Groove Tubes Ditto Opinions

[Odeo]

Anyone have one:
- how does it compare to other DIs.
- What's it best used for. What's it sound like.
- Any mods for it or can I change tube for a different sound?
- How to use it to get the best result.
- Is it any good for tracking Keyboards or Samples

Ta

[snedley]

Hey,
It's really good for bass. Warms the sound up a bit.
I have used it to track a bass through a TC Gold Channel and it sounded quite good.
Not bad for plugging an acoustic pickup feed into either.

[Albert]

It is really good on bass. One of the best in fact, in my opinion. Sounds great on guitars as well. It's also nice on keyboards, tends to round out the "digitalness" of them a bit. Subtle, but pleasant on keys.

You can change out the tubes. Just take the top off and swap the tube. There are two tubes in there, but one is for volume, so you really only want to change out the 12ax7.

A bass player friend of mine changes the impedence on his DITTO, so that it would match better with the pickup on his bass. That's the only mod I've heard of anyone doing on a DITTO, other than swapping out tubes. Incidentally, my friend brings several great DI's to sessions and he says that 90% of the time the engineer wants the DITTO.

[grevan]

Hey guys,
Is the "brick" the same as the ditto? I just got one, and used it to track bass, and was not too impressed, it was "OK"....not "WOW".

The bass player's bass sucked, though, might have something to do with it

[Snatchman]

Originally Posted by grevan

Hey guys,
Is the "brick" the same as the ditto? I just got one, and used it to track bass, and was not too impressed, it was "OK"....not "WOW".

The bass player's bass sucked, though, might have something to do with it

It's probably the bass itself. I have the Ditto and I think it's a great DI! I use it on keys and synths,samples, etc. and found it to definately take some of the "edge" of them, especially if you use the Ditto's output gain (transformer), sorta adds weight to the signal. I think the difference in the Ditto and the Brick, ( other than the addition of the pre of course), is the input inpedance. The input inpedance on the Ditto is 1 meg and the Brick is 3 meg! I have the Radial Duplex and even though it's a passive DI, it's great also!

[Odeo]

What does the impedance do to the sound if it's too high or too less compared to the input that's goin in. Is the Ditto impedence good enough for my Akais and synths. Will I need to change the impedence to get a fatter and warmer sound.

Is it possible to build an adjustable impedence unit that I can place inbetween the cable coming out of my synths and samplers and to the input of the Ditto. If it's a matter of resistors and swithces, I should be able to solder one together, I just need the design on how to build one, with variable impedence selection. Anyone out there can help?


Ta

[Albert]

The impedance is fine for synths just as it is. And probably for most instruments as well. There's no impedance problem with this DI at all. My friend adjusted the impedance simply to fine tune how it worked with his personal bass pickup, and to get it to sound and react the way he wanted. We are talking a really really really picky bass player that knows exactly what he likes (and a great player by the way).

So there's no need to infer anything beyond that regarding the impedance of the DITTO. I personally thought he sounded great through the DITTO before he changed the impedance, and in some ways I preferred the original sound. So it's really a matter of taste.

[Odeo]

ok, fair enough, but how does the impedence works and how does it affect the sound. Anyone have any designs on makin an impedence selectable switch or unit that you can add selectable impedence on DIs or other instrument inputs.

My girlfriend told me his grandfather had an impedence problem with his unit, but his wife sais he just wasn't playing it right. So his wife showed him how to use it and now he plays with it every chance he gets. Maybe she should check if my Ditto has an impedence problem.



Ta

[grevan]

Originally Posted by Odeo

My girlfriend told me his grandfather had an impedence problem with his unit, but his wife sais he just wasn't playing it right. So his wife showed him how to use it and now he plays with it every chance he gets.



Ta

huh?