Man seeing the diagram and having everything explained is so fun.

You’re the best teacher on KZfaq.

Oh man. You're blowing my mind. Voltage as torque, or leverage, amperage as velocity... holy shit. That's amazing.

Dave Rat University should be mandatory viewing for all new audio people before they get their hands on a mixing console

Thanks a lot! I finally understood what is DI boxes do.

Indeed, there are individuals who deserve an award for the way in which they present the technical fundamentals within the scope of sound technology, making it possible for the largest possible number of people to benefit from it. It is undeniable that this channel of yours is a credible source of information, for those who really need to understand the fundamentals. The signal level issue is an example of this. For this, I express my thanks to Dave Rat. I will continue here, no doubt.

I learned a lot from this video post. Thank you for making it, Dave!

My moms boyfriend tried to explain to me back in the 80s this concept of why he always put the bass di backwards but I never got it till now. Thank you for explaining this.

Thank you for taking the time to explain all of this.

I used a DI box this weekend! I do video production for dance competitions. I take the line-level output of the soundboard backstage and ran it into a Radial DI box. Then I'm able to send the balanced mic-level signal over 150 feet to my camera in the back of the auditorium. It works great! Plus having a ground-lift can be useful if you experience any buzz or hum. DI boxes are wonderful! 😊

The thinking persons sound tech tutor. You can tell the man's brain is always working to make things better for bands and audiences and he has an uncanny skill of making it all understandable. Keep 'em coming Dave. S.

Thank you, Dave! You have a way of explaining complex topics in a easily digestible way. I appreciate you taking the time to share all of this info.

First and foremost I always enjoy and learn from your videos, so thank you for that. I just wanted to say your analogy of impedance and current and voltage using the stick and fulcrum point was one of the best explanations I have seen since college. Bravo and keep them coming please Sir.

this content is amazing, such a blessing in the audio community

Employer -"What knowledge do you have with live sound?" Me -"I watched all Dave Rats KZfaq videos-" Employer -"Ok! You are hired."

I really appreciate the difference between your tutorials and comments and those of audiophile sites who propose that everything needs to be absolutely perfect and that power cables make a difference that we can hear. Thanks

Hi Dave, Mr.Wolf here , just wanted to tell you are doing an awesome work with your channel, I show lot of your myth busters to some of my students. Thanks for being so awesome with all these tests, thanks for taking the time to teach others and for your humility and kindness

Certainly, in the topsy-turvy world of heavy rock, having a good solid piece of wood in your hand is often useful.

Wonderful explanation, as always! It would be great if the practical difference between reversed DI and reamp box is given as well.

Thanks Dave, this is amazing information you're sharing! One note on that ZOOM H4n - it is a little funky but you can actually feed line level into the inputs but you have to run them in via 1/4" which is how the H4n knows you're giving it line level instead of mic level. Of course a DI is a great way to do this more universally.

Dave, Theses are awesome videos. How much do I wish KZfaq , and videos like these had been around in the 80’s . When I started playing/ working with audio gear. Would have helped to make a pile of Peavey, Crate, Audio Centron ..,, and some home built stuff sound better.. maybe., Thanks for sharing a lifetime of knowledge. As some say you might have forgotten more about audio than a lot of people will ever know.

I used to always run two Multiformat, one for microphone level signals and the other for line level signals (both directions), sometimes even going up to three multicores, microphones, line inputs, line outputs, and would (mostly) use the mixing desk line input on the channel, exception being if I had mic input transformer on the desk then I would sometimes input a line signal through it for some transformer saturation, still do that till this day with my Allen & Heath Mod Two desk (the one from Pink Floyd-Live in Pompei), I believe it has Carnhill input mic transformers, beautiful original 70‘s saturation….by the way I love your videos Dave, your giving answers to a lot of what many people may think of as „stupid“ questions and then doing real life demonstrations , unfortunately many people think the only difference between signals is how „big“ or „loud“ they are, I cannot even begin to count how many times I’ve tried to explain to people the concept of impedance matching and the different topologies of pre-amp and amplifier topologies, took me a while all these years ago to understand why desk interactions happened when there was no transformer split, eg.a straight y-split going to one desk with transformer input and the other electronically balanced, or worse both electronically balanced but not identical desks, „shit, it works with two Midas desks, why not two Toys‘r‘Us desks???“ Yup, transformers are expensive…..and very often the effect of the transformer is a beautiful thing,a little fattening of the signal, a little rounding off, and a special kind of compression sometimes…it’s a pity that people often don’t realise how useful this can be in shaping the sound….and you haven’t touched on inductors for parallel eq or capacitors for filtering, trying to explain parallel eq is very confusing for many who still think in big-small signals or even more simplistic quiet-loud…..and now we are into the effect of phasing on a signal….for many non technically minded people you are doing VooDoo…🤣🤣🤣🔊🔊🔊🔊

