DI box to convert headphone out - passive or active

[Gottastopbuyinggear]

My band is thinking of buying a Soundcraft UI12, which has two balanced aux outputs, and a headphone socket which can be assigned in the mixer as a two further aux outs. I might want to use a DI box (or boxes) to convert these outputs to balanced line for sending to powered monitors or possibly a personal mixer for IEMs.

Would I be right in assuming that a passive DI box will be fine for this and there would be no gain (no pun intended) in going for an active box?

Anyone care to recommend a good budget, preferably dual, DI box? I'm looking at the likes of Behringer, Studiospares' own brand, or maybe the ART Dual Z Direct? It doesn't need to be hi-fi, but something reasonably robust and reliable would be good.

[Mottlefeeder]

I just downloaded the handbook - 37MB!

Mixer outputs typically deliver +4dB or 1 Volt, and the specification page (1.3) gives the headphone output as 500mV into 100 Ohms (or 380mV if two heaphones are used). That suggests that your Aux 3-4 become headphone L & R, in which case you can access both aux channels using only one headphone socket.

On that basis, a passive DI per channel should be fine, assuming that your active monitor can make up for the lower signal level.

Also worth checking out - since this is line level/low impedance territory, you may not need to convert to a balanced signal just to get across the stage without hum or buzz.

David

[Gottastopbuyinggear]

Thanks for the reply. I have to admit I'd assumed that the level on the headphone out would be higher than line level, but I appreciate that's over simplifying it and not taking into account the impedance of whatever it's driving. I think you're right about trying it just with an unbalanced cable to a monitor - it's probably only going to be a run of about fifteen or twenty feet, so it should be okay.

[Gottastopbuyinggear]

...and yes, the manual is quite a weighty tome isn't it!

I'm still in two minds about the mixer to be honest. It's hugely capable for the money, and the idea of things like automatic feedback suppression on each of the auxes, the ability to save settings for a venue, etc. are quite compelling. On the other hand, though, the immediacy of something with a bunch of physical controls that you can just grab if you need to is also quite appealing.

[mike257]

Be aware that you'll need a splitter of some description. You'll get Aux 3 on the left side of the headphone jack and Aux 4 on the right.

Also, I'd strongly recommend an external router. I've had horrendous reliability issues with a Ui16 over at a small production company I do some freelance work for.

[Gottastopbuyinggear]

Thanks Mike, I've already got a splitter cable that will do for this, and I think I have a wifi router I can press into service. Other than wifi issues how have you found the UI16?

[mike257]

I've got mixed feelings about it. I think it's a very well featured piece of kit for the price, capable of a lot of useful stuff, but that's been very much hobbled for me by the connectivity issues I've had with it. I think it's (in principle) a great solution for small gigs where putting a desk in a FOH position is impractical, but reliability of connection has to be paramount in a device with no physical controls.

Bear in mind that despite the excessive Soundcraft/Lexicon/Digitech branding liberally splashed across it, the Ui began life as the SMpro Umix - it was a fully developed product and Harman bought out the company to save them designing their own entry level tablet mixer. It just got a swish rebranding, but the interface and features are near exactly the same as the original SMpro version. This wasn't developed by Soundcraft in any way.

[Gottastopbuyinggear]

Have you found it okay with an external router?

I have jumped in now and bought a UI12, which should get its first outing tomorrow, but it'll be feeding the power amp section of a powered mixer so we can drop back to the mixer section of that if needed - only keys and vocals going through and I have a note of the settings we used in the venue last time, so hopefully it would be an easy change.

I'm using an external router with it, connected via Ethernet cable, and it seemed pretty solid just sitting in the house yesterday for a few hours, but that's far from a scientific test.

[Adethefade]

I've used passive DIs for this purpose in the past. No need for active DIs as the signal's already preamp'd, and anyway, you'd have to power them with batteries which would be a terrifying prospect.