Active vs Passive DI Box - Which One Should You Use? 

You're welcome! I agree, I've seen good videos that would be better with quieter background music. I do try to keep those production values in mind.

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What are the exact ratings? What do you think they should be?

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Yup. Usually just need to enable phantom power on the mixer channel.

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Sure, I'd expect your interface to provide ample phantom power to operate your active DI. Some computer interfaces provide an "instrument" switch that adjusts the gain and loading of the input so you can plug a guitar directly in, and that may work well for you (with no need for a DI box). Alternatively you could connect your guitar to an active DI, then the output of the DI (on XLR cable) to your interface, (in mic input mode, not instrument), with phantom power engaged. If splitting signal, my preference would be to split after the DI, or the interface, or a effect pedal, to reduce loading on the guitar itself.

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Yes you can with a passive DI. Most passive DI boxes are simply a transformer, so you can run them "backwards". This is not the case with an Active DI, where you must respect the input/output. However the DI isn't designed to boost a mic level signal up to line level, so your mixer may (or may not) have the gain you need on a input intended for a line level signal. If the input signal is pretty high, for example a kick drum mic, or a signal output from a keyboard or bass guitar amp etc, you might be okay. Try it and find out... If you do this, remember the 1/4 side is unbalanced, so try to keep that cable relatively short to avoid picking up too much stray noise/buss/hum etc.

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I think the RC600 is designed to drive a instrument amp input (hi-z), not a mixer (low-z), so I would go through a DI box into a mic input on the mixer. You may need to engage the PAD switch on the DI or mixer channel to scale the signal level. The passive DI won't boost signal level, but it might help the RC600 have the ability to drive signal into the mixer. It's possible that the load of the mixer is reducing the signal level from the RC600. An active DI may provide a little more signal level than a passive DI.

@@Barry-Watson thanks so much for the quick reply, it’s exactly what I was thinking. I’ll give it try and see if it works.

Sure, since your are driving the DI input with a active device with a strong output (for example an active guitar, pedal output, keyboard etc) the DI shouldn't have much effect on instrument tone. I tend to prefer active-DIs if phantom power isn't an issue for you, but any I'd expect decent DI box should work fine. If you play a lot of shows with various bar-band level soundguys, I might opt for a passive DI just to keep things a teeny bit simpler. There are some guitar effects that provide balanced output (typically XLR outputs), and in this case you could directly use those without the need for any DI. For example, I worked with a guy using a Line6 Pod HD500 efx board that had XLR outputs, and it was nice that I could just directly plug the lines into that source.

@@Barry-Watson thank you. Just to be sure, when you say you tend to prefer active DIs, can you elaborate on that? What are their advantages knowing that the source is active?

@@fabricedubois3060 I would expect an active DI, with it's internal line amplifier driving the cable to the mixer to be able to provide more consistent performance on long cable runs. Maybe more importantly some active DIs offer tone control, or tone modeling which may be a nice feature. But, especially coming from a source with a strong signal, I would expect any good quality DI (active or passive) to work well.

Most DI boxes, and preamps (on your mixing board or interface) offer a PAD switch, which is used to reduce the gain to accommodate higher-level signal sources. So, I would probably use an active DI box with the PAD enabled, which then feeds into your Focusrite mic input preamp. This is assuming you don't have a PAD switch on your Focusrite (my Scarlett 2i4 has one). The PAD typically drops the gain by 15-20db or more, which should offer ample headroom for any sane signal levels.

Thanks! No worries, the DI box (active or passive) provides isolation, and does not pass phantom power through to the instrument. If the instrument is powered and uses active electronics to drive the output, like a keyboard, you could probably plug it directly into a line input on the mixer if the cable run is short, and you'd be okay. I still like the idea of using a di for isolation just in that remote case that some piece of equipment has a problem that might damage the mixers input, or conversely could cause damage to the instruments output stage. This is pretty unlikely, but when I was working with bands I was never super keen about plugging random people's equipment of unknown condition directly into my mixer without a DI. But, ideally, and especially for longer cable runs, I would use a DI box to convert the output to a balanced signal to properly drive the mixer's preamp. This may make the mixer preamp work better, getting a proper signal plus a balanced signal will be more immune to picking up noise on longer cable runs.

The pedals are active electronics, so I'd expect that you have plenty of signal and drive, and they are not too load dependent. If your pedalboard offers XLR/balanced outputs you can just connect directly, otherwise I'd expect any DI box to work well in that situation.

Yeah, powersoak loads are a good way to run a real amp without creating a ton of sound. Real loudspeakers can present complicated dynamic loads, and impart a sound of their own which is hard to exactly duplicate, but I've had great results from players who use a powersoak load box to get great tone at modest level, or to provide a fat-sounding DI guitar tone. Probably best used during winter, when you can use a little extra heat in the house.

@@Barry-Watson Thanks barry. You remind me of the guy whom held my first PA course when I was about 14. Absolute gent.

In your case I would say that either type of DI should work about equally well for you. Since your guitar has active pickups, it should be able to drive signal into any reasonable equipment without affecting instrument tone. Generally my preference is an active di because I feel they are better able to drive long cable runs to the mixer. But, an active DI will require power in the form of batteries, or the mixer needs to have phantom power turned on on that input. If that's not an issue for you, personally I would lean in that direction. On the other hand, a passive di is very simple, and does not require power, so that might make it slightly more failure proof or a better choice if you're going into a little mixer (like a powered mixer) that doesn't offer phantom power on the mic inputs, and you don't want to rely on batteries. In my experience most DI boxes work pretty well and sound similar. You probably won't get dramatically better sound character by buying a extremely expensive unit, unless it offers more than just DI functions. I'd look for a quality unit that is built rugged enough to survive being kicked around on stage. But, the bottom line is that I think either would work just about equally well for you. Good luck!

@@Barry-Watson thank you so much!

You're welcome!

Thanks! At the age of 50 I decided to stop cutting my hair. I just let it do what it wants, and my hair has no sense of fashion.