Best DI box for a theremin?

Posted: 7/23/2010 10:13:01 AM
Freddy

From: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Joined: 7/23/2010

I play the theremin with a rock band, where I have to give it a "big" sound to make it cut through the mix. I use several guitar pedal effects like a Verbzilla for reverb, a Memory Man for delay, a fuzz factory for distorting the original signal and a Boss EQ which I use to boost the signal. Of course, all this pedals, as well as all the cables laying around the stage are providing a certain amount of interference, which Im hoping to reduce with the aid of a DI box (which Im thinking of placing between the pedals and the PA). Any suggestions on which DI box is good for a theremin on this kind of setting would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Posted: 8/24/2010 11:48:35 AM
djpb_designs

From: Escondido, CA

Joined: 2/6/2008

Don't know if anyone gave you any feedback on this or not, but here goes:

There is nothing magic about DI boxes. Their main purpose is to break ground loops between the source (your theremin or guitar) and the board. Few if any mixer boards have such a poor design as to not be able to reject noise on their inputs, but the real culprit is what is happening on the AC power side. Lots of venues have terrible grounding issues on their power lines. So your equipment and the house PA can have issues because of the house's power grid.

I have never understood why people think DI boxes have some "magical noise eliminating properties". In most cases, the DI box has no effect in eliminating hum from badly-designed, or poorly-grounded equipment. It is better to invest in good quality cables than DI boxes. A broken shield in a cable will cause loud hum that nothing but replacement will cure.

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