Isolation Box For Guitar Amp For Sale (2024 Update)

I bought this to record audio in the field as I had no access to a studio. I needed something quick and inexpensive. The box did prevent ambient sound from getting into the recording and the audio worked well enough for the project. However, the sound proof foam was hard to work with because it's too flimsy to stand on its own. The box include a tape like substance for the top edge but it didn't hold the foam. The foam for the side would also fall over. I tried using two-sided tape but it wouldn't stick to the foam. I even tried Gaffer's tape but it also would not stick to the foam. I ended up holding the foam up while the audio was being recorded. In the end it worked fine but dealing with the foam was not fun.Dan B.

Main issue, foam constantly falls and droops. I suppose they could be used in a pinch but they are falling apart from day one. It doesn't even make sense how the foam is supposed to stay in there. Something simple like Velcro or a binder clip could greatly improve the foam attachment.Demetrious

For anyone on a budget, needing sound-proofing to reduce background noise while recording, this portable booth box may be just what you are looking for. I live in an apartment and I have limited space for a recording studio, so my recording facility must be compact. And because I live in an apartment — a studio to be specific — background noise and ambient sound is ever-present. The PSIB27 effectively creates a sound barrier around my MIC, cutting noise substantially. However, this sound-proof box alone, will not eliminate background noise entirely for me and my situation. To further increase noise reduction, I have to use the "noise reduction" feature in either Cool Edit or Audacity — the recording/editing software I use to make my recordings. Of course, if you live in a quieter area or have a room that is better isolated from background noise, the PSIB27 may shield background noise even more … maybe even 90 to 100 percent. But I will not make the claim that this item will absolutely eliminate your background noise. Your results, like mine, will vary. However, for the price and compact, space-saving design, I am satisfied with the results I have achieved, using the PSIB27.ifthepriceisright

Compact design, has a ground isolation switch, and 1/4" or XLR options for inputs and outputs. Quality made, quiet circuitry. Gave me the ground isolation option I wanted on an XLR-to-XLR low impedance connection.CHARLES

We have used this for years in concert, church and solo applications. It's a great piece to add to your gear. Good price and very reliable.Ms Annie

The cabinet itself is ok and with the amplug 2 connected even better but the star is the ac30 header just plugged into the guitar and used with headphones.c0lb4n

This didn't really live up to the billing. The sound breaks up way too easily on low gain and volume settings (I have an Amplug 2 Clean). So decided to return the product.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Excellent sounds coming out of that device. Used with every single amplug product. Recommend this to anyone who likes to play guitar on that product.Joshua

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

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

Nice box for the price. When running pink noise frequency specs, I found that in the -20Db pad position, there is a significant roll off of low frequencies, similar to a good ?low cut filter?. All frequencies were relatively flat in the 0Db and -40Db position. Other than this, the construction is good and does the job as expected, especially for the price.John

The XLR output made my guitar sound strange. The ground lift did little to eliminate noise. I tried a different brand DI box and ground lift removed most (if not all) noise. The XLR audio sounded better too. Because the reviews for this product are high, I can only assume I have a defective unit. I will return this product for a refund.M.

Picked up this DI Box out of desperation as our studio box broke. Definitely amazed by the build quality and functionality. You can't compare this with Radial or any other massive brand but this will get the job done right. Pros: – Cost – Works as expected – Attenuation switch – Ground Lift Cons: – Does not make my coffee Not much of a con but more wishful thinking. This little box is definitely worth getting a couple when in a pinch.D.Y.W.

Early days yet, hence only 4 stars: I need to use it in more varied situations to fully assess it. I bought it to counteract boominess from my bass rig when playing on suspended floors, like the typical wooden stage you get in village halls and theatres. I have used it at one band rehearsal on a suspended wooden stage and it certainly helped reduce some of the boom. It would be asking a lot of a wooden plank with some foam stuck on it to completely eradicate the transfer of vibrations into what is essentially a giant cajon! This baby version is big enough to accommodate an Ashdown RM112 EVO II cabinet, so is going to cope with quite a few modern compact bass and guitar rigs; e.g. Barefaced One10s but maybe not a Blues Junior: check your dimensions carefully.Patrick O.

