Radial J48 vs. Radial JDV

[Sugarman]

Whats 'the difference between the Radial J48 DI and the Radial JDV DI???
I know that the JDV has more features.
But soundwise?
Different quality components?
The J48 DI is half the price of the JDV and I don't really need all the features (I think) - but at the same time I want the best quality/sounding and most transparant/neutral DI box.
Any differences?

And...
Does the J48 have the famous Jensen Transformers and class A cirquit wich the JDV has?

[Kiwiburger]

The JDI is simply a Jensen trannie in a steel box with the necessary in's and out's. Simple and effective. No power supply required - no noise from electronics - no headroom issues - transformer isolation, freedom from ground loops. The results you get depend on your mic preamp - and impedance of instrument and preamp will be factors.

The JDV - afaik - doesn't have a Jensen trannie. It's an active box, so it requires power, and it makes some noise. It has a limited headroom, but because of the 30V psu, this shouldn't be an issue - even when using 18V active basses. It uses Class A design, which has the advantages of purer sound with no crossover distortion of push/pull type circuits. But Class A designs suck a lot of current, so they can't run this off phantom power. Depending on the instrument and preamp - this might sound better than the JDI - or maybe not. Rule of thumb: active bass with passive DI, passive bass with active DI - but they are just different, so try both.

The JD48 is a cheap design that can run off phantom power because they haven't used Class A. It won't sound quite as good, but it's still a great DI box.

[Sugarman]

Originally Posted by Kiwiburger

The JDI is simply a Jensen trannie in a steel box with the necessary in's and out's. Simple and effective. No power supply required - no noise from electronics - no headroom issues - transformer isolation, freedom from ground loops. The results you get depend on your mic preamp - and impedance of instrument and preamp will be factors.

The JDV - afaik - doesn't have a Jensen trannie. It's an active box, so it requires power, and it makes some noise. It has a limited headroom, but because of the 30V psu, this shouldn't be an issue - even when using 18V active basses. It uses Class A design, which has the advantages of purer sound with no crossover distortion of push/pull type circuits. But Class A designs suck a lot of current, so they can't run this off phantom power. Depending on the instrument and preamp - this might sound better than the JDI - or maybe not. Rule of thumb: active bass with passive DI, passive bass with active DI - but they are just different, so try both.

The JD48 is a cheap design that can run off phantom power because they haven't used Class A. It won't sound quite as good, but it's still a great DI box.

The JD48? Do you mean the J48?

I will only be using the DI for passive pickups - vintage basses and guitars and Rhodes - never use active...
So I should get the active JDV in your opinion?

[TER]

Well, I own all three, so I'll tell you what I use them for. I also have the Millennia TD-1, Avalon U5, etc... so I have a few choices in DIs.

I love the JDI for nearly everything. It is as simple as it can be. If the sound source is in the control room I plug it into the APIs in the rack, anywhere else in the studio the JDI is the first choice for a direct.

The JDV can be great if the signal to the box doesn't have enough "life". It is extremely clean and can help things with passive pickups out a bunch. If you need to drive a signal some distance the JDV can be great.

The J48 I use pretty much where I would use the JDV. I have two J48s so I use them in stereo applications (Rhodes, synths, etc.). I think the sonic differences between the JDV and J48s are not that dramatic, but I have never done an a/b test swapping them out on the same source. I have never felt like I was "missing" anything using the J48.

All the higher end Radial stuff is built very well and sounds great... you won't be unhappy with any of the three.

At some point it comes down to practicality. If you're going to be travelling the JDV is huge and requires a power supply. The JDI and J48 are much smaller. If you're going to be stationary get a JDV or JDI and don't ever worry about direct boxes again.

For what it's worth, I like my passive G&L bass through the JDI more than the JDV. It's very hard to go wrong with a good Jensen transfomer.

tom

[Sugarman]

Originally Posted by TER

Well, I own all three, so I'll tell you what I use them for. I also have the Millennia TD-1, Avalon U5, etc... so I have a few choices in DIs.

I love the JDI for nearly everything. It is as simple as it can be. If the sound source is in the control room I plug it into the APIs in the rack, anywhere else in the studio the JDI is the first choice for a direct.

The JDV can be great if the signal to the box doesn't have enough "life". It is extremely clean and can help things with passive pickups out a bunch. If you need to drive a signal some distance the JDV can be great.

