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ULTRA-G GI100 User Manual
Welcome to BEHRINGER!
In addition to the numerous advantages of an excellent DI box, the GI100 features an extremely
authentic, pure analog simulation of a 4 x 12" guitar speaker cabinet.
On stage and in the studio, it is often desirable to directly connect sound sources with
the console. Although this method has many advantages, it also has its technical hurdles.
Keyboards rarely offer balanced outputs, and it’s simply not possible to connect electric guitars
or basses directly to a console. Although common practice, placing a microphone in front of the
speaker cabinet is not really an ideal solution, since the mic tends to pick up signals from other
instruments and creates another potential source of feedback.
A DI (Direct Injection) box allows you to pick up a signal
directly
from an unbalanced,
high impedance output, like that of an electric guitar, and
inject
it into the console,
without using a microphone. There are of course several situations that call for feeding
an unbalanced sound source directly into a console—preferably in a balanced form.
That’s exactly what a DI box is for.
Basically, there are two types of DI boxes: passive and active. A passive DI box contains
much simpler circuitry and requires no batteries, making it is less expensive. On the other
hand, its performance is dependent on the impedance of the connected gear. A change in
impedance on the output side will cause the input impedance to change. Among other things,
the impedance ratings greatly effect the frequency response. A passive DI box only works
correctly when impedance specifications are adhered to (in short: high-Z input, low-Z output).
Active DI boxes, which use an amplifier to buffer the input signal, are not subject to these
limitations. The ULTRA-G’s input impedance is extremely high, so it lets the input signal pass
through with virtually no coloring. At the other end, its balanced output has a particularly low
impedance, making the signal much less susceptible to hum and noise. The GI100 is an active
DI box and performs optimally regardless of the impedance ratings of the connected gear.
The ULTRA-G is based on the proven BEHRINGER OT-1 transformer, which ensures crystal-clear,
distortion-free sound and a wide, linear frequency response. In addition, it can be powered
by the console’s phantom power or by an internal battery. The battery is automatically
“disconnected” when phantom power is present to preserve battery life.
◊ In order to avoid damage to your loudspeakers, always mute the corresponding
channel on the consoles before connecting the GI100. The same applies when
switching between phantom and battery power.
