Help me NOT hate my K&K mini - pick a DI box for me

[CJ]

The DI box just gets the guitar signal to the board. Sounds like the sound guy did a good job of adjusting the EQ to get rid of the boominess, add brightness, etc.

Do you have a guitar amp or PA that you use, AZ?

Here's a DI for you that seems to rate well.

http://www.amazon.com/Hosa-DIB443-Sidekick-Passive-Direct/dp/B000WS1Q4E/ref=pd_cp_MI_3

But after re-reading your original post, the magic likely wasn't in the DI box. It was the sound guys on the main board who EQ'd the sound for you. Assuming your frustration is that K&K has no EQ/level controls, I'd like to suggest you get a small mixer.

With a mixer, you could plug your guitar in, adjust the 'trim' and EQ, then run the output to the board or amp. Running to the house board, you'll want to convert the mixer's high-impedance output to a low-impedence balanced signal IF you're running it to the house board over an XLR cable. You can do that with a Shure A95U or A95UF line matching transformer, depending on whether you need male or female XLR connector to connect to the house system.

Alto makes an inexpensive little mixer that would do the job: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/alto-zephyr-series-zmx862-6-channel-compact-mixer

I did somewhat the same, but decided to get a mixer with a USB output so I can connect to my PC for recording. I have the Alesis Multimix 8 USB with FX, like this one: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/alesis-multimix-8-usb-fx-regular    Even if I didn't record, that's fun for simply letting me put on headphones and put some nice 'verb on the guitar and wail away, getting a nice sound through the phones, without the noise of an amp to disturb the wife and neighbors.

Here's the line matching transformers, which would connect to the mixer output via short 1/4" patch cable:

Shure A95U: http://www.adorama.com/SHA95U.html?refby
Shure A95UF: http://www.adorama.com/SHA95UF.html

Or if you're willing to just let the sound guys adjust your EQ/levels, all you need is a cheap DI to sit between your guitar and the long XLR cable that runs to the main board. That Hosa DIB443 above will do that for you.

[AZLiberty]

But after re-reading your original post, the magic likely wasn't in the DI box. It was the sound guys on the main board who EQ'd the sound for you. Assuming your frustration is that K&K has no EQ/level controls, I'd like to suggest you get a small mixer.

No Gerry left the board neutral.  My understanding is we needed the DI to impedance match the output from the K&K to the input of the board.

[KenS]

It may not be the cheapest option (but it's certainly not the most expensive), but I've had great success with the Para DI with McIntyre pickups. I haven't used it with a K&K, but given its tweakability, I can't imagine that you wouldn't be able to get a nice sound with it.

Ken

[Thrakazog]

I've been away a few months, and just finally logged back into the forums after what seems like forever. Browsing through posts, I noticed this one. I see it's a couple months old, but don't see if you ever found a resolution.

I have a K&K Pure Mini also, and thought I would pass on what I had looked at. I found 3 external pre-amps with eq adjustment that I liked. Two were impedance matched, one was not. They were the Ultrasound DI Plus, The Headway EDB-1, and the Radial Tonebone PZ-Pre (the one not "matched" impedance wise).

I thought they all sounded really good, but I went with the Ultrasound in the end. It sounded good, and more importantly, fit my budget at the time 

There's a good chance I might have gone with one of the other 2 if I had the money, but they all sounded pretty darn good.

[dberch]

I run my K&K mini through an LR Baggs Para DI and the sound is lush.  Lots of online chat says these two are incompatible.  Don't believe the chat.  Check out the sound for yourself and see if you like it!  Good luck.

NO, not incompatible.  There are  just better sounding options.  How much better is up to your ears. If you ever get a chance, A/B your PADI with a K&K Pure preamp.  Then decide for yourself. It's really the only way to tell.

[dbirchett]

You might want to check out some old threads: http://www.larriveeforum.com/smf/index.php?topic=19291.0

http://www.larriveeforum.com/smf/index.php?topic=41432.0

http://www.larriveeforum.com/smf/index.php?topic=16988.0http://www.larriveeforum.com/smf/index.php?topic=16988.0

But you can see a number of previous threads by following this: Google search for K&K and baggs

I have K&K pure western minis in 3 of my Larrivees and like them a lot. They sound OK as is through my Acoustasonic Jr. but come to life through the K&K preamp (I have the XLR model).

[headsup]

I take it back.

A while ago i suggested the BBE acoustimax as a possible solution.
Since that post I installed a pure western K & K system in one of my guitars.
we had it in the studio recently, the engineer really couldn't get the low/low mid honk out with out serious effort and coloration.
It was certainly much better than my own attempts live with the acoustimax, but the K & K will be removed in favour of the LR Baggs element, or the B-Band AST & UST system

[flatlander]

I'm confused I guess. If the sound guy, Gerry, got a good sound with just a passive DI box, not very expensive, why don't you just ask him what he used? If he's not reachable and you know it was just a passive DI box, why not just get a decent one? And if you're talking about just a fishman UST you'de rather have, without the preamp or preamp and eq, I would think you are going to run into same problem except the sound will be tinny instead of boomy. Don't the Larrivee's you have that were "plug and play" have preamps built in?  Apples and Oranges and I don't see where you are going to get that equivalent pick-up preamp system installed for the price of a Para DI. Maybe I'm missing something.  With all those things equal, which if I'm understanding are not in thought process, then and only then, does it come down to sound preference. I think the K&K''s are more natural myself. And yes can provide more bass which I like. Slightly more prone to feedback if you get stuck in some situation where you have to play really loud but nothing my soundhole cover (feedback buster, 20.00) doesn't take care of.  The K&K's have stronger output than passive UST's, and least than the fishmans I've had. I don't know. Take your guitar to a music store and try out different stuff, starting with just a passive DI box....would be my suggestion.