The J48 I use pretty much where I would use the JDV. I have two J48s so I use them in stereo applications (Rhodes, synths, etc.). I think the sonic differences between the JDV and J48s are not that dramatic, but I have never done an a/b test swapping them out on the same source. I have never felt like I was "missing" anything using the J48.

All the higher end Radial stuff is built very well and sounds great... you won't be unhappy with any of the three.

At some point it comes down to practicality. If you're going to be travelling the JDV is huge and requires a power supply. The JDI and J48 are much smaller. If you're going to be stationary get a JDV or JDI and don't ever worry about direct boxes again.

For what it's worth, I like my passive G&L bass through the JDI more than the JDV. It's very hard to go wrong with a good Jensen transfomer.

tom

Thank you - very nice info

I am not gonna travel around with it. It is suposed to be used as a DI before my pair of V76 mic pre (tube) - so I want the color from the V76 obviously - and the DI as neutral as possible.
But many people say that for passive pickups use active DI - but then you seem happy with a passive JDI on passive instruments... Do you get enough input gain?

[TER]

I would use the JDI. Why put a solid state stage (class A or not) in front of a nice tube preamp? You certainly don't need a gain or buffer stage to do the impedance matching for you. The gain comes from the preamp in either case, not the DI.

tom

[Sugarman]

Makes sense - think I will grab a JDI thumbsup
Just gotta say what a great forum this is - people respond so quickly!
Thank you!

[warhead]

JDI is always my first grab for passive DI. Man that box = sweet.

War

[Sugarman]

Originally Posted by warhead

JDI is always my first grab for passive DI. Man that box = sweet.

War

Warhead - you also use JDI for vintage passive instruments...?
Just to make sure...

[shikawkee]

You could look at the Little Labs Red Eye too.
It's passive and also works as a reamp box.
I bet it sounds a little clearer than the Radial.

[Jax]

I was recently on the hunt for a pair of DI's, and tried the J48, the IBP and a cheap Behringer Ultra DI100. An active J bass and a passive Ibanez electric were used for the tests.

No matter what preamp I used with it, the J48 came out sounding very clean and sterile. It seemed to lack anything that would flatter the instrument, which in a technical way is impressive. For my tastes, the other two DI's I tried were more robust and full sounding. I found myself wanting some tone from the J48, and eq'ing the tone in was difficult and not satisfying. Like most tracks, if the sound isn't there from the start, creating it from nothing is a challenge.

Next up, the Behringer. For a $40 DI, I found the thing quite useful! I wouldn't use it on guitar, but for bass it has a nice, round, full sound. The Ultra DI is not as clean or clear as either the J48 or the IBP, but it's not so far behind that I wouldn't use it. For bass, the small lack of high end and clarity can be good since I don't often want the bass to compete for that sonic territory with other instruments in a mix.

The IBP easily outperformed the other DI's. I think the combination of its old school style custom-wound transformer and massive headroom give it superior sonic capability. It has all the clarity of the J48, but in a smoother sounding way. It also has a small amount of growl, and the bottom end is tight, focused and big, but not so big that it requires trimming the fat. Then there's all the other stuff the IBP can do, which I won't get into here. Suffice to say, the IBP is a VERY useful recording tool. And it can be used without a preamp, or with if I want to add any preamp coloration (at the slight expense of a tiny loss of clarity).

Anyway, hope that helps. The J48 is ok and it might fit your neutrality bill just right. Just saw where it looks like you're getting a JDI. Post a followup of your impressions!

[cdog]

Originally Posted by Sugarman

I want the best quality/sounding and most transparant/neutral DI box.

Thats the JDV. Get 2 of them. Its silent and huge sounding, whatever anyone else says.

[warhead]

Originally Posted by Sugarman

Warhead - you also use JDI for vintage passive instruments...?
Just to make sure...

Well I don't get too many real old guitars / basses in here, I've used it with old P's I know and it was great.

War

[TER]

Did someone say the JDV wasn't silent and huge sounding?

Hmm... I was a Radial dealer for a couple of years and had just about every box they made... I still prefer the JDI on just about everything compared to the others. Shades of difference and preference, just like everything else in audio.

Get both from Mercenary and send back the one you don't like.

Listen to your own opinion!

