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[Jeff Lelko]

I need to acquire a couple of Swiss Army knife DI boxes for these events. 

Knowing nothing else I'd suggest the Radial ProAV2.  I carry a couple of these to all my jobs as there's no shortage of uses for them.  To me they're cost effective for what all they can do, but what's cheap to one person might be expensive or "just right" to another.  Hope this helps!

[Paul G. OBrien]

Another vote for the Radial Pro series, I have some as well as JDIs and I can't hear any difference. I have not had good experiences with Behringer DIs but I do have a Behringer HD400 to isolate noisy laptops and it does that job wonderfully, I have encountered a few computers that sounded like a sci-fi effects machines with all the noise they generate but this box turns that into silence. This thing is TRS in and out and there are no external switches at all so it's not a full featured DI but it is a very cost effective 2ch isolation box.

[Mal Brown]

I have a bunch of Radial DI’s J48, JDI, Pro DI, ProDI stereo, Pro AV2 as well as 4 Countryman Type 85’s.  They sound good and are built to last.  I never get the look from visiting BE’s...

[Chris Grimshaw]

I actually use these: https://www.thomann.de/gb/millenium_die_dibox_passiv.htm
They're fine up to 10v RMS at 20Hz before distortion starts to rise, and then you can switch the pad in. I couldn't give them any trouble driving them from the output of my mixing desk, and had to hook up a power amp to get enough voltage into the DI box to make it distort.

Apart from that, they're flat into HF, don't hum when put on top of a bass amp, and generally get the job done. Even the ones that have been kicked across a stage work fine - there's nothing to go wrong in there.

My only complaint would be that it's a bit too easy to accidentally flick the switches when making a connection.

Chris

[Luke Geis]

I have a pair of Rolls Matchbox DI's which are about $25 new. They are flat as a board from 20-20 with well above line level going in. They just aren't very robust and parts of the input jacks have fallen apart inside the box. The Transformer is just hot glued to the chassis even. I have seen Countryman Type 85's that were newer and falling apart too in one way or another. Had two Radial Pro series DI's that died over time; one mid-show. I have seen the Behringers fail, and I have seen other units that have failed too. Long and short, is that there is no immunity to failure, just some that seem to be more resistant. I have had my Rolls Matchbox's for 15+ years and they still work.

[dave briar]

Knowing nothing else I'd suggest the Radial ProAV2.  I carry a couple of these to all my jobs as there's no shortage of uses for them.  To me they're cost effective for what all they can do, but what's cheap to one person might be expensive or "just right" to another.  Hope this helps!

I forgot about this box. I seem to be getting more and more requests for a board feed as input to a camcorder used to record the band — doesn’t matter when I explain that it’s not going to sound like the room. I usually cobble together a matrix XLR pair to 3.5mm trs solution (should be “safe” given no phantom possibility) but would feel safer yet inserting an isolator in between to guard against getting blamed for any problems. I’ve got sufficient gender benders available.  Thanks for the reminder.

[Geert Friedhof]

I forgot about this box. I seem to be getting more and more requests for a board feed as input to a camcorder used to record the band — doesn’t matter when I explain that it’s not going to sound like the room. I usually cobble together a matrix XLR pair to 3.5mm trs solution (should be “safe” given no phantom possibility) but would feel safer yet inserting an isolator in between to guard against getting blamed for any problems. I’ve got sufficient gender benders available.  Thanks for the reminder.

I would use the Radial Pro Iso for that.

[dave briar]

I would use the Radial Pro Iso for that.

Good point. One of each would certainly be best but I’m cheap I guess. I more often get requests to feed a laptop into the console (trivia night etc) and saw the possibility of running a ProAV2 in reverse for a board feed as a plus.  Of course one of each would be helpful if I needed to do both at the same time .  Thanks for the input.

[Robert Lunceford]

I would use the Radial Pro Iso for that.

The Radial Pro ISO converts a balanced +4 signal to an unbalanced -10.

The Radial Twin ISO is balanced in and out and maintains the level of the original signal. Might be a better choice depending on the application.

[Jerry Ziarko]

I think much of it comes down what instruments you are planning to use them for. I am a bassist by trade, and believe me, DI boxes do indeed sound different. To the audience, they won't know the difference, but to a discerning player IMO very much so.

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