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[Bob Charest]

Hi,

I thought I'd posted this last night, but couldn't find it so here goes again 

We're bringing in electronic drums and need 8 ports of DI. I looked at the Behringer ULTRA-DI PRO DI800 at $119 and the Radial ProD8 at $799. I ordered the Radial unit yesterday.

Although the reviews for the Behringer were quite good, I just don't trust the brand enough - I felt like I would be  waiting for something on the unit to fail. With the Radial, I would be very surprised if I had any problem at all. We've used only Radial for our DI's to this point with no problems of any kind.

The difference in the price point is the motivation for this post - I've always subscribed to "buy once, cry once" school, and can't help but think that the difference in price is due to component, design, and build quality.

Am I correct on this or did I miss getting a Behringer unit that would be "just as good" at a considerable savings?

Thanks,
Bob Charest

[Steve Eudaly]

It sounds like you've already answered the question with your purchase, but if you're looking for more opinions, I think you made the right decision going with the Radial.  It will sound better, last longer and when they day comes you don't need it anymore, you can sell it for much closer to what you have in it.

I've not used the ProD8, but have been very happy with my ProD2, J48 and JDIs.  I've also used the Behringer DI800, and while it worked, I did question its durability and felt it added more than a negligible amount of noise.

[Tim McCulloch]

With the number of DI100 that are in our "wedge angle adjuster" bin, I'd say the Radial choice was a good one.

My personal DIs are Radial J48s, ProAV1 & 2, PCDI, and EWI LDB101 from Audiopile.

[Tommy Peel]

*Flame suit on*

I've been using several of these Pyle Direct Boxes for a couple of years now(first one bought in December 2011) and while I haven't done a back to back comparison with "nice" DI's I can't complain; I'd put them up against any of the ~$30 DI's I've used before. At the time I needed a couple of DI channels bad and had no budget. I keep telling myself when one breaks I'll get a Radial.... but I haven't had one die/break yet. I will say they mine don't get used nearly as hard as many of y'all use yours but they get unpacked, hooked up, disconnected, and packed(meaning tossed in a Rubbermaid with the XLR and instrument cables) at least once a week. I also carry spares in case one does go out randomly.

[John Roberts {JR}]

Hi,

I thought I'd posted this last night, but couldn't find it so here goes again 

We're bringing in electronic drums and need 8 ports of DI. I looked at the Behringer ULTRA-DI PRO DI800 at $119 and the Radial ProD8 at $799. I ordered the Radial unit yesterday.

Although the reviews for the Behringer were quite good, I just don't trust the brand enough - I felt like I would be  waiting for something on the unit to fail. With the Radial, I would be very surprised if I had any problem at all. We've used only Radial for our DI's to this point with no problems of any kind.

The difference in the price point is the motivation for this post - I've always subscribed to "buy once, cry once" school, and can't help but think that the difference in price is due to component, design, and build quality.

Am I correct on this or did I miss getting a Behringer unit that would be "just as good" at a considerable savings?

Thanks,
Bob Charest

This was looked at years ago and I ASSume the comparison still holds. There were a few differences that explain the price.  #1 Behringer is a much larger company so can buy similar parts more cheaply, #2 They are built in China where labor is cheaper, #3 they don't use the same (or completely equivalent) parts.

This may be product specific as Transformer DI depend quite a lot on the design and build of the transformer. There are multiple aspects of transformer design that can matter, but from direct product comparisons, the original has more shielding in the transformer, so less likely to be contaminated by nearby magnetic fields.

If Behringer built their DI using the exact same parts they would be a bunch cheaper than the small company. Building with even cheaper parts makes them even cheaper.

For that much cost difference there would be a temptation to just buy a few spares and be done with it, but it isn't exactly apples to oranges. Whether the extra shielding is important for you application is a decision for you to make.

JR

Caveat: I am parroting old commentary from posts years ago so the current builds of both models may be different now. It is simple enough to test and compare in a high hum field environment.

[Keith Broughton]

Hi,

I thought I'd posted this last night, but couldn't find it so here goes again 

We're bringing in electronic drums and need 8 ports of DI. I looked at the Behringer ULTRA-DI PRO DI800 at $119 and the Radial ProD8 at $799. I ordered the Radial unit yesterday.

Although the reviews for the Behringer were quite good, I just don't trust the brand enough - I felt like I would be  waiting for something on the unit to fail. With the Radial, I would be very surprised if I had any problem at all. We've used only Radial for our DI's to this point with no problems of any kind.

The difference in the price point is the motivation for this post - I've always subscribed to "buy once, cry once" school, and can't help but think that the difference in price is due to component, design, and build quality.

Am I correct on this or did I miss getting a Behringer unit that would be "just as good" at a considerable savings?

Thanks,
Bob Charest

I just looked at the Behringer specs and it has a lot of extra gain options that suggest more circuitry than you need. More room for failures.
Tough to beat an all passive xfmr setup.

[Mark McFarlane]

As a mid-priced alternative, I use two of these for my vDrums: http://www.amazon.com/Rolls-RDB104-Quad-Active-Direct/dp/B00102ZP1Q.  $300 for a pair.  I've had them for about 8 years, but they stay in my studio.

Also takes up 2U.

[TonyWilliams]

The Radial was a good choice. It Will work forever, and the peace of mind goes for a pretty penny.


- Tony Williams

[Matt Vivlamore]

What about EWI's rack DIs?  Is's only 4 channels per space.  I've had very good luck with EWI's DIs.

Passive: http://audiopile.net/products/DI_Boxes/FDB-404/FDB-404_cutsheet.shtml
Active: http://audiopile.net/products/DI_Boxes/ADB-404/ADB-404_cutsheet.shtml

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

What about EWI's rack DIs?  Is's only 4 channels per space.  I've had very good luck with EWI's DIs.

Passive: http://audiopile.net/products/DI_Boxes/FDB-404/FDB-404_cutsheet.shtml
Active: http://audiopile.net/products/DI_Boxes/ADB-404/ADB-404_cutsheet.shtml

Those look like a pretty good, affordable solution to the multi-DI application.

A few years ago I picked up a couple of 4-channel, single rack space active DI's from ALTO.  They're not made any more, but they were dead cheap ($99 each), have two 20db pads/channel in line (so either 20 or 40 down when engaged) and have INPUT METERING/chanel on an 8-segment LED.  This is a very, very nice feature.

They go in a rack along with a sub-mixer for the multi-keyboard/computer backing-track guys that need a ton of input/output to run the band.

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