have an h4n recorder...do i need a DI box to connect a bass? DI schematic?

[soma89]

It sounds good without it, but was wondering if "ideally" one would use a DI box.

Kinda looking for a good excuse to build a good DI..I love the old 60's DI bass sound ( a la Byrds, Love, etc)

Can anyone recommend a good DI schem?

Thanks in advance

 

[qersty]

I have never used one but on their website they say it works on instrument level. So no, I dont see any benefit using a DI box here if it sounds good and I suspect you don't run any long lengths of cable

 

[ddnidd1]

From the Manual:

"Connect mics and guitars directly using combined XLR/
standard phone jacks.

The H4n Pro includes input jacks for connections that can accommodate a variety
of recording styles. Microphones, including stereo mics and condensers, electric
guitars, basses and keyboards can all be connected directly."

And remember when a DI was used in a studio in the '60's it was routed into a mixer, a preamp, EQ, compression and tape - they all alter the sound significantly.

 

[RobbieK]

I have an H4N too. The unbalanced input impedance is 480k (I just looked it up.) This should be fine for a typical passive bass. (If your bass is active, it should easily drive an impedance that is 1/10 of this.)

The other reason to use a DI is for earth loop isolation, and obviously this is not an issue when plugging in directly to a portable battery operated device!

But if you want to build a DI, here's a nice one from Electronics Australia published about 20 years ago. I'm pretty sure that fet is still available, and you'll need a good audio transformer with mu-metal shielding can. Anything from 4:1 to 16:1 is recommended in the article. I built several of these back in the day and if you spend some coin on a jensen transformer or something, it will be easily suitable for studio use.