Just got my Z TONE DI today. My other DI boxes are Countryman Type 85 and Neve RNDI, both considered to be creme de la creme of DI and for good reason, they are both VERY good DI boxes!
With the RNDI and the Countryman I had to bump my RME MIC input up by 10dB to get the DI signal level I want which is a peak at -3dbfs on my HARDEST possible crushing of the strings where the average is anywhere from -14 to -8, somewhere in there.
With the Z Tone DI, I do not need to bump the RME MIC input at all and this is with UNITY on the Z tone, not adding any gain there at all. So right off the bat, the signal coming out is hotter and it is nice not having to boost the MIC input by 10dB
I don't think the impedance adjustment on the Z tone is something I will ever want to lower and will likely always keep that maxed out for the 1M Ohm. The Countryman has a 10M ohm impedance and the RNDI has is 2.2M ohm.
Has anyone else had an opp to use the Z tone, specifically guitarists/metal guitarist and can give some feedback? I'm the type of person who does not really like to keep a ton of extra gear around, so at some point I'm going to keep only the Z tone, the RNDI or the countryman and sell the two I won't use.
Looking forward to hearing from others who have the Z tone and have compared it with other DI boxes.