Do I still need a DI box when using an EQ-20 pedal equalizer?

[slidincharlie]

Hi
I own a Guild acoustic guitar with a K&K Pure Mini passive pickup installed.
On stage I normally feed the guitar cable into an active DI box then to an analog Mackie 1202 VLZ-PRO mixer.
Now I am thinking to use a digital Boss EQ-20 10-band equalizer that I own, in an attempt to shape the guitar tone in detail. Its input Z is 1M Ohm, output Z is 1k Ohm
My question is:
should I still use the DI for impedance matching when I use the EQ-20?
If so, where should I put the DI in the signal chain? Before or after the EQ-20?
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Carlo

[rokdog49]

I don't know the answer to the first part of your question, but my Fishman Platinum Pro EQ would go infront. Basically with it, I don't need a D.I. box.

[lschwart]

You could go direct into the EQ unit, and if it's only a short run to the mixer, you could then just go from there into one of the line inputs with a short instrument cable. However, if the cable length is longer than 10' or 15', or if you get noise and/or some audible signal loss, or you find that the line input doesn't have quite enough gain, you should go into the DI box first and use an XLR cable into one of the mic inputs on the mixer.

The Boss EQ will give you the impedance you need going in (and going out to a line input), but it won't balance the signal for long cable runs. You need the DI for that balancing--and the stepping down to mic level into a mic input might also give you a more appropriate gain structure than going direct into the line input--although this latter issue depends on how strong the initial signal is, how much you can add at the Boss EQ, and how sensitive the line inputs on the Mackie are.

An alternative set up you might consider is putting the Boss EQ into the appropriate channel insert on the Mackie.

Louis

[jomaynor]

Originally Posted by rokdog49

I don't know the answer to the first part of your question, but my Fishman Platinum Pro EQ would go infront. Basically with it, I don't need a D.I. box.

The OP can still benefit from using an active DI, especially with using a passive pickup like the K&K, since the Boss EQ provides no DI & ground lift, and has minimal gain. The Fishman Platinum Pro, on the other hand, also has both an onboard DI and a 17v active preamp in it.

[slidincharlie]

Thank you guys.

Originally Posted by lschwart

You could go direct into the EQ unit, and if it's only a short run to the mixer, you could then just go from there into one of the line inputs with a short instrument cable.

Ok, this would be fine because I always use short cables in my gigs.

However, if the cable length is longer than 10' or 15', or if you get noise and/or some audible signal loss, or you find that the line input doesn't have quite enough gain, you should go into the DI box first and use an XLR cable into one of the mic inputs on the mixer.

I don't get it. If I feed the guitar into a mic input on the mixer via the DI box, where do I put the EQ-20?

An alternative set up you might consider is putting the Boss EQ into the appropriate channel insert on the Mackie.

This is something I've never done before. Never used inserts. Can you please develop this a little further for me?

[lschwart]

Originally Posted by slidincharlie

Thank you guys.

Ok, this would be fine because I always use short cables in my gigs.


I don't get it. If I feed the guitar into a mic input on the mixer via the DI box, where do I put the EQ-20?


This is something I've never done before. Never used inserts. Can you please develop this a little further for me?

A short cable from the Boss EQ to a line-level input on the mixer will be fine unless, as I say, you get noise or the single is too weak for the gain on the line-level input on the mixer to handle.

If you find you need the DI box, you would go into the Boss EQ first from the guitar with a short cable (assuming the EQ is at your feet). Then you would run a short pedal-board type patch cable (like 3 inches) from the output of the Boss into the input of the DI box. Then you run an XLR cable from the DI box to a mic input on the mixer.

To put the Boss EQ in the insert for the channel in which you've plugged the guitar, you use an "insert cable," which is a Y-shaped cable with a TRS connector (Tip/ Ring/Sleeve) and two TS connectors (Tip/Sleeve, that is, regular instrument cable connectors). When you plug the TRS end into the insert jack, the jack sends the single out via the tip of the connector which goes to one of the two TS ends. That ends goes into the input on the pedal, and the other TS end goes into the output and sends the signal back to the insert jack via the ring of the TRS connector. The advantage of this, although it might be slight, is that you can now send your guitar signal to a mic input on the mixer via the most direct and least noise creating means (short cable to the DI, XLR cable to the mic input). Then you adjust the EQ for that channel at line level, with the Boss EQ inserted between the mixer's preamp and its own EQ section. I just checked the specs on the pedal and the mixer, and the impedance of the return on the insert might not, as it turns out, be ideal for the output of the Boss EQ, but that might not make a huge difference--you'd have to try it to see. The impedance of the return is higher than that of the pedal's output, which is what matters, but it's note a full 10x as high, which is what's usually recommended.

Anyway, I hope that's all clear and useful!

Louis

[slidincharlie]

Thank you very much Louis, it's all very clear now.