Ineteresting thread for me, a professional violinist. I've spent hundreds of hours in recording studios, but am very ignorant about audio technology, which is why I'm here, picking up ideas so that I can dabble with home recording.
I appreciate the advantages of DI, but agree with Richiebee that you'll get a much better natural sound through a mic. Of course you'll have to take time to get all the parameters right, as Brandon and Richie suggest.
If your violinist is not studio-experienced, make sure you allow time to get the headphone set-up just right for him/her. It's very unsettling if it's not right - I find one ear completely free and the other only half covered is best. I only wish to hear enough monitored sound to hear the other tracks, so that I'm reacting to as near a normal acoustic sound as possible. So allow time to ensure that the headphone level is balanced with the natural sound once he/she starts playing along - it has to be quite high if adopting that no-ear/half-covered technique. Hope that makes sense. And best for the lead to be on the left side away from the bowing arm.
If you wish to hear a 3-part violin piece I recorded about a month ago in a wooden room 18ft x 10 ft x 7ft using an SM57 at about 5 feet, AudioBuddy, Cubase SX3, STA DSP24 Media7.1 soundcard - let me know. (There's a great sniff in between 2 phrases
)
fiddler