Radial Pro DI Passive Direct Box

On the advice of experienced studio musicians, I bought a DI box for recording guitar and bass. (Not this one). I was tired of overplaying and still getting anemic, lifeless guitar sounds on playback. My first DI box alleviated the problem but I still couldn't get the full-blooded sound of a well amped guitar. My guitar sounds still lacked the midrange definition I was looking for, so it was back to the marketplace. All the reviews mentioned the Radial DI so I tried it. I don't know how one transformer can be so different from another (a DI box is basically a transformer) but it is! Now I can just play without having to think about compensating for signal loss. Works well for bass, too. Much more body and less string slap. It's expensive for what it is but it works.

Sturdy, works great. Owned one of these previously and line-lift button finally would not work, BUT, I got 10+ years out of it.

There's a noticeable difference in the clarity of my tone when I use this. Even if im not recording, Ill run it with my headphone amp in the thru jack, and the tone just sounds much less harsh. I'll often run a zoom recorder through the XLR jack while I'm doing this so I can record a good DI if the need arises.Also, as someone with a guitar that runs a little spicy, that PAD is a great thing to have. I use it with my practice amp just for that reason.

I use these direct boxes on any shows where i have a sound tech.

You may notice: this DI box only has 4 and 5 star ratings. Its wonderful. I wanted to get the JDI though money was tight and I was using points on my credit card to make the purchase. I went with this because I only needed the basics anyway.I keep this in my utility bag. Many venues already have a DI and I just use what they have. Some smaller places may have basic sound equipment though no extras like DIs or adapters. In a situation like this you may get through the show with no issues though after using this, I realize when going direct into a board DI isn't just convenient: it's a necessity. It makes a world of difference.I played a spot recently and this box saved the performance: we were having issues with sound and once we were able to get signal there was a lot of extra noise. Using the ground lift eliminated the hum and buzzing and kept the guitar signal strong. I actually now prefer putting my guitar and vocals through a pa/mixer because it's less for me to carry to the place and exceptional sound. I would recommend this DI box as a great sounding and problem solving way to go direct in. I think it's the only way to go.

I've tried some less expensive DI boxes, and while they work OK, they don't sound quite as good as these. The Radial DI boxes are an industry standard and will likely last me a lifetime. I prefer to record direct from my amps rather than mic them (for a number of reasons not discussing here). These boxes plug directly into the speaker outputs of solid state guitar amps with no issues and provide clean signals to my interface.

So I know a lot of people struggle on the decision to purchase a DI box and should it be passive or active.I can share my experiences in this search for great guitar tone.I am going to list my equipment:Guitars:Ibanez RG8-EMG 808x (neck and bridge)Tuning: F, A#, D#, G#, C#, F#, A#, D# (9.5/74)ESP LTD MH-417-(EMG 85-7H: neck, EMG 81-7H: bridge)Tuning: G#, D#, G#, C#, F#, A#, D# (10/65)Audio interface:Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 (1st Gen)DAW and VSTs:Cubase 10.5 ProFortin Nameless suiteMercuriall U530Internal Cubase VSTsI decided to pick up the Radial ProDI passive DI box because I have active pickups in both of my guitars and my tone was muddy directly into the instrument input w/ padding turned all the way down. This DI box is a must have. My tone is night and day compared to the Focusrite instrument input w/ internal padding.I can't recommend this DI box enough.

I purchased this a few weeks ago. I use it mainly for live concerts, and I tell you what, it has made such a positive impact on the sound of my Bajoquinto. For those of you who don't know, a Bajoquinto is basically a 10 string guitar, commonly used in traditional style Norteno Bands. That said, I highly recommend this product. - Jose Magana