hell all amp sims sound so mushi and i cannot get them to sound tight without thining the hell out of them. i tried to play through my arturia minifuse and what do you know - everything sounds tight and great.
its true that for 20 seconds of paying they all sound similar, but when someone is recording his part and he want to hear palm mute articulations in a certain part, its gonna drive him insane.

Countryman sounded the worst to me.

I know it's probably been filmed before we discussed putting spectrum analyses to avoid relying on our feeble senses, but isn't the Signal Art DI box missing?

Amazing video!

They all sound good to me... BUT, the countryman is a clear standout and for me personally it produces the best clarity.

Type 85 hands down

Does this conclusion remain true for active and passive intruments?

I really appreciate giving up the recordings so we can decide by ourselves! THANK YOU!!! ❤

you need a DI box if you want to run your signal into an analog snake. The DI's job is to convert an unbalanced signal to a balanced signal. If you use an unbalanced signal, you pickup interference from radio waves nearby. That's mostly for long distances tho... like a 100' snake connecting the stage and FOH.

Please don't make any more videos.

I still have my first gen 2i2, really need to upgrade. The clipping with 0 gain is SO annoying

Hi Glenn! Great content as usual! Have you ever compared a DI track after splitting to a DI without splitting? And the same with the amp track?
The results I got with Radial ABY and Lehle P-split were not too good. I know that the loss of signal is inevitable, but those units were sounding really poor . Even with a buffer pedal in the chain I got circa 7dB loss of signal. On the other hand my active Daw-Amp splitter/reampbox does quite the opposite -oversaturating both outputs and making the DI track sensitive to clipping even with loads of headroom. In that case would an active di-box do the trick with recreating the root signal as close to the original as it's possible? Thank you!!!

Im just getting one so im not a pain to work with so i can record from home and send if off because i know my tone sucks.

i would like to see this revisited with the tonex going to a mixer for FOH use, since it has instrument level outputs. i personally dont use a DI to the board i just use the TRS to XLR and have no issues.

So hilarious to watch the distressor behind you just pounding as you speak hahaha

I realize this is a really old video so I apologize if this has been brought up at some point, but if I'm strictly using a DI box for sims will a $30 Behringer do the job? Or should I just spend the money and get something presumably better?

I've been using the Strymon Big Sky HW with speaker simulate and then post processing as needed with various amp sims in my DAW, seems to work well most of the time - but sometimes only an amp has the secret sauce (at least for now). REALLY looking forward to Strymon coming out with a more sophisticated Amp sim than the Iridium, maybe with larger Big Sky enclosure - the Iridium has many good settings but I do think there is still room for realism improvement.

I love my Focusrite 2I2... and the direct signal on that makes me laugh.

I have a 3d Gen 2i2 + Fishman Fluence pickups + Amp Sim. These in combination will take all its headroom. Questions:
1. Should I upgrade to the Scarlett 4i4 that has a pad (or another interface with pad)
2. Should I get a DI Box to attenuate
3. Can I just turn down the Amp Sims input and output to stop clipping?

Best regards!

I have been playing 24 years
I play a kinda trip sound as a folk punk acoustic guitarist. & I run out of bass gear. Carvin bass head 500w and a Mesa 1x15 rd case cab.
In all my years and shows and albums and shit all DI box’s do is slow me the fuck down by needing to grab 2 or 3 more and the sound guy looking for one that “works” they are useless shit.

But that said I am looking for a good mic tube pre amp for my sm7 for working on Third album. Any one got a idea or 2? Not a million Buicks but something solid .

Is the countryman going into the input of the audio interface through XLR?

If I am plugging like this: Guitar -- dist/preamp pedal -- audio interface and use impulse response in DAW
Do I need a DI Box between the pedal and the interface??

Hi, I have a Roland Rubix 24, it says imput impedance is 4k or greater, I'm looking to buy a Charvel with fishmans that state output is 2k. Will this guitar work with my interface or do I need a DI box? I'm struggling to find a definitive answer. Thanks in advance guys

The point of a "Direct Interface Box" is to interface...there shouldn't be a sound difference, it shouldn't sound better or worse that what you put in it, it should only sound the same. Its only purpose is to help your instruments better interface with your recording equipment/ mixer

Good stuff!!

Yes Great Counryman wins. BUT... Is the CountryMan Still Great for Bass?

Try the RNDI....

I haven't done blind test, but radial seems to roll the treble off a little bit, and when listening to dry signal, maybe "glue" or compress the signal a bit? It seems ever so slightly compress or keep the thing more even/average, eliminating some of the volume deviation ?

I'm using my 2i2 so it was a relief to hear its decent 👌 😌 ty for sharing your experience.

What about bass? There's a very well respected mix engineer and producer on a video saying that "75% of the bass sound is the DI box"

I'm trying to record my bass and guitar in my daw without my family hearing, does this allow that?

Hey Glenn, don't know if you'll ever read this, but after having torn my hair for 1 year trying to sound decent with my 2i2 and calling for help, I gave a shot to a simple cheap Behringer Ultra-G GI100 DI box. That definitely gave me the crisp "growly" distorsion typical of tube amps, instead of a "flat" grittle. Brought to life basically. So on my side it did make a great difference. (That, and recording in 48kHz instead of 44.1, samplerate is really crucial when it comes to using an IR)

You told me I don't need a DI box. And you're right.. I need a new interface because my first gen 2i2 is useless

Came here to see if I needed to add a DI box to my 2i2. Couldn’t have asked for a better answer than that. Thanks Glenn!

But Focusrite just a audio interface
not really DI

Will I be fine running electric guitar using an amp in a box pedal to a front of house PA with an XLR di box?

hi! greatfull. can i go direct from the out of my 2i2 to the amp?

best wishes from argentina!!

Wanna reamp? You need a DI.

Actually there's a sonic difference between the DIs and the preamps that you can easily spot if you pay attention to the high frequencies and the definition on the low mids. To me, using a DI when working with amp simps makes a noticeable difference on the tone, it may appear subtle but in context is huge, you have to keep in mind these little things if you want to make professional recordings.

what the di option on the 2i2? instrument or line?

All I can say is that the direct riffs sound way better than the distorted riffs and also, without meters it's completely pointless making this comparison... 😕

an active box improves the tone of my Casino/Behringer UMC 204hd combo significantly.

Hahaha it's funny. When you yelled 'FUCK NO', you clipped on ya interface :D

I have a problem where my pedals easily clip the signal of my focusrite, even with the input knob turned all the way down. I can turn down the pedal gain or volume, but it affects the color of the sound. Any tips on how to record with pedals into a focusrite?

but I thought u said in another video in a pro tip recording : track your guitars with a DI box just in case adjustments need to be made?? gleennnnnn

Hi there, can you use the focusrite as a di for live playing?

pardon my ignorance, im just starting back up me home set up.

I currently use a 2i2 2nd Gen. My main guitar for tracking is my Jackson ET7. The pups (stock) arent the hottest output, but its enough to keep my gain meter on my 2i2 constantly red. If i were to throw a countryman before my 2i2 and after my guitar, would that "tame" that signal a bit??

and advice would be super appreciated! loved video thanks!!

Awesome video! It helped me a lot! Thank you!