Bass Guitar Direct Boxes For Sale (2024 Update)

Simple, inexpensive but not cheaply made by any means. These units simply work… ( I have 8 of them and use them in two performing bands).Chris

This direct input box solved a problem I had with making recordings from consumer audio sources with my Tascam DR-40 recorder. The DR-40 is designed for the professional-spec line input level of +4 dBu, which is about 12 dB higher than consumer-spec playback devices. I had to crank the input volume control all the way up but the audio levels were still falling short. I had read that the control range of the DR-40 is broader for the microphone input option vs the line setting. But I'd need to drop the line output of the player to mic levels. Running the player output into the 1/4 TS ports on the Pyle box, I got mic level I needed coming out of the Pyle's XLR ports. I used short XLR cable to patch over to the DR-40 and everything worked out. Now the correct input volume control setting ends up being in the middle of the range instead of at the top, so I can now get a perfect recording level with ease. There is no added noise or distortion that I can hear. With volume levels set all the way high there is no hum audible at all, just a very faint white noise hiss, the same you would get with shorted inputs. The price was the wonderful surprise. Other units from other manufacturers ranged from $20 to $180 for just a single channel. I had wondered if Pyle cut some corners but as far as I can tell the PDC22 has no problems at all. This product seems to be rugged enough for live music tours. The metal case is stout and it has two drilled mounting flanges. The only concession to low cost is that it's a very simple metal case with minimal attention to being made touch-friendly. It's hard and the corners and edges are crisp sheet metal folds. Don't buy it for looks, buy it for the sound and for the connection options it gives you. The instruction sheet is clearly written for bass players. When they say the output is meant for mixing boards, it also means it's at microphone drive level.Anthony

I must've been living under a rock. I just discovered Aguilar stuff. After listening to some samples of the TH, I was impressed. After getting it from MF and hooking it up to my five string Peavey Foundation, I was instantly hooked. I'll never play a note again without this thing. Yes, it's that good. I love that you can get scooped sounds for funk and distorted sounds for rock. It makes any bass, especially a passive one, sound like it costs like a million. Downside is Aguilar stuff is a little pricy, but I got the MF discount, and I'll probably get their other pedals if I can find a great deal on them. I highly recommend this pedal.Bassdude123

Good thing – eq doesnt colorize the sound and makes it bigger and warmer. Bad thing – AGS mode makes signal louder. You cant switch device when playing song without dB jump. But you can keep AGS allways on. In fact, I would recommended this device for people, who wants to add big sound to passive basses on stage or in studio.dimakanda

This thing just sounds great. The tone stack seems perfect for bass. I couldn't dial in a bad sound once I had the gain's and master's for both pedals set. I use a Markbass Compressore in front of it. The secret to the AGS boost is to keep the Tone Hammer's gain LOW and use the Master for makeup gain. Start at 9:00 and adjust from there. Then the AGS boosts the signal for soloing just enough to sound like a tube amp on the edge of breakup but still sounds like your "tone" and not a fuzztone. I haven't tried the DI partblues_disciple

The Behringer DI600P does a simple task and does it well – turning an unbalanced signal into a balanced signal for use by a mixer. Not having to use phantom power to run it is a bonus for small mixers without this facility, and the ability to completely isolate the signal to avoid ground loops is a must. Its clean, transparent sound makes an honest representation through a modern PA system. Amp speaker input levels as well as instrument levels make this such a useful device to have in your gig bag, and the low price tag is the cherry on the icing. Wouldn't be without it!Graham M.

Everybody should have at least one, i have three, for mandolin, bass guitar and acoustic guitar. Excellent and great it can be fantom poweredReviewed by Andertons Music Co.

This is a 5/5 all day everyday for me. I've used one for regular live gigs over the last couple of years and have had no issues whatsoever. Used mainly for keyboards it has been hard wearing and built for purpose. I'm expanding a bit more in live performance and had no hesitation in buying 2 more. Great unit for the price.Mary M.

