DI BOX RADIAL J48 (active) VS RADIAL JDI (passive)

[-silent-sam-]

I want to pick up a new DI BOX...... I want to use it to record Bass and Guitars to be Re-amped.


So whats better ? they both cost the same.... ones active and ones passive ..... I don't really know the pros and cons as far as sound quality...

Not sure what I should pick up?..... any suggestions?

[aussie_techie]

if you want one box for a DI and reamping then you have to get a passive, if you have a separate reamp box then an active will give you the advantage of a higher input impedance so your pickups arnt loading as much but really either will be just fine if your only driving a single device.

[cnixon]

I do not know the technical jargon, but I have the Radial JDI and use it for the same thing you need, and it does a great job. I will plug just about anything into the Radial, from keyboards to guitar to pod to bass to electronic drums and so on, and am happy with the results. Seems so many pieces of electronic gear creates a bit of noise, and using the Radial everything becomes crystal clear.

Charlie

[-silent-sam-]

Originally Posted by aussie_techie

if you want one box for a DI and reamping then you have to get a passive, if you have a separate reamp box then an active will give you the advantage of a higher input impedance so your pickups arnt loading as much but really either will be just fine if your only driving a single device.

I got a reamp box..... I am leaning towards active but..... I am not sure if there is an advantage of going passive? aside from the fact that it dosen't need power.

[treccatrak]

i can tell you that in the live sound world i have used both, and learned that active di's are more accurate especially in the high end. passives tend to break up a little more in the high freq range.

[aussie_techie]

Originally Posted by silent-sam

I got a reamp box..... I am leaning towards active but..... I am not sure if there is an advantage of going passive? aside from the fact that it dosen't need power.

a real old question in every from DI and splitters to monitor controllers. passive devices dont need power and dont add any noise but have disadvantages in loading.
actives add some self noise but everything these days is such low noise that it shouldn't be a problem. an active amplifier also gives you more gain so you need less gain on a mic pre and so you wont be adding so much noise down the chain or amplifying the noise that is already present. active amplifiers with limited power available such as in DI suffer from a bad response to a waveform with a sharp edge (anything approaching a square wave). then again cheaper transformers generally respond even worse to a square wave. this question only arises with keyboards and samples etc anyway and radial use DC-DC converters to over come this as best they can anyway.

thats the general difference but there are difference in any implementation which can make bigger differences. if you want more info retad the radial papers on the two, both each manual and the comparison documents.

at the end of the day getting a good price can make a bigger difference to your state of mind than if you get an active a passive a radial a klark a BSS a countryman or anything else. i was about to get a radial for my main DI when i found a klark at half the price and never looked back. for now the difference has gone into more mics and the other basic things i have needed and having a collection of what i need makes a bigger difference than any single device.

[close/far]

Since you have a reamping device, I think the J48 would better suit the applications you mentioned.

[taturana]

i have the jdi and i just simply love it... awesome box...

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by treccatrak

i can tell you that in the live sound world i have used both, and learned that active di's are more accurate especially in the high end. passives tend to break up a little more in the high freq range.

I'm betting you've never used a Radial JDI then. It is the exception to nearly every negative charcterization about passive direct boxes ever made.

That being said, it does have a slightly more rolled-off treble response than the Radial active DI's I've used (the JDV...never tried the J48), but in my experience that still tends to manifest itself as clear, warm, euphonic high end...just without as much "tizzle" on top.

[spincycler]

I just picked up a Radial JDI at Guitar Center on Saturday and set up this experiment:

1. Created new ProTools session, added a drum loop and played a bass part by plugging my P-bass clone directly into the 003 completely unaltered.
2. Created a 2nd bass track and played the same part through the Radial into the 003 (XLR out to XLR in using one of the 4 mic pre channels).

I set the levels to be as close to identical as possible, peaking at about -6 db. Then I started soloing between the 2 bass tracks. I was really disappointed in that I could not hear a difference between the two. Granted I am listening on inexpensive M-Audio BX5 monitors, but I would think that I could hear at least a minor difference. So I'm left with 3 possibilities:

1. The JDI sucks (which I find hard to believe based on the rave reviews)
2. My ears suck (more likely)
3. I'm not setting my levels in a way that takes advantage of the JDI???

I had the volume knob on the bass full on in both recordings, left all of the switches out on the JDI (no -15 pad, ground lift, etc.) and then set my levels with the 003 to peak at about -6 db.

Actually, there is one other alternative. The box that the "new" JDI came in looked a bit tattered and the unit was not in the protective plastic bag inside the box and there were scratches on one corner of the finish, so perhaps this had been returned (after it was dropped or something).

Any suggestions? Has anyone done similar comparisons and heard a noticeable difference?

Thanks!
John

[Tonejunky1]

I don't own the the JDI yet, but I have done some experimenting of my own recording guitars and bass direct using: a 003, DigiMax FS, and UA Solo 610.

I too had noise issues with the 003 and the DigiMax, it's because those pres only allow you to raise the gain.

However, my 610 has a Gain and Output knob. When I was recording direct I had the Gain at 0 and the Output between 5-7. The result was a very clean sound.

Maybe you just need a preamp with an output for the makeup gain.

I myself am interested in the JDI and plan on using with my 610 with the same settings. I hope this helps.

[Phatbottom]

I love my J48.

Its a great DI box. Not up there with the Reddi or Avalon IMHO but it cost significantly less. The phantom power can be a hassle live sometimes but is usually not a problem.

I used the J48 blended with a TLM 49 into a solo 610 for every song i recently recorded on our album. The J48 captures the full frequency response while the TLM catches all the mid range detail.

Awesome DI for Keyboards too.

Here is a bass track with the above combo
Bass Guitar Jam by Clay Davis of The Regulars Band - YouTube

[robertshaw]

this is an old post
but for bass you want JDI