DI straight into a Neve 283 card?

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nielsk

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Joined
Nov 12, 2004
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Megapopulas, Florida
Is there any reason why this will not work? The standard 1272 uses the mic input transformer secondary into a pad switch, then into the 1st op amp stage. The other 1/2 of the switch controls the gain.... Other op amps (like the 2520) work fine with the DI going straight into the op amp..... why not put it between the pad switch output and the op amp input? This would be so much easier than having to build a circuit to feed the transformer with a DI input.
 
Two reasons to consider a different approach: 1) the input impedance of the active stages in a class-A Neve preamp block is less than 100k, so passive pickups might experience a bit of loading.  Using something like Joe Malone's simple DI allows you to have a 1M input, which will make your passive instrument much happier.  If you're only going to use it with active outputs (synths, samplers, active pickups, etc.) then not much problem there.

2) The iron is a significant factor in the sound of the vintage Neve designs, and many (most?) folks like running through the input transformer for additional character.  Not that bypassing the input trafo sounds bad -- it's just less "Neve-y".

 

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