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<blockquote data-quote="Bennett Prescott" data-source="post: 23691" data-attributes="member: 4">Re: Active vs Passive Direct BoxesPassive DIs behave a lot better in overload (read: sound better). Remember that an active DI is really just a boutique pre-amp with fixed gain, attached to a line driver. Good active DIs can take the load off a piece of gear not accustomed to driving long cable runs, but regardless you&#039;re inserting another preamp and gain stage in the signal chain.I would not look at &quot;cost&quot; as an advantage of passive DIs. You can build a cheap active that works pretty well, just like a cheap mixing desk. Passives are little more than a transformer, maybe with some circuitry for high pass and padding. Better transformer = higher price = better performance. There&#039;s a reason why the JDI costs $200. Passives may offer better durability and noise rejection as well, but you&#039;d expect that out of a high performance DI.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Bennett Prescott, post: 23691, member: 4"] Re: Active vs Passive Direct Boxes Passive DIs behave a lot better in overload (read: sound better). Remember that an active DI is really just a boutique pre-amp with fixed gain, attached to a line driver. Good active DIs can take the load off a piece of gear not accustomed to driving long cable runs, but regardless you're inserting another preamp and gain stage in the signal chain. I would not look at "cost" as an advantage of passive DIs. You can build a cheap active that works pretty well, just like a cheap mixing desk. Passives are little more than a transformer, maybe with some circuitry for high pass and padding. Better transformer = higher price = better performance. There's a reason why the JDI costs $200. Passives may offer better durability and noise rejection as well, but you'd expect that out of a high performance DI. [/QUOTE]

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