The best thing about using a DI backwards I’m my opinion is reamping. Most “re amp” boxes are just DIs with reversed gender XLRs. Somewhat embarrassed to admit here, but I purchased an active REAMP box from radial. After some time of using it in the studio, I A/B’d with my basic radial passive DIs in my live mic kit. There was little if any difference at all to the signal. So yeah, using the the DI backwards to reamp or extend gtr signals is awesome and adds another solution/option into the mix using something you already own. Cheers!

Probablemente la unica persona haciendo esta clase de videos tan profesionales, gracias

Wish you were doing this when I was active in Audio Engineering!!! Gr8 vids Dave!!! Still learn something new even after I've retired due to health! Thnx much!

Gracias amo y señor Dave Rat!

You make slow mix bounces fun, Dave! Thanks for all the great info!

No, it's a GOOD analogy! It's like the one I use for batteries with water between 2 reservoirs and the diameter of the hose. Pressure velocity and flow are good analogue of watts, volts, amps. resistance with friction works too, and torque for impedance works too.

Nicely done! Thank you very much.

Always learn something new. Thanks, Dave!

Dave! Listen to a legend and learn! Thanks Man.

Excellent! Best explanation of impedance I've ever found.

Thank you

Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Dave!

thank you

Who the fuck dislikes this kind of golden content???

U had to emergency use a passive DI in reverse to get console audio into a camera input that only had 1/8 input. Worked like a champ.

Thank you for all the great info Dave Rat!

this is awesome

"transformers are cool" ...I would buy this t-shirt ;-)

Great video. Your descriptions are very creative. Running a DI backwards is great in a pinch, but for long-term use, I still prefer devices designed for the job. Microphone transformers work well for low to high impedance conversion, and there are special interfaces for connecting consumer audio devices to balanced inputs. You might have also spent a bit of time on the pad switches on most DI boxes and when to not use them. But then we might have been here next week. 🥴👍🏻🎶🙉

Thank you. I always wondered if a passive DI box could be used in reverse.

Fascinating video, as usual, thanks 😊

The coolest thing I've done with DI's was to act kind of like splitters and used them on the inputs of a friends BOSS RC-300 looper pedal so that I could tap the instruments before they went into the looper. That way I was able to break up the looper setup into 6 individual channels (3 for the loops and 3 for the instruments). That way the same guitar input could be used to input a rythym guitar part into the looper and then turn around and take a lead on it and I still had control of the mix of the individual parts and loops at the board. I know it was overkill for a looper setup, but it sounded way better because I had way more control over it, instead of it being all in one stereo output.

I use a Radial JDI backwards to reamp with guitar pedals. Computer - Audio interface - Reverse DI - Guitar pedals back into audio interface

awesome

Dude, you are the man!!!

Well done..... I actually bought radio shack low Z to hi Z transformers because I thought using a passive DI backwards would not work. I still have so much to learn.

That was very informative Dave! Now I understand everything about DI boxes except ground lift. That still mystifies me.

Thanks Dave!! Love your videos!

Needless to say (but I will anyway) it's also a great way to re-amp guitars. Or re-amp anything, really. Blast your recorded drum track through an Roland JC-120 turned up good and loud in a nice sounding room, record the ambience and now you have a really interesting sounding reverb.

Man, covid cannot end soon enough. Thanks, mate!

cool cool , as usual! What about Impulse response and phase of passive vs active DI ;) would link nicely with your comment about passive annalogue filtering with 2 DIs.

Always innovative 💡 🤘🤘💪

Subscribed!

Thanks for this, could you please make a comparison video with cheap/entry level Active and non active DI's versus semi pro versus pro DI's? Would love your take on this subject :)

Great video. 🙂👍❤

What are the test frequencies at the end of your videos? I'm pretty sure first is a descending Gmaj scale starting at 196Hz down two octaves to 49Hz. Is the following sweep consist of the same freq band? That would be 49>196>49Hz or is it a 20>200>20Hz?

