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Do You NEED A DIRECT BOX? Simply Explained w/ Audio Examples

Scott Uhl

137,548 views

Do you need a Direct Box for live or in the studio? That's what we are going to answer in this video with a simple explanation and audio examples. We are also going to go over different types of Direct Boxes.

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0:00 - Intro
1:20 - Main Reasons
2:28 - Bonus Reasons
3:19 - When You Don’t Need One
3:50 - Keyboard Tones
4:30 - SPDSX Tones
5:00 - Tone Philosophy
6:00 - Backing Tracks Tones
6:45 - Louder Doesn’t Mean Better
7:03 - Hi Z vs Direct Box
8:15 - Guitar Into Line Level
9:03 - HX Stomp Tones
10:00 - Cheap vs Expensive
11:52 - Passive vs Active
12:26 - Final Thoughts

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LiveWire:
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Whirwind (Best Bang-For-The-Buck):
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Radial (High-End):
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🌍 Thomann: https://thmn.to/thoprod/209196?offid=...

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💥 OTHER GEAR MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO 💥
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🎥 OTHER VIDEOS TO WATCH 🎥
●▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬●
◆ Mic/Line/Instrument Explained: MIC vs LINE vs INST: Master Your Audio Lev...
◆ Bluetooth Audio Vs Wireless Audio: Is WIRELESS AUDIO The Same As BLUETOOTH?
◆ 10 Tips When Using Backing Tracks: 10 TIPS/TRICKS If You Use BACKING TRACKS Live
◆ Choosing The Right Wireless: Choosing the Right WIRELESS SYSTEM - A Com...
◆ Wireless Studio Headphones: TRUE WIRELESS Studio Headphones - NOT BLUE...
◆ Ethernet Adapter For Digital Mixers: ADAPTER For Your DIGITAL MIXERS - Lightnin...
◆ Backing Tracks - Complete Guide: BACKING TRACKS for LIVE PERFORMANCES - COM...
◆ My Compact IEM Rack Setup: My COMPACT In-Ear Monitor Rack SETUP (and ...
◆ Guitar with Multi-Fx Processor Built In: Multi-FX Processor with Amps/Pedals/Cabs I...

◆ Passive vs Active Direct Boxes: DI Box 101: Active vs Passive - Which is B...

🎵 TONE RESULTS 🎵
●▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬●
Keyboard:
1 - Direct Box
2 - Line
3 - Line
4 - Direct Box

SPDSX:
1 - Line
2 - Direct Box
3 - Line
4 - Line

Backing Tracks:
(Youtube confuses the time chapter time stamps, so I have to write it out this way)
6m 24s - Cheap DI
6m 26s - Radial DI
6m 29s - Cheap DI
6m 32s - Line Level
6m 35s - Radial DI
6m 38.5s - Cheap DI

HX Stomp:
1 - Unbalanced Out
2 - Balanced Out
3 - Unbalanced Out
4 - Direct Box

Guitar Direct:
1 - Radial DI
2 - Cheap DI
3 - Cheap DI
4 - Hi Z
5 - Cheap DI
6 - Cheap DI
7 - Hi Z
8 - Radial DI
9 - Hi Z

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Edited with Gling AI: https://bit.ly/46bGeYv

*Links are affiliate links. It doesn't cost you anything extra to use those links, and is a free way to support the channel 😊

20 Comments

@ScottUhlMusic Creator 2 years ago Pinned

Just wanted to add 2 quick add-ons for this video: 1) A very helpful thing about direct boxes is that you won't accidentally get sent 48v phantom power from the board which can potentially fry your gear. That's rare, but it can happen, and it's good protection. 2) When I say "it takes a noisy signal and converts it into a less noisy signal", that does NOT mean that the direct box acts as a de-noiser or something like that. If you have a faulty pickup giving buzz, the direct box isn't going to change that. It just takes the "Noisy Unbalanced" signal and converts it into a "Balanced" signal which is much less noisy. Just wanted to clear that up. Thanks again for watching everyone!

@Roger-il8iw 2 years ago

I helped a small church fix their noise issue just by switching to all xlr higher quality cables, as short as possible. They were blown away lol

@IwontgiveThatout 2 years ago

So nice to hear a voice of reason in the audio quality/sound difference discussion. Great material as always!

