Happy Monday folks. The sun is shining and the snow is melting here in
Winterpeg Manitscoldya. (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
Could it be that spring is finally here? We sure hope so as it has been a long winter. As you probably know by now, tech tips is the bi-weekly blog that hopes to make life a little easier for those weekend sound people out there who are trying to do their best in less than perfect sounding environments. I try to keep the tips simple but occasionally will talk about things a little more technical. Today is one of those days. I love keyboards. Synthesizers, electroncic pianos with weighted keys, midi, strings. The sounds that make you go ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Suzanne plays them so well it brings tears to my eyes. Sometimes however, they don't sound as good as they should. Why? Usually because they are not connected to the sound system in the best way possible. So this tech tips blog will attempt to enlighten you with........

Keyboards
A Sound To D.I. For

A common mistake that I often see people make is to connect an electronic keyboard directly to a channel on a mixing board via the 1/4 inch line in connector. Although this will work, it certainly could sound a lot better with just a little more attention to proper proceedure. A D.I. (direct injection) box is a relatively inexpensive device that performs a very important function. It matches your instruments impedence to that of the mixing board and converts it from an unbalanced to balanced audio signal which will yeild far superior sound. Today’s electronic keyboards are capable of huge dymanmic range from sweet orchestral string sounds to earth moving bubbling low frequencies which can quite literally shake your pant legs. For a real world demonstration in my workshops, (you can try this at home) I set up two channels of a mixing board. On one channel I connect a keyboard into the line in of the channel with just a normal ¼ inch instrument cable and for the other channel I connect a keyboard using a D.I. box. When you adjust the keyboard plugged into the line in on the mixer you find yourself turning up the input gain quite high and there is usually a noticeable hiss. The sound is OK, but lacks clear highs or really solid lows. Now plug the same keyboard into the direct box which is connected to the balanced input of the mixer and ………… WOW! What a difference. When I do this demo in my workshops, the result is so dramatic and convincing that everyone gets it right away. The moral of the story? Always use a D.I. box to enjoy better signal level, superior dymanmic range, optimum noise rejection and better overall sound which is what we are all really after when you get down to it. A quality D.I. Box can be found for under $40.00 at most music stores while top quality devices can cost hundreds. There are two types: Passive which require no external power source or phantom powered units which run on a power source provided by your mixer or a battery. In my opinion the finest D.I. Boxes are made by a company called Radial Engineering here in Canada. I own several different models and although they were a bit of an investment, I anticipate having them for many years to come. I always travel to each gig with my own D.I.’s and mics and quite often my own cables. This ensures a level of quality that I can always count on. Mechanics have their own tools so that they have what they need when they need it and so do audio techs. So pick up a couple of decent D.I.Boxes from your local music store and keep them handy. Another feature of most D.I. boxes is that they often have a ground lift switch which can really come in handy when your keyboard/instrument is causing a ground loop in the P.A. system. Flip the switch and the hum or buzz will vanish. A little audio magic for a reasonable investment. Treated well, your D.I. will last for years of trouble free use. Take care and see you later in the week.
TT
techtips@mts.net