Just bought the EH 12AY7....

pk · Post by pk » Tue May 09, 2006 12:59 am

I haven't tried it yet but I will be tracking violin tomorrow for a project so I treated myself my first 'good' pre today. I also got myself a Rode NT1-A to pair it with, baby steps = wanted to better the signal path without breaking the bank just yet, nonetheless tools that will be handy later on even though I have more pres and mics on my list. Now the EH, as I sadly found out, has no DI input. I really looked forward to tracking guitar and bass through it, as well as vocals, but am completely clueless as to what DI to buy. I know Sansamp is ubiquitous and they make good stuff, but are there others you can recommend, perhaps a little cheaper even? Thanks for any advice.

ps: also got me a Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive and an EH Deluxe Memory Man. I had a gig tonight and ran my bass through the MM along with a Vox wah pedal and a POD for some grit, I loved it and got some very cool sounding tones...

KennyLusk · Post by **KennyLusk** » Tue May 09, 2006 7:01 am

These are super inexpensive and extremely quiet IME. I choose it over some of my more expensive passive DI's more often than not.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Whirlwind-EDB1-EDB- ... dZViewItem

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Tue May 09, 2006 8:44 am

Radial DI is highly regarded, and the Countryman Type 85 is a classic.

Joel will definitely pimp the Avalon U5, but it's probably out of your price range (per your post).

Whatever you get, make sure it has a high input impedance, which almost guarantees that it will be active. But beware- the converse is not necessarily true (i.e. not all active DI have high input impedances).

A good DI is highly underrated- so many good applications for it. I'd have to say one of my best all time purchases was the Groove Tubes Ditto Box, and my cost per use is getting lower by the minute. Lots of love for a lot of other DI units. Even preamps like the Hamptone JFET are valued for the quality DI inputs as well.

creature.of.habit · Post by **creature.of.habit** » Tue May 09, 2006 9:02 am

i am wondering about the same thing..why should i get an active DI? i have never used one so i really dunno...doesnt passive work with an outboard pre? active makes me think that there would be no need for the 12ay7...no? an active DI would work alone.. no? can someone break this down for me?

thanks!

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Tue May 09, 2006 9:10 am

You're not going to blow up anything by using a passive DI vs. an active DI.

And you should know my bias/background- since acoustic guitar was my primary instrument for many years, I'm used to dealing with crappy ultra-high impedance piezo pickups.

You may get a tone that you like with a passive- go ahead and try (I'm planning on trying the exact same thing with my Groove Tubes passive DI I bought, as soon as I get some time to experiment).

However, most instruments (specifically, any passive pickup instrument) need the higher input impedance to get a full range tone. A mismatched impedance (high pickup impedance into a low input impedance) will usually sound like ass- honky, muffled, no lows or sparkly highs, pretty much a bad deal. Active signals (e.g. keyboards, active pickups, acoustic guitar pickups with a powered preamp inboard or outboard) will usually do just fine.

One extra consideration: active preamps generally can drive a signal longer distances (we're talking stage distances: 100+ feet) than passive.

Again, no major laws broken. But your tone is your tone.

Phiz · Post by **Phiz** » Tue May 09, 2006 9:24 am

Just to throw another pro/con out there for your consideration.

If you get a passive DI, you can use it to re-amp by passing signal through it "backwards". An active DI only passes signal in one direction, so you can't use it to re-amp.

puls · Post by **puls** » Tue May 09, 2006 12:56 pm

Not meaning to hijack tour thread, however.
There's been some discussions here as to whether hooking up a passive DI backwards is really the 'same' as using a reamp (you could try a search). I'm not an electronics guy & the language was a little over my head, but if it was true, why would anyone buy a reamp?
Perhaps someone who knows could explain?

jwp

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Wed May 10, 2006 7:43 am

Pk:

Just get any old passive DI for this purpose. One with a decent xformer in it if possible. Really you just need it for the xformer in this case.

DJ RELAX · Post by **DJ RELAX** » Wed May 10, 2006 10:59 am

puls wrote:why would anyone buy a reamp?
Perhaps someone who knows could explain?

jwp

you can track direct and re-amp through different amps/ mics/ mic positions/ pre's/ comps etc. It can save your ass if you screw up while tracking.

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Wed May 10, 2006 11:04 am

And...you can use your guitar fx pedals on recorded things - like running that snare drum through a Big Muff.

pk · Post by pk » Wed May 10, 2006 11:06 am

I just noticed on the EH pre, only one of the tubes is actually glowing an amber light, the one on the right (12AY7), while the one on the left isn't glowing at all (12AU7), is that normal? It has been on for quite a few hours if it were a warm-up time issue. I'm kinda new to this tube thing, forgive my elemental question...

puls · Post by **puls** » Wed May 10, 2006 12:14 pm

you can track direct and re-amp through different amps/ mics/ mic positions/ pre's/ comps etc. It can save your ass if you screw up while tracking.

You misunderstood my question. I wasn't asking what a reamp is for, I was asking if you can use a $69 (or so - I haven't checked prices) passive di backwards as a reamp, why would you pay $175 (or so) for an actual reamp?

jwp

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Wed May 10, 2006 12:16 pm

puls wrote:Not meaning to hijack tour thread, however.
There's been some discussions here as to whether hooking up a passive DI backwards is really the 'same' as using a reamp (you could try a search). I'm not an electronics guy & the language was a little over my head, but if it was true, why would anyone buy a reamp?
Perhaps someone who knows could explain?

jwp

There is nothing that works quite like an actual reamp (or little labs style thingy) not just a DI "backwards."

I would re-record things all the time before getting a reamp ( an actual reamp ) and it worked ok, always. Once I got the real deal, though, it really worked just like there was someone playing the take for me a million times. The tone was perfect, no noise... The "real" reamp just makes the amp "feel" like it does when you have an instrument plugged into it. The proper loading is uge, when it comes to getting a really good tone out of something. I also use the reamp for getting IN to my tape echo's, and a DI on the way out. That changed everything. Beig able to get make up gain for korg stage echo, a space echo, or a hiwatt tape echo... even the klemt echolette which is tube... Being able to get some make up gain from a great tube mic pre (12ay7?) that is just used for make up gain and nothing ore can really make these tape echo's sing. Sometimes I will do that, or sometimes straight to the pre's in my Neve sidecar.

You can hammer a screw into a wall, or you can use a screwdriver. One is "better" for the job, for sure. Both will get the screw into the wall though.

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Wed May 10, 2006 1:42 pm

Here are some answers from the designer himself:

http://www.reamp.com/faq/#4739

I think the upshot is that a passive DI won't tolerate a +4 signal as well.

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Wed May 10, 2006 1:46 pm

So here's something that might work...

If you have a Mackie VLZ series board lying around, you can use the main output as a mic level, have that signal go into a passive DI, and reamp from there.

http://mackie.com/home/showimage.html?u ... ROBack.jpg

I personally don't need to reamp anything, but maybe this would be a workaround for someone else, especially if you already have one of these boards.

Message Board

Just bought the EH 12AY7....

Just bought the EH 12AY7....

Who is online