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Under Construction, writing and categorizing like crazy!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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