Overview - Radial Engineering HDI Owner's Manual

True to the Music

OVERVIEW

A note from the HDI design engineer W.C. "Hutch" Hutchison
The HDI Direct Box has its roots in the experiences of a live sound and recording engineer. We know what an
engineer typically needs to process the signal from a conventional DI to make it sit in a mix. We also know that
sometimes that pure clean sound is exactly what is called for and sometimes we wish it sounded more like a great
old tube amp. Sometimes, we struggle to make it sparkle the right way and sometimes we struggle to get a big lush
rich sound that would be appropriate for this particular song.
In respect to the classic clean-ness of traditional DI's, it had to be clean, but could we make it even cleaner and
lower noise than traditional approaches. Could we make it cleaner, and more transparent and truly clear while
retaining the musicality? One of the goals of the HDI was to blur the line between musical instrument and recording
hardware so that this DI could become an extension of the instrument itself.
Could we give it character and color? Sure. Many are the colors in the spectrum and many characteristics that are
not so tasteful. So, the real question was, could we provide a range of colors that seem to be the most appealing
and avoid a lot of characteristics that might be useless or just too subtle to make any significant difference to the
mix. Even more to the point, will the resulting sound inspire the musician, make the engineer smile and make the
listener wanting more of that.
We also wanted it to be simple to use, so that the player or engineer could dial up a perfectly good sound in 5 to
10 seconds and hit the record button. "Instant gratification" is intentional and perhaps the HDI's best "feature". An
elegant set of controls is the key to that.
The result of this design process is a studio tool that combines the functionality of a direct box with the musicality
of a guitar amplifier, opening up a unique sonic landscape which any instrumentalist can experiment with to create
colorful studio recordings and memorable live performances alike.
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Radial Engineering Ltd. HDI™ Owner's Manual