Best DI box for acoustic

CDee

I've been looking around for a good DI box to use. I play mostly acoustic these days so I'm looking for something that'll reflect the sound I'm getting from my acoustic. I just love the sound of my Larrivee but I'm struggling to reproduce it over the PA system. (It has a B-Band A2.2 pickup system if that makes a difference)

I searched a bit and found that the Radial J48 gets good reviews, also the Radial StageBug. Anybody have experience with one these?

Maybe some other suggestions?

I'm currently using a standard Boss DI and I also have a Fishman Aura. Both do the job and the Aura is feature packed, but I just can't get it to sound like I want it.

?

studmissile

I love my LR Baggs Para DI, a very versatile unit and sounds great even when I don't.

Gearhead

Don't you think it is down to pickup before DI?

AlanRatcliffe

OK. I've got a Boss DI-1, Radial ProD2, Fishman Aura DI and Baggs Para-Acoustic DI and have used all on a variety of pickups.

Which pickups do you have with the A2.2 (the A2.2 is the preamp/mixer)? If both, note that the Fishman Aura needs the trims adjusted on the A2.2 so the mix is all UST, rather than the AST - that's what it is designed to work with. I know some guys love the AST's, but every time I've worked with one, I know I'm gonna get a low frequency hump that will cause feedback issues. The Baggs PADI is the best at coping with the AST, but even then a highpass filter on the desk is an absolute must.

In fact, While I use the Aura myself (mostly to add some life to electric guitar saddle piezos and Carvin nylon solidbody), the PADI is my go-to for any acoustic guitar. Easiest to dial in for a variety of guitars and quickly kill any feedback. What it won't do however is make a quacky pickup system sound better, which the Aura excels at. The passive Radial does a fairly good job of that too (good transformers go a long way to smoothing off a bit of "edge" from harsh sounds), but lacks any EQ or feedback suppression - would be my first choice if I wanted to get a good unadulterated signal to a good engineer on a good desk.

The Boss works well (very underrated those), but is a bit bland. Usually ends up on passive electric bass.

CDee

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: OK. I've got a Boss DI-1, Radial ProD2, Fishman Aura DI and Baggs Para-Acoustic DI and have used all on a variety of pickups.

Which pickups do you have with the A2.2 (the A2.2 is the preamp/mixer)? If both, note that the Fishman Aura needs the trims adjusted on the A2.2 so the mix is all UST, rather than the AST - that's what it is designed to work with. I know some guys love the AST's, but every time I've worked with one, I know I'm gonna get a low frequency hump that will cause feedback issues. The Baggs PADI is the best at coping with the AST, but even then a highpass filter on the desk is an absolute must.

In fact, While I use the Aura myself (mostly to add some life to electric guitar saddle piezos and Carvin nylon solidbody), the PADI is my go-to for any acoustic guitar. Easiest to dial in for a variety of guitars and quickly kill any feedback. What it won't do however is make a quacky pickup system sound better, which the Aura excels at. The passive Radial does a fairly good job of that too (good transformers go a long way to smoothing off a bit of "edge" from harsh sounds), but lacks any EQ or feedback suppression - would be my first choice if I wanted to get a good unadulterated signal to a good engineer on a good desk.

The Boss works well (very underrated those), but is a bit bland. Usually ends up on passive electric bass.

Thanks for all the info Alan!

I'll play with the Aura and the AST / UST trim. I just downloaded the manual for the A2.2 so I'll read up on what is what with the pickup. ?

CDee

zohn wrote: Hi CDee
For that Larrivee any of the mentioned units will work - I used it with my Ultrsound DI plus which is somewhat like the Baggs Para DI. To get more acoustic tone out of that system, I reckon the modeling route is the one to follow, used with the UST as mentioned.

The ultimate solution to a more natural acoustic product I'm afraid will need a different pickup or ultimately a mic.

I've K&K Pure mini's fitted to all my guitars now and find them to be the "truest" in reproducing the sound I'm after. In one guitar I have the K&K Trinity which is a combo of the Pure mini and a mic which in an OM provides the best of two worlds.
The Trinity is run off a dedicated dual channel pre-amp and with a stereo cable. The other units I run through my Ultrasound DI plus with great results.

a Mic would be a great solution for the terrific tone of that Rosewood Larrivee if not played too loud. (mics love to feedback :-[)
The LR Baggs Lyric gets faboulous reviews - I bought one recently but it seems I won't use it for a while yet since the new guitar it was meant for is already fitted with a K&K Pure mini.

Hi Zohn,

Hope you are doing well? ?

I'll check out the K&K products aswell as the LR Baggs Lyric.

Thanks!

sharonzaz

dont expect a DI to work magic on your sound.
sure, it can help in injecting the sound into your PA a little better, but
a good pickup\guitar combo will sound good even with a jack2jack directly into you desk.

High end Takamine and Taylor are perfect combos, never heard better direct sound than those, perhaps from seagull here and there.

have a look at your setup, perhaps its a setting or even your cable.
a good quality guitar should sound great plugged in, but it will never sound as good as the sound box. there will always be some pickup artefact.

CDee

sharonzaz wrote: dont expect a DI to work magic on your sound.
sure, it can help in injecting the sound into your PA a little better, but
a good pickup\guitar combo will sound good even with a jack2jack directly into you desk.

High end Takamine and Taylor are perfect combos, never heard better direct sound than those, perhaps from seagull here and there.

have a look at your setup, perhaps its a setting or even your cable.
a good quality guitar should sound great plugged in, but it will never sound as good as the sound box. there will always be some pickup artefact.

Actually, the sound I'm getting is not bad at all. It's actually very good. I'm just looking for something a bit truer to the box sound.

I think I'll do a bit of a comparison. Record it mic'd up and then record it line out. Maybe that'll help... ?

Big-G

I have been using the DBX DB12 Active DI's for the past 18 months plus, and they have worked nicely for me. No features fitted to adjust EQ, as its just a basic active DI, but you should be able to get the tones out of your guitar, and from the desk EQ.

I've used these with my Yama CPX8 and Crafter (LR Baggs fitted), several Cort acoustics, and more recently my friends Martin, and the best ways we've found is to have your basic settings set on your guitars preamp that deliver the closest sound you like, then just minor tweaking on the PA mixer to allow for different venues and possibly even different speaker systems.

If you are after more versatility still, then I really like the LR Baggs Venue DI. I keep on wanting to get one for myself, but then keep on reminding myself how much they cost!

To be honest though, if you are finding that the original sound isn't sounding like the actual guitar itself, then I would first be looking at the UST itself.

Regards
G!

CDee

Thanks for all the advice guys... ?

Played around with the trim etc. and got a very nice true sound. Crisp and warm. Really improved the string separation too.

Played through the Aura with no image blend and it sounds great.