-tom

[Jax]

Given the accolades here, the JDV seems like a different beast from Radial's other DIs. The J48 was just weak and polite sounding to me. I'll have to try that JDV.

Huge is a good sound for a DI...

[PMIReid]

I evaluated all the units from Radial, and ended up with the JDI. Sounds killer, built like a tank, great features.

buying an X-Amp from them this month (my January monthly allotment of toys)

[Sugarman]

Originally Posted by PMIReid

I evaluated all the units from Radial, and ended up with the JDI. Sounds killer, built like a tank, great features.

buying an X-Amp from them this month (my January monthly allotment of toys)

Thanks for reply.

Do you mostly record instruments with passive pick-ups?
Or did you find the JDI just as good on passive pick-ups?
Maybe you recorded a vintage bass thru the JDI?

[Chuck B]

I know you are already convinced but i still some sh*t to say. coincidentally i just bought a jdi today. this thing is great, sounds nice and it's built like a tank.
chuck

[PMIReid]

Originally Posted by Sugarman

Thanks for reply.

Do you mostly record instruments with passive pick-ups?
Or did you find the JDI just as good on passive pick-ups?
Maybe you recorded a vintage bass thru the JDI?

All my instruments have passive pickups. I evaluated with the following:

Tom Anderson Classic Hollow Strat
1968 Gibson ES340
1969 Melody Maker with Duncan PAF's
1960's era P-Bass (borrowed from a pal)

It was really close between the J48 and JV1. I couldn't hear a ton of difference between them, but I found that the JDI worked best in my room at removing groundloop noise. I ended up with the JV1 mostly because it doesn't require any external power - making it more useful in situations outside of my home studio.

But, it's worth saying that ALL the stuff Radial makes is really nice. Top notch attention to detail, high quality components, and a serious "overbuild" when it comes to how much of a beating their stuff can take.

[Sugarman]

Originally Posted by PMIReid

All my instruments have passive pickups. I evaluated with the following:

Tom Anderson Classic Hollow Strat
1968 Gibson ES340
1969 Melody Maker with Duncan PAF's
1960's era P-Bass (borrowed from a pal)

It was really close between the J48 and JV1. I couldn't hear a ton of difference between them, but I found that the JDI worked best in my room at removing groundloop noise. I ended up with the JV1 mostly because it doesn't require any external power - making it more useful in situations outside of my home studio.

But, it's worth saying that ALL the stuff Radial makes is really nice. Top notch attention to detail, high quality components, and a serious "overbuild" when it comes to how much of a beating their stuff can take.

Thank you - that's a very useful reply!

So far no-one say on WHICH source they actually use the DI for - just that it's great.
And you know, they might be using active warwick basses and lots of modern synthesizers - wich is very far from my world of recording
I have no doubt about the JDI now - have to get one.

[foldback]

Originally Posted by Sugarman

I will only be using the DI for passive pickups - vintage basses and guitars and Rhodes - never use active...

On several occasions when I've been recording bands in bars I've had the bass player tell me his tone changed when I inserted one of my transformer DI boxes into his guitar cord. My best passive DI boxes are custom built with Jensen transformers. No matter whos transformer is in the box, a passive transformer DI will load down a passive instrument a little bit and that's going to cut the highs a little.

When I switch the bass player to a Countryman Type 85 active direct box I've been told the tone went back to the way it was supposed to be.

I've never had a single problem with the Countryman DI boxes so I usually go for them right off and save the passive transformer DI boxes for active sources like keyboards. The Countryman can run on internal 9-volt battery or phantom power.

[DeathMonkey]

Originally Posted by TER

Well, I own all three, so I'll tell you what I use them for. I also have the Millennia TD-1, Avalon U5, etc... so I have a few choices in DIs.


tom

How do you like the Millennia TD-1?

[Basswave]

Originally Posted by TER

For what it's worth, I like my passive G&L bass through the JDI more than the JDV. It's very hard to go wrong with a good Jensen transfomer.

tom

Hello Tom
(Old thread I know)

What is it about the JDI you like more?
Is it the slight saturation factor that comes from Jensen?

Or do you find the JDV to sterile or just a little bit to clean?

I own both and like both.
I tend to use JDV for live and a take a line out of my REDDI and feed it to the JDV or JDI for recording. (Just for another track to play with it).

I would love to hear your thought on it.

Thanks
-B~