Humming, buzzing, crackling you know what we mean, an unbalanced signal over long distances sounds terrible. If you’ve ever had to use leads longer than 50 metres then you probably already know about crappy sounding interference. The same situation will occur with you only having access to XLR inputs so you’ll need to plug into a DI box first. This can also happen in the studio, the stage-box is often used to send signals from the live room to the control room. Usually the only inputs on the stage-box will be mic inputs(low level, low impedance mic level inputs) which are usually XLR. This can be a really useful tool to have, many live gigs for example use a stage-box which sends signals from the stage to the mixing desk. Signals from electric guitars are high impedance signals, but plugged via a DI box they are converted to low impedance signals and can be input into XLR or mic inputs. The DI box converts signals to low impedance, mic level signals, so you can use a XLR input for high impedance signals. They’re usually XLR inputs which are designed to receive a low impedance signal like that from a typical microphone. Some mixing desks and interfaces don’t always provide three different types of input, but they all provide mic inputs. One that’s designed to receive that particular signal. That’s why when you connect to an audio interface or mixing desk it’s important to connect to the correct input. Why Use A DI Box?īefore we get into why use a DI box you need to understand just how different instruments and devices like mics, keyboards, guitars etc produce different signals with different signal levels and output impedance. The purpose of the DI box is to convert high impedance unbalanced instrument or line level signals into a low impedance balanced “mic” level signal. Frequently Asked Questions What Is A DI Box?Ī Direct Injection box or DI box for short, is especially useful when recording audio.