Before I purchased the Minimee tube amp I would frequently record a guitar amped (solidstate) and direct by employing a Roland A/B/Y switch routed as follows Guitar to Roland switch A to amp B direct to one of my PreSonus FP instrument channels. This never gave me any problems. When I tried this same routing with the tube amp I encountered an unacceptable level of hum in the amp.

Looking at DI's. Why do the prices vary so much? Is it better preamps/wiring or cleaner bypass? Or do the higher price ones clean up the sound and make it sound better for DI. I have taken direct injection of my guitar without one and I can get it to sound good, but it takes a lot of Plugs and EQ's; you know, bass filters exciters and the like.

Forgive the nooby question. I thought it was one thing, then after hearing it discussed I am now thinking it is something else. Can someone clarify?

Hi, Being the electronics novice that I am, I actually put together a really great sounding direct box for my recording basses (passive and active) using a UTC transformer 30hz-20k response, +8db, 50k secondary, 150/250/600 primary. I prefer the UTC's 150ohm output into my LA610 mic input.

well, I have a 120W tube guitar amp head with no speaker cab yet. I also possess a decent Rolls DI box with attenuation adjuster.

is there a way I can run a signal from the amp through the DI without damaging the amplifier?

I am posting in Pro Audio as I need advice to upgrade my prosumer studio, but I am admittedly still a neophyte to this realm of audio sophistication, so please be gentle.

Hi there

tl;dr: DI fixes ground loop?

I've had the Church on my back (one guy anyway) about the loop for deaf people. Now while I'll not go into the politics and just say I'd prefer people to use their hearing aids to amplify the ambient sound, not tune into a dodgy loop...
ANYWAY I digress.

Here's a quote from the Kapt:

"You'll rarely get good results plugging a guitar straight into an interface. Depending on how it's set, you could be loading down the guitar signal. A direct box, a preamp, or a POD (or similar) may help get a better signal."

I just got the UAD card that comes Nigel. So I plugged my GTR in via DI and test drove it. Maybe I haven't given it enough of a chance yet, but it really sucked at this application. Am I using it incorrectly?

What VST's are there out there that actually mimic a real mic'd amp?