DI Box w/ XLR IN & Mute?

[Chris Gray]

I’ve been playing a LR Baggs “Venue” DI box at church w/ my Pomeroy (I installed a K&K Internal Twin Pickup on it). I really like the way the DI box warms up my sound and gives me an EQ. I also really like that I have a mute button for when I tune. I really missed playing my Heiden so I picked up an ATM350 condenser mic pickup (I don’t feel comfortable drilling a hole in the Heiden). The ATM350 requires phantom power and has a male XLR plug. I can still play through my DI box but have to plug into a rechargeable phantom power box then use an XLR OUT to a 1/4” cable IN on the DI box. My question is do they make a DI Box w/ a XLR IN (w/ phantom power) for peeps that use condenser mics on instruments. It seems like the only thing I can find close would be a vocal DI box. I’m not sure the EQ would be the same?

[pit lenz]

Headway EDB-2 can do it but has no mute footswitch or tuner insert. A Strobostomp behind it will do the mute trick ad has a built in DI.
Grace Felix would be just what you‘re asking for but is a little pricey...

[Nevin]

If you are using a condenser mic I am not sure why you would want a DI box. The condenser mic can go straight into the board.There are a lot of mic pre-amps out there if you wanted to warm up the sound.

[pit lenz]

If you are using a condenser mic I am not sure why you would want a DI box. The condenser mic can go straight into the board.There are a lot of mic pre-amps out there if you wanted to warm up the sound.

I can see Chris‘s point in having a mute switch (to tune) and an EQ available. For a quick sound adjustment this can be quite handy...

[mando-bob]

The Eventide Mixing Link will do that, but no EQ.

[dang]

I have a grace Felix exactly for that use. Most of the time I use my piezo pickup and a tonedexter - it works better in noisy bars... but I am commissioning a mando that I will not put a pickup in, so if I get the right gig I will use the Felix and the clip on mic. Not a cheap solution but very useful and versatile, once used a large diaphragm condenser > Felix > powered speaker and did the whole band at a very small gig. Even put a blue sky reverb in the effects loop and dialed in a very nice subtle effect.

For the price you do get 2 channels (only 1 has xlr in), phantom power, great EQ, a boost and a mute switch... and a bunch of other small features that are useful

[mandroid]

I, Opting for simplicity, just changed the end of a Mic Cable,
to a Neutrik Mic cable end with a ring switch .. Made to mute mics without an internal switch..
It's quite useful ..

Not from this vendor, but useful for image link : https://www.markertek.com/product/nc...-switch-nickel

[Chris Gray]

That Felix is what I need...but DANG! It's $1075!

[Don Grieser]

I have a Zoom A3 and it has everything you want. It's not the most user-friendly to get set up--plan on spending some time with it and the manual and quickstart sheet. But once you get it dialed in, you can just use it. This is a good solid box that's very quiet and all the foot switches feel like quality units. It may be discontinued, but it's worth getting. And the price is right.

[saltybrian]

For a pro quality mic mute Orchid electronics is the best I’ve seen/used. Top quality and unbelievable price. The mute passes phantom power too, and has a tuner out.

No eq - in my experience that’s best left to the engineer for a mic, but if you’re absolutely set on it, Orchid will also make custom boxes, also very reasonably priced. I appreciate it might not be quite such good value if you’re not in the uk, but they’re such good quality it might still be worth it.

No hidden agenda here, but I’ve dealt with Orchid a few times and everything about the experience was excellent. It’s a one-man operation so when you enquire about anything it’s the man himself you talk to. http://orchid-electronics.co.uk/balanced_mic_mute.htm

[pit lenz]

That Orchid stompbox looks very interesting, thanks for the heads up, saltybrian!

[mandroid]

DI is usually XLR out, as it is to feed a stage snake with lot of Mic Channels on the sound guy's board ..

the 1/4" in is stepped down to Low Z like Mic signals.. for the output .

I use a impedance matching transformer to play XLR output Dyn M into a guitar amp..

But Low Z output from the Schertler PU can go directly in to a Mic Input AFAIK..



lots of stuff seems to be called a DI here , even if it's not

[hermdawg]

well ...we are on the same page .... i use the same exact set-up and although there are some cheap versions of phantom power out there notably the 1st version of the a.t. 350 had a small box with a clip that fit on your back pocket. didnt last very long and was a poor design . your way is the only wat to do it as long as you get a good a good phantom power box. the a.t. 350 is still the best mike out there (only $150 bucks) chris thile, ronnie mcourry just about everybody uses it .....because its an awsome mike. until audio technica comes out with a good box we are stuck.

[Mark Seale]

I have a grace Felix exactly for that use. Most of the time I use my piezo pickup and a tonedexter - it works better in noisy bars... but I am commissioning a mando that I will not put a pickup in, so if I get the right gig I will use the Felix and the clip on mic. Not a cheap solution but very useful and versatile, once used a large diaphragm condenser > Felix > powered speaker and did the whole band at a very small gig. Even put a blue sky reverb in the effects loop and dialed in a very nice subtle effect.

For the price you do get 2 channels (only 1 has xlr in), phantom power, great EQ, a boost and a mute switch... and a bunch of other small features that are useful

+1 on all of this. Yes, the Felix is a bit pricey, but it is a great piece of gear and very versatile. I've used it with my clip on mic, and like Dang mentioned, I've also run my large condenser to support a single mic band setup. Lately, I've used it with an Ear Trumpet Edwina feeding my Acoustic Image amp and played both mandolin and fiddle. This turned out to be a great setup as I could use the DI out to the board, my amp was a personal monitor, and with the mic on the stand, I could play in and out as necessary.