The BF-1 from Useful Arts Audio is an all-purpose interface for any instrument with a pickup that enhances clarity, detail, audibility and dynamics whether used between the instrument and amp, the instrument and a P.A. or recording device or all of these at the same time. Whatever you plug into it just sounds better. But the BF-1 doesn’t change the sound of the instrument —it preserves it in a way that the input stage of an amplifier or a console simply can’t.
DI’s are typically thought of as utility boxes designed to get an XLR-compatible signal out an instrument. Necessary, perhaps — but boring. The BF-1 is designed to become an indispensable part of the original sound. The signal generated by magnetic pickups is beautiful, nuanced and detailed — yet incredibly weak. That’s even more true of piezoelectric pickups. It’s not just a question of the level of the signal (a voltage concept), it’s a question of the power of the signal (a current concept). All amplifiers make the signal do actual work to drive the input stage. The problem is that the most delicate parts of the signal aren’t capable of doing that work, and are forever lost.
It boils down to input impedance. Consoles and recording devices usually have an input impedance of around 10,000 ohms — far too low for a pickup. Plug a guitar or bass directly in and it sounds lifeless, small and completely lacking in detail and low end. With a piezo pickup, it sounds thin, buzzy and grating. Guitar and bass amps have an input impedance of several hundred thousand ohms – a big improvement. Instruments sound bigger, fuller and more detailed. This is why the traditional approach for recording or live gigs has been to run the instrument into a DI for the console and back out to the amp. Normal DI’s replicate the input impedance of the amp, convert it into a signal the console can use, and all is well. Boring, but fine.
But instead of a few hundred thousand ohms, the BF-1 creates a 20 million ohm input impedance to pump the results out to an amp or console with the full detail in useable form. The BF-1 can simultaneously drive an amp through its ¼” output jack and a pro audio device via XLR. Everything sounds better.
Inherently capable of creating ridiculously high input impedances, tubes are uniquely well-suited for this task. Passive DI’s use transformers, which can’t effectively create such high impedances. Active DI’s use low-voltage FETs, which sound like transistors and usually offer input impedances far lower than a good tube stage anyway. The BF-1 uses the input tube the same way as a tube microphone — to convert impedances without the high gain.
But beyond its massive impedance conversion, the BF-1 also offers a Class-A tube preamp, a two-band EQ and dual outputs that can be used simultaneously for your amp and console. Bypass the EQ, and you have a choice of low gain (much like a traditional DI) or high gain, which offers the ability to go straight to the converters for pure high-fidelity line level signal capture with no other amplification needed.
Street price is $799. For more info, visit: www.usefulartsaudio.com
