It is much more versatile than the “dumb” passive DI's on the market, that are
often not much more than a “box of jack sockets” with standard transformers
on the output.
Value for money with a robust, “touring- grade” heavy-duty all steel chassis,
fantastic sound and huge versatility makes the N-8 a market leading active DI.
Overview:
The N-8 is an 8 channel Active DI. Being active has many advantages over a
simple “jack to transformer” passive DI.
1: The input impedance is much higher than any passive DI. This means
there is minimal loading on the output of the Guitar, Keyboard, DAW,
Microphone, or any other source you choose to use, which “opens” the sound
of the instrument allowing a new-found level of nuances and sounds to be
realized.
2: Coupled with the high input impedance, the huge amount of available gain
means that there is virtually no limit to what source can be used, and also
offers much more sound flexibility than a passive DI. Starting from clean and
crisp through to darker “rock” style, just by use of the available gain.
3: The output is driven into our custom designed output transformers using
our renowned Class A output stage. The transformer isolates and balances
the output and is capable of driving into long lines and multiple loads with no
loss of quality or level when used correctly.
4: There are 2 x 25 Way D-Sub Connectors on the rear panel. Both are wired
“Tascam” DA88 standard. The main output is a balanced output and is
capable of driving long studio lines, as well as driving multiple loads without
degradation of sound quality. The number of loads that can be driven, at
once of course depend on the total impedance of the loads and is best trialed
in advance, but it is far more than most passive DIs can drive.
The 25 Way D-sub for the monitor outputs follows the main outputs, but at a -
8dB reduced level. This is so that monitoring equipment that would normally
be over-driven by the active DI can also used at the same time, making it
possible to drive multiple monitoring/recording/main outputs all at once.
5: Unlike passive DI's, we have illuminated the push buttons using highly
efficient, ultra long-life LED's so that the switch positions of all 8 channels can
be seen at a glance, even in the lowest light situation.
The front panel has two illuminated switches.
The PAD switch allows hotter inputs to be utilized. The input is padded
immediately after the input jack by -15dB. It is unlikely you will ever swamp
the output transformer due to the carefully constructed gain stage, so if
distortion due to over-dive is heard, the PAD switch would be the first place to
try.
