Good DI Box for <$100? Only need for cheap electric guitar

WaveLab
1

Have never needed a DI Box before, but my Tascam UH-7k needs one to plug in electric bass/guitar.

I dont record too much guitar, in fact I only have a cheap Fender Squier here to lay down some stuff. I’d like to see if I cant get the best tone possible though.

Can anyone recommend their fav/best budget DI boxes <$100? Do the cheap $20 ones have sh*t for tone??

THANKS!! :smiley:

2

We use Palmer PAN01’s in church, they sound fine for the acoustic electric guitars we put through them, my DTX750 too and a digital piano. The sound of the piano I’m not too happy with but I’ve never done any testing so it could be anything, not necessarily the DI :wink:. These are not the cheapest but well within your budget.

I also really like the Radial Engineering Stagebug series, they are extremely well built and offer some nice extra functionality. ( I have the SB-2 which allows you to merge stereo to mono at the cost of the through jack. Perfect for my wavedrum which has no mono out).

I’ve never used them for electric guitars though, we usually mic the cabinets for those instead.

3

Hi,
I would recommend BSS AR-133. It costs a bit more than 100€, but I am very happy with it.
I have a Squier Stratocaster with Original Fender Pickups.
I connect it through the BSS with my Allen&Heath Qu24 Mixer and I am getting a very good sound at good level.

Then it’s routed into the Cubase DAW with Cubase Amp Simulator or Peavey Revalver Plugins.
For me it works will.

Before I had a Line6 Interface with amp simulations. It had lower quality, lower recording level and I had to deal with two audio interfaces.

4

For an inexpensive DI that just works and sounds decent, check out the Whirlwind IMP2. They’re about $50.

They’re are better sounding DI’s, but prices will go up accordingly. The Whirlwind units are sturdy and won’t sound bad at all.

-Tom

5

Thanks for the replies…

I went Radial J48 & haven’t looked back…and yes, I went over my initial budget :stuck_out_tongue:

I do wanna try a JDI too at some point &hear how it sounds on passive electric guitar/bass. I live in Honolulu, HI though–it’s difficult to “try before I buy”