I ALWAYS learn from your videos. Thanks Dave! I currently send a single D.I. feed from my bass player's multi-effects pedal to our mixer for mains and monitors. I want a dry feed as well to give us a bass sound for the mix that is more consistent in tone and volume than I get from a completely wet feed now. I plan to route the bass through a Radial Stage Bug SB-2 for a dry feed to the mixer, send the 1/4" out from the D. I. into the effects pedal and back out to a 2nd D.I. and on to the mixer as a wet feed. I expect a hum and hope to remedy it with the ground lift switch. Should I expect any other issues? Do you recommend another solution? Thanks for your time and consideration.

With the Zoom recorder, the XLR inputs are mic level, and the trs inputs are line inputs. It’s an odd implementation of combo xlrtrs, but I just wish they had an optional pad..

hey Dave! which DI Boxes do you take on tour? and can you please make a video, explaining balanced vs. unbalanced..?

What is the benefit of using an active system like Radial SGI or TCE Teleport rather than just using DI boxes?

You've made me start thinking like a mad scientist. Does impedance affect frequency response? If I underpower a PA, what frequencies are the first to go? If I play low quality music during a pre-show, will my sandwich also taste better? Thanks for the inspiration!

"Why would you want to use a DI backwards?" Something I heard from a recording engineer is a "double DI" method -- you want the guitar player either in the control room or super far away from the amp, you can get 2 DI boxes with a female/female XLR connecting them -- with some (probably miniscule) signal loss you can get that guitar player a couple of hundred feet from the amp running most of the signal across the balanced XLR. Anybody have practical experience doing this? I haven't tried it myself.

Out of curiosity, what are using to generate the pink noise signal in this demonstration?

What about the 90 degree phase shift that is inherent with any transformer? Does this ever come into play?

Is there a difference between a passive DI and a Reamp box? Or is a reamp box basically a passive DI with a potentiometer to fine tune the level? I use a re amp box to send a line level aux to my Roland Space Echo and then into a DI then into my console mic pre.

Ciao! So if I understood well, the correct way to plug a stomp box reverb that I love to my console is to feed the reverb's input with an aux send (+4 balanced) with a backward DI box in the middle, and the plug the reverb's output through a DI box (this time withh a "regular" way of pluggin) then send the signal to a mic input of the desk. Is that correct? Thanks for all!

I always wondered whether the Freq Response changes when you invert the DI Box. Will have to try that one in my lab. Any comments your way ? Thanx from Caracas !

Hi my house is not earthed... Will Di box solve the ground loop noise?

The DI out, of a Bass combo or aamp....is it line level or mic level?

I've heard that passive, transformer based DI boxes can ruin a single coil bass or guitar tone, because it can load the pickups down. In that case, if you need to plug a passive instrument to a board, the best scenario is to use an active DI, or even no DI at all, taking care to plug it on a high impedance input if possible? In my mind, passive, low signal devices need high impedance inputs, including dynamic mics... or am i wrong?

He from London Dave. thank you so much for your video. I like to ask you about the DIbox what do you think we can use the output from the console to DI box to The speakers ?

I may have to watch these 2 videos again a few times to really get it. For some reason the theory is just not clicking with me.

You're the man, Rat!

Calling Mr. Rat! I have a technical question for you. I am running a consumer grade HK preamp into a Driverack 480 (going unbalanced RCA to XLR by grounding the shield to ground). The issue I am encountering is that due to the impedance mismatch (I think), the preamp really struggles to get a high level signal to the 480, and consequently is real easy to run the pre into clipping. Would a DI box like the Radial ProD2 improve my signal to the 480 and keep the pre from clipping so easily? I don't have a full understanding of how these DI boxes work, but after watching your video, it gives me some hope that these might be just the ticket. I appreciate your videos and willingness to share your wealth of knowledge, -thank you!

Dave, what do you think about reamping with a backwards di? I’ve done it and been happy with the results but I’ve heard a lot of naysayers. What say ye?

Are the 1/4 in on the combo jacks line level?

infrasonics at 1530 :-)

How can low impedance have a lot of resistance? Some of the stuff he says just doesn't make sense. The explanation he gives at around 11:20 mark just makes no sense. I understand what he was saying about the DI working backwards, it is the analogy he is using, it just confuses me.