I´m pretty new to this, I´m using a foucsrite interface, and I´m wondering if it is worth it to make or buy a direct box for having a balanced signal in order to reduce noise. I don´t need a long cable, it´s just for home studio. I asume that using a direct box i would only have balanced a half of the path that goes from my guitar to the interface, so I dont know how much can that improve on cleaning noise.
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If you have problem with hum, a DI with ground lift/ground loop isolation could fix it. It definitely did with my active bass into my interface - having a DI in-between made a big difference. For electric guitars, if you have pedals that plug into wall power, a ground lift could also reduce hum, if and only if the hum is related to the interaction of the multiple circuits that are plugged in. Even a cheap passive DI can solve this tho. (like a Behringer DI400P) If you just have noisy pedals, it won't do anything.– JohnHAug 13, 2020 at 19:12
1 Answer
It's not clear from your question whether you actually have a noise problem or not, but for standard length guitar cables (3 - 6 meters) a DI should not be necessary. You also didn't say what model of Focusrite interface you're using, but most of the current semi-pro models have a designated instrument input for guitar and bass; you should normally be using that.
To answer your question precisely: no, under normal circumstances, it would not be worth it to add a DI to a guitar input, since there would be no perceivable benefit and would introduce additional complexity, cost and points of failure (in the additional connectors required).