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Can I connect balanced output (xlr to 1/4 jack conversion cable) to guitar link interface directly? Like this: guitar > pedals > micro di > guitar link > laptop... The unbalanced output is connected to the amp input.

Guitar link is Behringer UCG102 and DI is Mooer Micro DI

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In short: yes, you can, just try it.

It's missing the point of the Guitar Link obviously, because that is specifically designed to work directly with a high-impedance unbalanced signal as the guitar or pedals offer. Whereas the balanced DI output is low-impedance, meaning it's stable enough to be plugged into an ordinary microphone input, but on the flip side also offers much less voltage level. So you will likely have to boost the gain in software much more than is ideal, which means a bunch of problems: not only the signal, but also any interference (hum, AD-quantisation etc.) is boosted, which may in this case be very notable (the balanced output doesn't help you, because extending it with a mono jack degenerates the connection to unbalanced again).

Likely, you get better result by feeding the guitar signal directly to both the Guitar Link and the amp, using a split (mono-Y) cable. This may cause its own hum problems due to grounding concerns, but is in this case probably the better option.

The real proper option is to use a general-purpose audio interface with mic inputs instead of the Guitar Link. I'd then record both the DI signal and the signal of a mic in front of the amp cabinet.

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  • Thank you for the answer and options. For now, I don't have the DI yet but if arrives I'll give a try. If I'm not satisfy for the results, I will for the sale the guitar link and buy the audio interface (expensive here in my country).
    – sinkfish
    Aug 21, 2017 at 3:34
  • One problem with the DI low-impedance Line-out to a guitar highZ impedance input such as on an Amp is that the mismatch acts as a frequency filter. A guitar to computer interface may be able to take either type however.
    – Yorik
    Sep 20, 2017 at 16:07
  • @Yorik no, feeding a low-impedance signal into a high-impedance input never causes any filtering. The other way around, high-Z into low-Z, can indeed lead to such issues, though only if the output impedance is non-Ohmic, as in magnetic PUs (whose inductance acts as a 1st-order lowpass when plugged in a low-Z input) or piëzos (ES capacitance -> high-pass filter).
    – leftaroundabout
    Sep 20, 2017 at 17:30

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