You have several options when not using a standard guitar amp. My particular use-case was that I wanted to plug into a computer interface, not have a shrill and weak sound while using distortion, and be able to record without having to crank my amp to maximum settings to get a good tone. If you try to use a distortion or other boost directly into the computer, you will probably get a shrill, high-frequency saturated sound; essentially you need a real guitar speaker to attenuate certain frequencies and give you that "balls," thick sound. This DI box was the solution for me. You can achieve a similar result with several "pod" like devices on the market, but I prefer using discrete pedals of my choosing, which isn't always easy or possible with multi effects units. With this, I can just run my typical setup to the unit instead of a regular amp, and still have a great sound. My main need was the cab sim and not the general DI functionality, but I can tell a major difference now when using a distortion pedal directly into the computer. It still isn't the same as miking an amp, but I feel it gives me a lot more versatility in my home studio, and I'm quite happy recording guitar tracks with this. Prior to using this device, I would scrap any guitar track I recorded that was not a miked amp. I now feel that I can get an album quality recording (yet still indy, not necessarily polished) with no amp. It can also be used to just plug into your band's PA system, but I haven't experimented with that so I can't comment. I am confident, however, that it would work just fine in that application. This would also be a great item for a keyboard player needing to plug into a house PA. The build quality on the outside seems excellent. The four rubber legs also help setting the unit down without slamming it. I'm very happy with the purchase, and with this price, you can't go wrong.Mirakus

Pro: + Easy to use: put a 9V battery in, plug your signal chain into it, output to audio interface. + Cabinet emulation is pretty good. Nothing to write home about but it definitely reduced the harshness of my overdriven black metal tone, making it much easier to work with in a mix. + Small and rigged. Metal case with rubberised feet mean it is most definitely usable for gigging. + Ground lift button got rid of humming that I had, BIG bonus! + Pad buttons help if your signal is excessively loud by reducing the level to prevent clipping (small LED to show if any clipping is occuring). Generally useful for active guitars among other uses. – Cabinet emulation is okay, nothing special and most certainly isn't as good as mic'ing up a speaker cabinet (though it's practically silent, so late night recordings can be done with ease). However, for the price and practicality this unit provides I don't see this as significant enough a negative to remove even a single star.desolator121

I am pleasantly surprised with this DI box. The only fault I have with it is the fact that you have to keep 9 volt batteries handy. Batteries do seem to have a long life in this thing, but it would be much nicer if you could just plug this thing in with a standard 9 volt barrel plug (like effects pedals). Most importantly it really does sound pretty good. I'm using mine with a Fender champion 600. Out of the amplifier's output to the Behringer DI, out of the DI to internal speaker (speaker level through the DI) and out of the XLR on the DI straight to the board. The only thing that is keeping the little Fender Champion 600's from creating massive tone is the small speaker and this solves that issue in a very big way. The sound I get is huge, warm, glassy, and very clear note definition. And my stage rig is unbelievably small now. It all fits very easily in the trunk of my car, and that's including 2 guitars. I recommend this DI for every guitar player.YadaYadaYada

The Behringer DI600P does a simple task and does it well – turning an unbalanced signal into a balanced signal for use by a mixer. Not having to use phantom power to run it is a bonus for small mixers without this facility, and the ability to completely isolate the signal to avoid ground loops is a must. Its clean, transparent sound makes an honest representation through a modern PA system. Amp speaker input levels as well as instrument levels make this such a useful device to have in your gig bag, and the low price tag is the cherry on the icing. Wouldn't be without it!Graham M.

Everybody should have at least one, i have three, for mandolin, bass guitar and acoustic guitar. Excellent and great it can be fantom poweredReviewed by Andertons Music Co.

This is a 5/5 all day everyday for me. I've used one for regular live gigs over the last couple of years and have had no issues whatsoever. Used mainly for keyboards it has been hard wearing and built for purpose. I'm expanding a bit more in live performance and had no hesitation in buying 2 more. Great unit for the price.Mary M.

The Behringer DI600P does a simple task and does it well – turning an unbalanced signal into a balanced signal for use by a mixer. Not having to use phantom power to run it is a bonus for small mixers without this facility, and the ability to completely isolate the signal to avoid ground loops is a must. Its clean, transparent sound makes an honest representation through a modern PA system. Amp speaker input levels as well as instrument levels make this such a useful device to have in your gig bag, and the low price tag is the cherry on the icing. Wouldn't be without it!Graham M.

