AVENSON AUDIO SMALL DI REVIEW
Big sound in a little package for sure. Brad spent a lot of time on this simple device so that well, you dont have to. You plug it in and go, its phantom powered and has a big, smooth sound to it. Noise seems virtually non-existent with the Small DI, works well on keys and bass, active or passive. Its a small FET design with a 10M ohm (yes, 10 million ohm) input impedence so it wont load down the source and delivers a clear, big sound.
Conclusion: For bass players on the go for live gigs, for recording studios who need an inexpensive and small DI for their mic pres, the Small DI is a no brainer for quality build and sound.
PHOENIX AUDIO NICE DI REVIEW
OK who doesnt want a nice DI? What if I told you the Nice DI should be renamed the Nice Everything? Ill explain in a second. The Nice DI is a stereo active DI, has a 10M ohm (yes, 10M!) input impedence, and +40dB of available gain which matches well for any low output passive pickup instrument to a hot active synth output. The Nice DI will also accept line level sources, which brings me closer to my Everything comment.
With the classic Phoenix Audio sound intact, you can deliver clean tone or push things for drive in a very unique fashion. Feed it anything you like on the input, the cool thing that I love about this unit is it employs the exact same DSOP-2 output section as all of their other high end units (DRS preamps, Nicerizer summing mixers) and Im convinced thats where at least a huge part of the sound of Phoenix gear comes from. On a budget but wish you had a summing mixer? Grab a Nice DI and run your DAW 2 buss mix through it and pick up the sweet coloration of the output section. Got some preamps youd like to spice up? Run their output into the Nice DI and again, pick up the character that makes this brand famous.
Conclusion: See where I am going with this? Just about anybody on any budget can pick up a stereo Phoenix Nice DI and process synths, passive and active instruments, mic preamp outputs, mixer outputs, or straight feeds from a DAW mix. Experience the Phoenix Audio sweetness yourself, this is a highly recommended buy.
RADIAL JDI / DUPLEX REVIEW
This review covers the Radial JDI and JDI Duplex (stereo with bonus features)
*The Duplex is the stereo version of the Radial JDI direct box. The Duplex adds -10dB consumer level to +4dB interfacing between balanced and unbalanced equipment, as well as line level XLR inputs.
The Radial JDI has been my favorite passive DI to plug into a mic preamp for years now. One main reason is that it functions flawlessly and has every feature I want on a DI, but the real reason is the sound. The onboard Jensen transformer simply provides a highly musical yet clean sound that sounds great with passive and active output devices. The JDI features a split throughput to feed the amp while taking the direct balanced transformer out signal from the XLR jack, ground lift (can be a life saver!), -15dB pad, and a merge switch that sums a stereo feed to mono. Its built like a tank, seriously you could run over it with a car Im sure with absolutely no damage.
The sound is clean with a subtle sheen to it that is classic Jensen. Detailed, super high headroom and no noticeable distortion mean you get out of it what you feed it. Ive never had a situation where the JDI degraded a signal, if anything it delivers a clear but slightly enhanced version of reality. Bass is deep, synths have all the bite you want, and its a great DI to use when recording a DI track for reamplifying later! Plugging the JDI into a variety of preamps means you can achieve color elsewhere, another nice reason to own one.
Conclusion: A go to DI for me, super rugged and never fails. I think its one of those everybody should have one devices.
RADIAL J48 DI REVIEW
The J48 is a phantom powered preamp, accepting instrument levels and converting to balanced microphone levels for mic preamp gain. The feature set is great: -15dB pad, polarity reverse, ground lift, merge (takes 2 inputs to 1 output) and a high pass filter. It is great for sending a long run instrument output to the mixers preamps without induced noise or distortion.
The J48 is super clean, and somewhat brighter than passive models and very detailed sounding. When you do not want to alter the sources sound and are driving a long cable run, this active box delivers the goods if youve got the phantom power it needs. No noise, no issues, and the build is so sturdy you could likely toss it off a building and fire a bullet at it and it will still hold up.
Conclusion: Recommended for taking passive outputs (or active) and sending them over long distances in a clean, uninterrupted way!
RADIAL PRODI / PROD2 REVIEW
This review covers the ProDI (mono) and ProD2 (stereo) devices from Radial Engineering.
More indestructible boxes from Radial, the kings of dedicated direct inject (DI) boxes for live sound and recording. The Pro series does not offer the Jensen transformer like the JDI and Duplex have, but rather a more cost efficient Chinese transformer to lower the cost of putting a robust DI in your hands. ¼ inputs and throughputs, XLR balanced outputs, ground lift (lifts pin 1) and -15dB pad round out these boxes utility use nicely.
I remember Peter Janis showing me a plot at the AES show, comparing the Jensen transformer and this new inexpensive transformer on paper. The Jensen had a more extended top end response, otherwise the plots looked very similar. I was pleasantly surprised when, well, thats what I HEARD when they started shipping. The top end of the Pro series is a bit soft and slightly darkish by comparison. I wont be replacing my Radial JDI with a Pro series anytime soon, however I have used the ProDI and ProD2 in recording situations where I needed more channels and they never got in that way.
Conclusion: Same high quality build, just a lower cost transformer. For live use they would be a no brainer, in the studio they are more than just acceptable as very decent passive DI boxes.
RADIAL PRO RMP REVIEW
The PRO-RMP is one of those it just works devices that you dont need fancy features for most times. Built like a tank (like all Radial products you could run over it with a truck and its going to be fine) and should last a lifetime. I like the bright blue color, its easier to locate it in my somewhat dark studio. You get an XLR balanced input and ground lift on one side, you get a ¼ instrument level output (50kOhm)and trim on the other.
I have found the ProRMP to sound extremely clean and true to the original source. I typically track with a Radial JDI passive DI so I can capture the clean DI track to tape (DAW) with a clean A/D converter, in case I need to re-amplify a source later. Being able to choose different amps during mixdown is of course a very nice option to have and the ProRMP tackles the job no problem. Just run it line level back out of the DAW or recorder and into the XLR input, plug an instrument cable into the output and feed your amp (some use re-amp boxes to interface instrument level effects during mixdown too). You can lift the ground and tweak the send level to perfection.
Conclusion: Ive owned the expensive reamp boxes, the ProRMP is every bit as good at half the price. A serious no brainer if youre looking for amp choices during the mixdown process.