Reddit reviews Whirlwind IMP 2 Standard Direct Box
We found 6 Reddit comments about Whirlwind IMP 2 Standard Direct Box. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Inexpensive direct box with a fantastic footprint and the sound qualityThe IMP is an in-line transformer that converts a line or instrument level unbalanced signal to a low impedance mic level balanced signalConverts a line or instrument level unbalanced signal to a low impedance mic level balanced signalAn ideal direct box for anyone requiring professional quality and durability in an economical packageUses Whirlwind's TRHL transformer that's riveted, not glued, to the chassis
Before you buy anything (and don't pidgeonhole yourself into spending $100+ on a new dac as /u/Diablo-D3 says - he may as well be a Schiit shill with how much he's pressuring you to spend money with them) try adjusting the current setup first. Spend $300 on new equipment to fix a little buzz? Please.
You are using a USB dac/mixer as your dac stage. You're connecting through balanced 1/4" outputs - presumably these are line-level. The buzz only comes when when your GPU is under load.
From that we can extrapolate it's due to power problems. Go to the power management menu, advanced settings. There should be something there for USB power selective sleeping - make sure that's disabled.
The problem persists with a powered hub, but the headphone amp section of the 2i4 is fine. The amp circuit is removing the power problem.
I'd do a couple things:
Use a microphone to record the hum and see what frequency it is. If it's 60Hz (US) or 50Hz (elsewhere) then it's a grounding problem and a guaranteed way to solve it is to put a DI box like this in the signal path to the speakers to ground it. That whirlwind is the type of box we use at work for very long XLR runs and they work great. Your 1/4" outs would work fine, an XLR -> 1/4" cable would work on the output side.
You could also try the unbalanced RCA output. It could be a flaw in the circuit for the balanced output, or something is just barely touching inside.
A more 'severe' option would be to buy a power conditioner, but there is no guarantee that could fix it. Or you could get a new motherboard, that could fix it too but would be silly. A USB power isolator would work as well, such as this which is unpowered. It limits the output to ~200mA though, and the 2i4 probably needs more juice than that.
Really I'd look into the unbalanced RCA out first, since that's like a $8 potential fix for a cable. If that doesn't work a DI box should fix it.
Whirlwind Director has been an industry standard for as long as I can remember. Either that or the Imp 2.
Never tried the Direct 2, myself, but it sounds like you could kill two birds with one DI.
Yes. This is the one I am using.
https://www.amazon.com/Whirlwind-1-channel-Passive-Instrument-Direct/dp/B0002DUQ72
A DI box converts unbalanced, high-impedance signals into balanced low-impedance ones, physically it will take the 1/4" output of your DM5 and convert it into an XLR input to the front-of-house mixer. Basically it's there so there isn't volume problems when connecting electronic instruments into a mixer. In terms of relatively cheap DIs I have experience using the Whirlwind IMP 2 which are relatively basic in terms of features, but should work well enough for your setup.
Sounds like you aren't using one of these.
This one: https://www.amazon.com/Whirlwind-1-channel-Passive-Instrument-Direct/dp/B0002DUQ72/
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However, it's also worth noting that the monitors pick up the radio signal to some degree even with no audio cable plugged in. So not sure if balancing the audio would even help that.