Radial JDI Box -- A Nice Addition

[cphollis]

Just wanted to share my recent experience with the Radial JDI Duplex box
http://www.radialeng.com/r2011/jdiduplex.php

I usually play with 2 of my three boards: Nord Piano 2 88, Nord Stage 2, or a Nord Electric 4D.
One of the reasons I've been hooked on Nords was the authenticity and purity of their sounds -- piano, organ, samples, synth, etc.
On the amplification side, I now have a full inventory of QSCs K8/10/12s for different venues.
One of the reasons I've gone that route is the relative transparency of the units: no coloration, very accurate, etc.

Put the two of them together, though, and it sometimes can get a little harsh on the ears: the Nords generating all sorts of hard transients and upper harmonics, and the QSCs faithfully pumping it all out.
While I could spend some time to adjust each and every sound I use to get a tad "warmer", I went looking for a more generic solution.

After reading the good literature on JDI's website, I realized that a good DI box with transformer isolation (and associated compression) might do the trick.
So I went and bought one. I could also justify it by simplifying my rig, and eliminating the need for a small mixer.

Went down into the basement last night, and did some A/B testing. Bingo!
It warmed up the sound just a tad without overly coloring it, and most of the sharper transients were nicely compressed without being obvious about it.
This particular unit also allows two stereo keyboards to be mixed and fed out as a single pair of balanced stereo signals over XLR cables, which go to the QSCs now on the "mic" setting.

I was able to dial up some ferocious volume over a pair of QSC K10s without getting into the "harsh" territory, which is what I was looking for.
At all volumes, a subtly warmer sound, and better transient handling. I even brought my wife down to listen, and she agreed.

The unit itself is built like a tank -- heavy enough to rest on one of my keyboards, foam backing so it doesn't slip around.
I now use 4 short 3' unbalanced instrument cables to get to the unit, and a pair of longer XLR mic cables to get to the QSCs.
60Hz hum is now imperceptible even with level cranked. No mixer or wall wart required. WIN!

Don't know what your situation might be, but you might find the above useful at some point.

[Mr. Marko]

I have been using the JDI Duplex to combine the stereo feeds of (3) Nords to feed a stereo guitar amp (Yamaha VR 6000) for my on stage sound and the XLR out to the main for a few years now...best non mixer I have ever used. Good to hear others are doing the same!

Rane / Mackie / Behringer etc parked at home ever since.

[Mr_-G-]

Not to devalue the JDI, but at that price you can find a range of multichannel mixers with effects too...

[cphollis]

Quite true, there are many mixing choices in that price range, and I've explored that territory as well.

Most of the low-end mixers don't do XLR out to the mains, which is a non-starter for me. All of them required some form of external power; the cheaper ones use a detested wall-wart, the more expensive ones can plug directly to mains. No external power for the JDI solution, which is nice. There's a size aspect as well -- the mixer units are bigger and heavier than they need to be. As you go up in price, quality should improve, but so does number of unwanted inputs, outboard effects, size, weight, etc.

So far, I've been very unlucky with build quality -- I've had two of these small mixers break on me, one in the middle of a gig

And then there's the qualitative aspect of the sound. I wanted to gently warm up the sound and smooth some of the harsher transients from the Nords, and it seems that a quality DI transformer does a good job of that task, which mixers aren't built to do, unless you go in through the mic preamps, and then you need to adjust levels downwards, get special cables, etc. Tried that, wasn't happy with the results.

So, yes, there are low-end mixing solutions out there (I've tried a bunch of them), but I've found the JDI box different in many regards.

[Johannes]

Hi cphollis,

sorry for reviving an old topic, but I have found myself in a similar situation and have been looking into the JDI (not the duplex version but same same). I really like the idea of not going the extra mixer and/or effects route since in general I am very happy with the NS2 sound as it is. Just sometimes, as you describe it, I found some harsh frequencies that moreover depend on the vanue and PA used.
Finally, I have found myself more than once in a situation where the main pot on the NS at 70%, the sound man kept complaining about low signal from the board, so that I had to use an active DI box, which is perfect. So I wonder whether you ever had problems regarding the gain of your signal with the JDI?
I could imagine a slight loss from the transformator and balancing of the signal, but not sure.
As I cannot try it out in practice, I just don't want to be stuck with a rather pricey box that I cannot use on stage.
I have been looking to find A/B review of it also especially for keyboards, but unfortunately there is none it seems out there.
Cheers
Johannes

[Frantz]

sorry for reviving an old topic

Don't worry, you can be banned

[Mr_-G-]

Just to put things in context, I bought a 2nd hand Peavey 14 channel mixer, with effects, for about a third of the price of the duplex JDI. It has XLR output and monitor output too. Sure the JDI is much more portable, but the mixer has other uses too.

[Johannes]

I definitively get your point Mr G, in fact it looks on paper kind of stupid. Just a clean way (and kind of minimalist ), and limiting I admit compared to other solutions.

[Six-string-man]

Never used the JDI, but I have a Radial PRO D2 stereo box which I love. As you say cphollis, it's built like a tank, and works like a dream.

Also, if you only use one keyboard at a time, the Pro D2 is a fair bit cheaper, which always helps!


SSM


Edit: I've just checked the prices, and the JDI Duplex is almost exactly three times the price of the Pro D2!!! Mind you, any Radial DI box is a great buy.

[emediately]

From what I understood, you can feed two stereo keyboards into the JDI, and get stereo balanced outputs however you then lose the Thru ports (so you can't use the thru ports for personal monitor)