Everybody should have at least one, i have three, for mandolin, bass guitar and acoustic guitar. Excellent and great it can be fantom poweredReviewed by Andertons Music Co.

This is a 5/5 all day everyday for me. I've used one for regular live gigs over the last couple of years and have had no issues whatsoever. Used mainly for keyboards it has been hard wearing and built for purpose. I'm expanding a bit more in live performance and had no hesitation in buying 2 more. Great unit for the price.Mary M.

This is a basic no frills DI box. Nothing fancy here, but gets the job done well. I have bought many Pyle products and never had any issues. I know sometimes they get a bad rep because quality control will let a dud through every once in awhile. As for me, I have been lucky, I own several of these DI boxes and never once had an issue. Since they are so cheap I have extra just in case one was to malfunction. You can't build one of these for less than 10 dollars so what do you have to lose.Greg

The Pyle parent company, SoundAround USA (http://www.soundaroundusa.com/) knows that thousands, if not tens of thousands, of the recent version of this direct box are totally unusable out of the box. I recently ordered four of them… and all four were defective. I sought four replacements from the retailer… and all four replacements they sent me had the same defect. I appealed to the SoundAround company itself, clearly explaining the 100% defect, and they sent me four more replacements… and all four of them had the SAME DEFECT. If you look through some of the dissatisfied reviews here, you'll see exactly what the problem is: units manufactured in China (says "Made in China" in big print across the side) have loose/sloppy attenuator switches. There is no way to tighten them up, and solid contact inside is impossible to achieve. So there is either a noisy signal or no signal at all. Let this be your warning – this direct box is bad news. I have two older ones that work fine, but the newer ones are absolute junk! It's a shame the company chooses to pretend they aren't fully aware of what is going on, (and possibly illegal).thirty3na3rd3

This product, Pyle-Pro PDC21 Instrument To Balanced and Unbalanced audio lines, is the third one that I use as an interface between my Behringer MX-1604A mixer output to a Ham Radio transceiver Yaesu, Kenwood, or Icom microphone input, via a Heil CC-1 XLR Y-BAL Cable or generic cable. In this type of configuration, the Pyle-Pro PDC21, as an interface box, ensures impedance matching and hum reduction, with it's Ground Loop Lift circuitry. It's a cheap way to achieve excellent audio transfer.thundergod4u2

Shipped on time. New, working. Researched pricing for Radial JDI on internet. Pro audio Star pricing the but with package you got a new Mogami xlr cable. Great deal. Ordered on Christmas night. No shipping delay. Would recommend.HealthyButterfly-57193

Overall: Recently purchased another keyboard, and was going to purchase another Radial Pro-D2 which I had been using for over a year, love that box! But, I decided to purchase the JDI Stereo. I did a test with the two and yes the JDI Stereo had a slightly better sound, it was subtle, but it was noticeable in the lower and upper registers of the keyboard (88 keys). Radial products are not cheap, but there is no doubting the quality of these units.Reginald

I decided on buying the JDI Radial over other high quality direct boxes. I made my choice on other reviews and demo's that I could find. Sweetwater's direct comparison of high end direct boxes is what convinced me that this is the box to get. The sound you get is crazy scary. I use the JDI passive direct box for my active Sting Ray Sterling by Music Man. Amazing quality and sound!Flash With No Cash

I've used it only at home and rehearsal. It's substantial and seemingly indestructible. There's a non-slip pad on the bottom that I think is a nice touch. The two channels are convenient for my stereo keyboard. Based on my limited use, it performs well sonically. I look forward to taking it on stage.MONTE

Connects a stereo component or two independent components directly to your mixing board with a thru circuit to send the signal to your amps as well. The ground lift and 15 dB pads make the unit very flexible. Also, a space saver!Vin

The Radial Pro D2 is a versatile, passive built-like-a-brick direct box that works for many things. I have it on my digital piano going into my recorder, and a second one for my acc/electric guitar. Works well, and silently. Quality product.chavideo

