DI Avalon U5 vs. MOTU Track16

[kabbe]

Hello!

I was wondering if anyone has done a comparison between the DI input that comes with the MOTU Track16 and the Avalon U5? The Avalon U5 should of course sound better if you go buy the price but that´s not always true.
I´m looking to buy one to get better guitar and bass tracks straight in the soundcard (that I use a amp-plugin with later on).

It sounds good the way it is now with the MOTU Track16, great soundcard, but I´m always working to get better sounding stuff.

Hope that anyone can help me. Thanks!
/ Daniel

[Todzilla]

I have a Demeter HM-1 preamp with DI inputs. As you may know, Demeter is highly regarded for its DIs.

However, my bass player came over with his Avalon U5 and the difference was unbelieveable, to the Avalon's credit. I don't know the Track 16s DIs, but my 896HD DIs are far inferior to my Demeter's which are in turn, far inferior to my buddy's Avalon.

I'm not a big golden ears guy, but I'm telling you the Avalon RULED on bass. (It didn't hurt this guy is a major bass monster).

[James Steele]

I'm not a big golden ears guy, but I'm telling you the Avalon RULED on bass. (It didn't hurt this guy is a major bass monster).

I have two of them and I like them!

[MixermanMikey]

Just another guy's opinion...

I had a few U5s at one point. I also had several other DIs-API, the active and passive Radial ones and a few other mid priced thingies. To me, the U5 had a "breath" or "air" on the bottom end. Very much like the way people describe it on the top end. On the other hand, the API and Radials through the API, Flamingo and Buzz Audio pres had a very focused sound. It wasn't like it was a bad thing or a good thing. Just focused.

If I wanted to capture the full range of an instrument, the U5 would be the box that I would go to. It's not what I always want to capture, however.

Like most things we collect, they're all just tools. Sometimes you need a wrench and sometimes you need a screwdriver.

Anyway, just my nickel's worth. (adjusted for post Bretton-Woods)

Mikey

[mhschmieder]

I used the U5 for many years, until returning to standard bass-specific amps a couple of years ago (I just upgraded last month to the new all-tube Mesa Prodigy head).

Excellent piece of gear, good for many things and not just bass. Many like the way more expensive M5 half-rack as an all-purpose DI/channel as it includes an excellent variable impedance mic pre-amp. The U5 is stellar though and one of the better and more neutral (and low noise) active DI's on the market.

I used Radial passive DI's for awhile too; the ones with Jensen transformers. Then after much research and many comparisons, I decided passive DI's are simply practical and great for live use but I almost always prefer the sound of active DI's in the studio due to the noise floor and generally way more headroom plus more transparent sound across the entire frequency spectrum. Currently I use Radial's new PZ-DI as it has three different impedance settings to cover everything from piezo pickups (usually on acoustic instruments but not always) to hot active pickups.

My True Precision 8 has two channels that internally switch to the DI circuitry when they receive an unbalanced ¼" input. Those are quite good for stereo sources (e.g. keyboards) but not as good as the Radial so I use the Radial on single-channel sources, along with taking advantage of its signal splitting to double-route a direct guitar/bass track alongside an amped track.

The MOTU interfaces will have DI's that are better than those built into most amps, but not of the quality of a Radial box or something like the Phoenix Audio Nice DI. Those are worth the investment. Or, an Avalon U5 will work quite well in that role as well. In a shootout though, I found the Radial more transparent and tighter overall. But just by a hair.