Active Di Box Vs Passive

In contrast active boxes do have active electronics which are powered by external power sources.

Active di box vs passive.

Active di boxes require a power source usually batteries or phantom power over an xlr jack. A passive di unit typically consists of an audio transformer used as a balun. For an in depth look at choosing active or passive direct boxes please check out the free guide on our blog. Passive dis are ideal for instruments with strong outputs and both their low cost and durability make them the most popular kind of direct box.

But the differences go deeper than that. The biggest difference between an active di and a passive di is that an active di includes a preamplifier. Typical turns ratio is about 500 1 to match a nominal 50 kω signal source such as the magnetic pickup of an electric guitar to a 100 ω input. Active di units and passive di units.

They contain a transformer to perform impedance matching and balancing and very little else the strength and impedance of. The most basic definitions of the two different kinds of di boxes are likely what you d expect. The most obvious difference is that passive di boxes don t need to be powered.