The box is super simple to use and does not have all the extra switches common on other direct boxes. I was very impressed with the build quality when it arrived. Been using it to run an electric guitar straight into a mixer then into a PA system. The signal is strong and clean without any hums or hiss. It does require phantom power to run and it has a little indicator light to show that it is receiving power. Unlike most active DIs, the ground does not need to be lifted to use phantom. Great active DI thats worth the little extra over the cheap ones.Jacob

if your trying to outfit a small club band or practice studio these are great. works well with both acoustic guitar to the mixer and from the guitar amp to mixerdgabel1962

Small package, big sound. Sounds great with all my basses when recording straight into an interface. Looking forward to trying out live!Ross

I decided to opt for the Warm Audio DI Pro to use to boost my Rhodes. Has made a huge difference in the overall audio quality. Reccomended.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

My church's worship director leads with a $1800 Martin with a built in Fisherman active pickup but the tone was just ok in the system. Then we bought this. What came out of the house speakers was very close to the natural sound standing beside the Martin while they play. Dead silent too. I really don't see any reason to get a more expensive DI. If you need a DI for your acoustic that runs on a 9 volt battery you need to get this passive DI. It's worth every cent.ManDude

Very solid DI. I traded in a Radial J48 Active for this at GC because I needed a passive DI for video work when at times I am not using a mixer. You cannot go wrong with this DI. Yes it does not have a Jensen transformer but I'll bet you would be hard pressed to tell the difference sound wise. Because I'm a pro audio geek I took the case apart and checked out the construction. It was very well laid out with first class parts.AV Guy Dan K

A superb value !! Rugged and reliable, works well on stage and in the studio. I use 5 of them in my recording studio in California. Also have 6 on stage for live performances, allowing instrument level devices/instruments to go into the board for sound reinforcement and recording. Don't need expensive active boxes, this passive one works great, at a fraction of the cost.rlorentz65gs

Bought this to connect our Korg D1 stage piano at church to the PA. Sound is good and clear and I expect it to give years of service based on its build and our use. It will stay connected and not be moved so no strain on any of the connectors. I'm not saying they are a weak point, just that we don't expect to stress them.Phillip

This DI has a steel case, metal jacks and a metal XLR connector. The ground-lift is a sturdy rocker-type switch. The construction exceeds that of the "name brand" passive DI boxes. It sounds good and works reliably. If you just need a solid, working DI, look no further.D.F.

Simple, inexpensive but not cheaply made by any means. These units simply work… ( I have 8 of them and use them in two performing bands).Chris

This direct input box solved a problem I had with making recordings from consumer audio sources with my Tascam DR-40 recorder. The DR-40 is designed for the professional-spec line input level of +4 dBu, which is about 12 dB higher than consumer-spec playback devices. I had to crank the input volume control all the way up but the audio levels were still falling short. I had read that the control range of the DR-40 is broader for the microphone input option vs the line setting. But I'd need to drop the line output of the player to mic levels. Running the player output into the 1/4 TS ports on the Pyle box, I got mic level I needed coming out of the Pyle's XLR ports. I used short XLR cable to patch over to the DR-40 and everything worked out. Now the correct input volume control setting ends up being in the middle of the range instead of at the top, so I can now get a perfect recording level with ease. There is no added noise or distortion that I can hear. With volume levels set all the way high there is no hum audible at all, just a very faint white noise hiss, the same you would get with shorted inputs. The price was the wonderful surprise. Other units from other manufacturers ranged from $20 to $180 for just a single channel. I had wondered if Pyle cut some corners but as far as I can tell the PDC22 has no problems at all. This product seems to be rugged enough for live music tours. The metal case is stout and it has two drilled mounting flanges. The only concession to low cost is that it's a very simple metal case with minimal attention to being made touch-friendly. It's hard and the corners and edges are crisp sheet metal folds. Don't buy it for looks, buy it for the sound and for the connection options it gives you. The instruction sheet is clearly written for bass players. When they say the output is meant for mixing boards, it also means it's at microphone drive level.Anthony