Having read a lot of online hype about the benefits of a Gramma pad I have to admit to being somewhat sceptical of some of the claims but when I saw that PMT had the baby Gramma for £35, significantly cheaper than anywhere else I could find online, I thought I'd give it a go. The Baby Gramma is 15 inches (38 cm) square which is the perfect fit for my Barefaced Two10 bass cab when playing it stood up vertically. My first use was on a gig with a wooden stage, which are a bass players enemy as they cause a ton of boom from bass cabs. But I slid the Baby Gramma under the cab which acoustically decouples the cab from the floor (so the internet tells me!) and the boom had gone. My cab sounded deeper and clearer than it ever had before and I wasn't having to fight any low end resonance for the entire gig. None! Who'd have thought some MDF with a carpet tile glued on plus a bit of foam underneath would make more of a dramatic affect on my bass tone than a new bass, amp, pedal or pickups would??? But it does. It really does. If you don't believe me, and I say that as someone who thought it was all hyperbole for years, then try it for yourself. I've no idea how long it will last as it is essentially a block of foam (albeit a dense acoustic dampening foam) with an MDF top but I look after my gear so I'd hope for a good few years use from it.Sid N.

The Radial J48 is my go-to direct box for studio work and live performance. It sounds exactly as it should, and it is bullet-proof reliable. It is great using phantom power and not worrying about batteries! As a bass player I never use the low cut, but the ground lift has been a lifesaver a couple of times, and the pad works as expected with no change to the sound quality. I even had one time where the phase button came in very handy in a coffee house where the house speakers were out of phase, and their mixer didn't have a phase button. I was about to go back to my car and retrieve an XLR cable that swaps pin 2 and 3, but then I noticed the 180 degree button on the J48, and it solved the problem of my bass amp being out of phase with the house speakers.jmbrawn

I have owned other DI boxes but none so good as this one. Yes, there are cheaper DI boxes in the marketplace. You also get what you pay for. I like this Radial Engineering JDI box so well, that I purchased a passive DI box, the Radial Engineering JDI the next day. I will never need to replace either one of these.Chuck the bassman

I've been looking for this for years and I didn't even know it. Putting this in your effects loop let's you heat up the preamp tubes without shaking the walls. Being in a band with three guitarists, it's really helped my tone cut through the mix, hitting that natural break up by running my hot rod at about 2 o'clock, the sweet spot in my opinion. There's lots of options out there, or you can make a single pot volume box, but I love JHS' stuff and it's inexpensive. Buy it.Chris

This box is perfect for managing your stage volume on any amp with an effects loop. I use several different guitars during a gig. These guitars do not have the same output, but I manage my volume with the box … it also allows me to make overall volume changes without having to make adjustments to my amp. The manual says not to use with other pedals in the loop; however, I put it at the end of my effects chain and have had no problems at all.Curtis

Love this Suhr Reactive Load box. Lets me play my amp via headphones (using audio device and DAW). I recommend watching Pete Thorn's YouTube tutorial video. Using the correct cable is key to getting good levels and great tone.David C.

Early days yet, hence only 4 stars: I need to use it in more varied situations to fully assess it. I bought it to counteract boominess from my bass rig when playing on suspended floors, like the typical wooden stage you get in village halls and theatres. I have used it at one band rehearsal on a suspended wooden stage and it certainly helped reduce some of the boom. It would be asking a lot of a wooden plank with some foam stuck on it to completely eradicate the transfer of vibrations into what is essentially a giant cajon! This baby version is big enough to accommodate an Ashdown RM112 EVO II cabinet, so is going to cope with quite a few modern compact bass and guitar rigs; e.g. Barefaced One10s but maybe not a Blues Junior: check your dimensions carefully.Patrick O.

