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I am baffled why I here many enginers Track keyboards through a DI the to a board or channel strip... Is this to raise the level? Do they use phantom power engaged? Does this make tracking clearer?
Would this be a good idea for use with my Triton, Mpc2000xl, Roland5080? Going through either a Ua 610 or a Apogeetrak2..

Comments

KurtFoster Mon, 09/13/2004 - 23:43

It is to add gain in many cases .. Keyboards usually have a -10 or even -20dB level outputs ... when you plug them into a +4dB line input, you may have to push the output of the keyboard to the max to get a decent level on the recorder, causing slight clipping as the outputs on the keyboard run out of headroom.

Going into a nice pre amp can add a sonic signature as well ... breathing a bit of life into it or making it fatter or warmer sounding .. The bottom line is, do what sounds best to you. You don't have to do it if yopu don't want to.

sammyg Tue, 09/14/2004 - 02:51

sometimes when you record a keyboard it doesnt sound the same as listening back through the headphone output on the keyboard,
which is dissapointing, synths sometimes lose that "sparkle" and imaging once they are recorded, I understand that this has a lot to do with the studio, gear, etc, but you may want to check out the BBE sonic maximizer, it sort of gives the synths their "sparkle" and edge back.

I have a mate who uses one with his Roland Mc909 and it sounds great.

If you have the triton "studio" get the digital card with word clock for it, sounds great when hooked up to a good clock source.

I know you were asking about dI's and levels but i thought this info may be handy for ya.

Sammyg

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