@Sea_Jay 2 years ago

I was setting up for a gig this past weekend when the sound guy just starts plugging his XLR into my gear. I'm like whoa, I'll take that into my DI box. He looked at me like I had two heads. I don't want random phantom power sent to my gear by accident and I know what I'm getting with my DI box.

@TheCrimsonGhosts 2 years ago

So much EASY TO UNDERSTAND info in such a short video...Congrats!

@chemdrum 2 years ago

I like your approach on "if it sounds good, it is good". I enjoy how you just allow us as viewers to just listen and see if a difference occurs in your tone tests. Lol I heard no difference throughout the entire video. Also DI boxes are mainly used in live situations anyway and if there was any difference, it wouldn't matter anyway lol. Great video!

@martytrain 2 weeks ago

If you,re using a pro console and you plug a -10db instrument direct into the line input you will see a drop in level straight away on the meters of your recording device. You spoke about doing things a bit different, I realised providing you keep your input gain as low as possible, you can plug keyboards direct into the mic preamp and use the mic gain control on the channel strip to bring it up to nominal +4 db level, to some folks that may sound crazy but I do it all the time and most pro preamps have a 20 db pad as safety.No DI box required and instant +4 db when required!

@terryconnell 2 years ago (edited)

Bride: "Did you go into the line input instead of the Hi-Z input?" LOL You gotta make that a short or meme or something. Legit, cracked me up. Approx @8:50 ts.

@Andrew_O 2 years ago

I never looked into the comments and just listening couldn't tell any difference to speak of. This is such a real easy to look at these options without going crazy for nothing! Cheers!

@lspguitar8024 9 days ago (edited)

The Palmer DI 01 solved many problems for me. Between the Audio Interface and the guitar (emg 81x). It has only the -30 function and its too much. Maybe -10 is better. But even on 0 Pad setting with ground lift solved many problems. Thanks for the video :)

@maxgburton 2 years ago (edited)

Just wanted to say, I’ve been looking at getting IEMs and a wireless system for a while (I play small venues with my band). And your videos have helped me more than any other sources I could find on the internet. Great in depth and honest reviews, really appreciate the help you’ve provided!

Edit: I know this video isn’t related to that but just wanted to pass that on!

@fbtippmann 1 month ago

Listening through Macbook speakers in a not so silent room. I didn't notice a difference worth mentioning on the SPDSX, Backting tracks, or HX Stomp. I thought the Line input from the Keyboard sounded a bit harsh on the higher notes. On the 9 section guitar example, I could tell that the Radial was especially clean, the Hi-Z was good overall, but the cheap DI seemed to over-enhance some of the echoey effects. I could see how someone could think the cheap DI sounds the best if they want prominent echoy effects, but I think I'll buy a Radial ProD2 to have on hand for live sound reinforcement of the lead electric guitar. I plan on saving money have having several Livewire PDI's on hand for keys, bass, acoustic guitars, and secondary electric guitars. Maybe I'll buy more Radial gear in the future, but I'm very early in my live sound career. Thanks for a great video!

@HansCedric-o8b 1 month ago

Thanks for this very informative video. I have no regrets now having purchased a cheap DI box from amazon yesterday because the cheap and expensive DI boxes sounded the same to me or it's probably my 72 year old ears😄. Interesting riffs you played on the guitar, nice.

@ethanmiller631 2 months ago

this bastard made a comparison video so great & highlights that we judge so poorly regarding audio that it's comically that we do it that way

@Rahelios 2 years ago (edited)

Bro yes! LOVE this kind of content. Dispel the myths!

As musicians, we are all endlessly striving to improve our performance, our skill, our sound, our tone, and hopefully the positive impact that our music has on our audience.

As a sax player, I feel silly now recalling all the countless hours I've spent testing out different mouthpieces, playing into the corner, recording the sound clips, and endlessly doing a-b tests over 5 to 10 different mouthpiece and reed combinations at a time.

All to finally realize that the only thing that really mattered was which one physically felt the most comfortable and therefore enabled me to give the best performance? Because the quality of the performance of the MUSICIAN matters infinitely more than any subtle, most of the time imperceptible sound differences that I was struggling to even discern😂

If you can't hear any difference, or you think that maybe you can but you're struggling to figure it out and you keep going back and forth and you're not sure which one is actually better - then the truth is it really doesn't freaking matter and perhaps you're focused on the wrong thing entirely... 😊👍

Good stuff man! Thank you for all this great content!