Having read a lot of online hype about the benefits of a Gramma pad I have to admit to being somewhat sceptical of some of the claims but when I saw that PMT had the baby Gramma for £35, significantly cheaper than anywhere else I could find online, I thought I'd give it a go. The Baby Gramma is 15 inches (38 cm) square which is the perfect fit for my Barefaced Two10 bass cab when playing it stood up vertically. My first use was on a gig with a wooden stage, which are a bass players enemy as they cause a ton of boom from bass cabs. But I slid the Baby Gramma under the cab which acoustically decouples the cab from the floor (so the internet tells me!) and the boom had gone. My cab sounded deeper and clearer than it ever had before and I wasn't having to fight any low end resonance for the entire gig. None! Who'd have thought some MDF with a carpet tile glued on plus a bit of foam underneath would make more of a dramatic affect on my bass tone than a new bass, amp, pedal or pickups would??? But it does. It really does. If you don't believe me, and I say that as someone who thought it was all hyperbole for years, then try it for yourself. I've no idea how long it will last as it is essentially a block of foam (albeit a dense acoustic dampening foam) with an MDF top but I look after my gear so I'd hope for a good few years use from it.Sid N.

This little gem solved the slight 60 cycle hum I was getting when using my Helix in 4-cable-method into really any of my effects-loop equipped amps. It was mentioned on Pete Thorn's YouTube show that this would do the trick and indeed, it did…no more hum!Robert M

I've tried to make this work. Bought it because it was cheap and I was building an affordaboard. Not sure where the problem lies but the bass gain is huge and the mid notch adjustment has a pretty good range as well. I don't really think there's anything wrong with it per se, but I just couldn't get it to sound good. I'm a singer/songwriter and my acoustic has to fill a wider frequency spectrum than if I was playing with a full band. This just didn't work for me. I saved and got the NUX Optima Air and it is amazing, albeit 5 times as expensive.Estaban

i recently had my '72 Martin D-35 restored by the factory. It is better than new and I applaud the job they did. However, in that era, acoustic-electrics were rare. Sometime in the '70s, I installed a Barcus-Berry pickup. It was a glued on transducer that pushed a very weak signal.to an amp or PA. In order for it to be useful, a pre-amp was necessary. I have owned both Barcus Berry and Fishman pre-amps to boost this guitar. Given the fact that I haven''t played that guitar in public since 2004, and have moved twice since then, it was no surprise that I could find them. Looking for a low cost alternative, I decided to risk the money in bonus cash on this AD121.. It was more than I had hoped for. Electronics have come far in the past 40 years. I got the unit to boost the signal, not for the effects, but this allows me to tune the sound to what I want. It even works pushing a Fender Tele straight into a PA. I couldn't be more pleased.Walter L

Instructions given on a card about the product is brief, some explanations or functions are just not too well described. I connected an acoustic guitar with a Fishman pickup fixed to the sound hole of my guitar and connected to input channel and connected the output channel to a Roland's Cube 20X amplifier. With all set up normal no differences could be heard. I purchased this product for recording guitar sound on Garageband on a Macbook pro. Signal amplitude was no different to connecting guitar without this pre-amp. It failed to raise the output to the line level. I will not use a pre-amp with guitar in futurefunt21

I bought 2 of these products to allow my computer to connect to my ls9. It hums like crazy. You are better off buying adaptors than using this product.RO

I guess first, after reading all of the other reviews, I should say that make sure that you understand what this piece of gear is for before you buy it. It's not for reducing clutter and there is no reason to use this in a recording setup unless you are sending the signal to two different mixers. A tranformer isolated splitter is used for eliminating the ground loop that is created when you try to spit a line level signal sending one signal to the monitor mixer and the other to the front of house mixer. This is the preferred, professional way to set up your sound system. Using one mixer only, and using the monitor send buss will work, but it is so much better when you run two seperate sound systems; one for the monitor system and one for the mains. If you do this without a transformer isolated splitter you create a ground loop….a real ground loop, not hum!! Hum is caused by other things. A ground loop will "amplify" hum you alrady have in your system. For instance, without the transformer isolated splitter, when you adjust the monitor system you affect the mains and vice versa. Now for the review. Thank God someone was able to put one of these on the market for a resonable price. This is absolutely the best gear purchase I've ever made. My monitor system sounds great. The band no longer has the worst seat in the house. We can have complete control over how the monitors are mixed right there on stage. No more trying to describe to the sound guy 50 feet out in front of us what we need on stage. Now that I run the monitors system in stereo with 2 monitors per person I got 1000 watts of crystal clear sound with more headroom than I should ever need. Been using it for two years now with no problems. Other similar products cost over $500.00.Turkeyleg

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.

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