DI (direct input / direct injection) boxes are not created equal. Most cheap DI boxes are passive (no electronics) and use relatively poor quality transformers.

In some cases using a cheap passive DI may be fine but in some cases you will need something better.

Let’s split DI boxes up into a few categories.

Inexpensive passive
Expensive passive
Inexpensive active
Expensive active
Inexpensive tube based
Expensive tube based

Let’s draw the line between expensive & inexpensive at $100. That should separate the mice from the men.

Ignoring tube based DI units,

Here are my favorite DI options for live work.

Radial Engineering -JDI
http://www.radialeng.com/jdi.php

Radial Engineering – J48
http://www.radialeng.com/j48.php

Radial Engineering –