Do I need a DI?

[trey85stang2]

I record guitar and bass at the house and I record everything direct and use software for the amp stuff (positive grid amp/fx 99% of the time). I recently picked up a charvel that has way hotter pickups then any guitar i have been recording with in a long while. Direct with this guitar can hit the input of my interface pretty hard, with the low output pickups I always keep the gain all the way down and never ran into any input overdrive issues. But I hit it with this charvel now. Will a DI allow me to pad it down and not overdrive the input is that what a DI is for, or is that a good use to get a DI for?

Want to make sure Im on the right track before I drop $100 on one.

[ajaxlepinski]

Did you try turning the volume knob, on your guitar, down?
Anything you put between the guitar and your A/D converter (to lower the signal amplitude) is going to do the same thing as turning the volume down on your guitar.

A DI box is for converting unbalanced, 1/4" bass or guitar signals, to balanced microphone XLR inputs.... low z to high z.
Since, your A/D converter is already doing that for you, when you plug in with your guitar cable, you don't need a DI box.

If your A/D converter has a 20db input pad, it still does the same thing as turning your guitar's volume knob down.

[trey85stang2]

ahh, so I dont need one. my interface does not have a pad ill try backing off the volume a bit and see how it does. Thats good I can spend my money on a reamping box which is what I have been wanting anyways.

[ajaxlepinski]

Awesome! Glad I could help.

[Chris Z]

From what I understand, the Focusrite Scarlett 2nd gen interfaces fixed this problem so that way you don't need a DI or pad to keep it from clipping.

[BroSlinger]

In 25 years, I've had to use a DI twice. They were live shows where I wasn't permitted to use an amp.

You don't need one.