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Hughes & Kettner Red Box 5 DI and Speaker Simulator

Direct Box and Speaker Emulator, with Speaker and Line-level Inputs and Outputs and Speaker Simulation Controls
30 Write review Item ID: RedBox5
$149.00

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Hughes & Kettner Red Box 5 DI and Speaker Simulator
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$149.00
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You May Never Put a Mic in Front of Your Stack Again

An H & K classic returns! The Hughes & Kettner Red Box 5 makes it easy to inject great-sounding guitar tones straight to your recorder or mixer without miking up your cabinet. In addition to stellar speaker simulation, the Red Box 5 now includes more tonal options. Choose from modern or vintage speaker emulations, small or large cabinet sizes, and even loose/tight response. You can also use this handy little box as a DI, so it's sure to become a valuable addition to your rig. Call Sweetwater for an amazing-sounding guitar speaker emulator: the Hughes & Kettner Red Box 5.

Related Videos: Red Box 5 DI and Speaker Simulator

Hughes & Kettner Red Box 5 DI and Speaker Emulator Features:

  • Direct box and speaker emulator for guitar and bass
  • Use it with line-level devices such as amp simulators and other pedals for lifelike direct recording
  • Connect it between your amplifier and speaker cabinet instead of miking up onstage
  • Powerful control over the simulated speaker sound including cabinet size, cab tightness, and more
  • Balanced XLR out
  • Powered with 9-volt battery or optional power supply

Additional Media

Guitar Amp Buying Guide
Redbox 5 DI and Speaker Simulator User Manual

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Tech Specs

  • Type: Direct Box/Speaker Emulator
  • Channels: 1
  • Form Factor: Desktop
  • Inputs: 1 x 1/4"
  • Outputs: 1 x 1/4" Thru, 1 x XLR
  • Height: 1.57"
  • Width: 2.36"
  • Depth: 4.53"
  • Weight: 0.44 lbs.
  • Manufacturer Part Number: REDBOX5

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Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5

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Sorta confusing to this rookie

I'm sure this is a great product and maybe because you can use this isn many different situations is why only "IN" and "THRU" are printed on the red box near the 1/4 spots. It took me a while and many searches to figure out how to use this for my combo amp situation. I had to put some stickers on the box so I could remember. Not knocking this product at all, it's also in their instructions but maybe not 100% understandable. So maybe this will help someone who also has a combo or a head plus cabinet. Remember to use speaker cables here.
by Steve Kern from Candor, NY on

Exactly what I need it to do…

I play a LOT of direct -to -PA, no amp gigs, but I prefer analog to digital pedals….this lives on my board and makes a great DI. If it's an amp gig, I don't have to change a thing, I just run the through-to the amp. Wish it wasn't 12v, not a problem for me but that might be inconvenient for some.
by Mark McDowell from Davenport, FL on

Big help with worship tone

I play at a church that will hold a couple hundred attendees. To keep stage volume down and for space my best option was to go straight to the front of house.I dreaded this option at first and the tone was very lackluster. This helped out a ton. My tone is way better still not perfect but I'm always wanting to try new things. I've had this in my setup for two years now. Really a big help!!!
by Joey Davis from Macon Ga on
Music background: Over 25 years on guitar - Rock,blues- praise and worship

Built like a tank - sounds great...

H & K Red Box - works fantastic, built like a tank, sounds good. Admittedly - I am using this for my "In Ears" set up. I have a couple of amp configurations - where splitting signals on live stage is "difficult". Using this to split signal to go directly into my on-stage mixer for my "In Ears" set up - easy solution, and will keep it in my gig bag for times when "micing an amp" is difficult on live stage... As always Chris McCown and Sweetwater rocks, had gear to me within 3 days - was gigging with it by the weekend, refreshing! Great service, great products, will do this again...
by Guy from Denver from Denver on
Music background: 40+ years and still gigging...

Better than amp + mic in my situation

I usually use a fender or mesa amp + sm57. In many cases it is less than idea. I own a boss katana that has a line/recording out with speaker simulation that i always found lacking just a bit. It got 85%-90% of the way, but that last 10% was a deal breaker.

Recently I sent the Boss Katana recording out to the Redbox 5, and then direct to FOH > Ahhhhh. Exactly what i was looking for.

Better and more consistent than a mic in my case. Subtle, but real difference. Event the switches on the unit are handy, just remember that they are adjusting the SPEAKER response/type and not an eq knob. Yes the switches do have some effect on eq, but i find that is the wrong way to think about the switches.

Bottom line... the Redbox 5 turned an unusable option into my goto option for most live situations at an extremely reasonable price. Highly recommended.

Just don't expect the redbox 5 output to sound just like your amp speaker. Anyone who has swapped a speaker and regretted it, or spent significant time re-dialing in their tone knows that no speaker (if two speakers of the same exact model) sounds exactly the same. Why would anyone expect this from the redbox 5. It has it's own sound. It's effective. It sounds good. Be willing to listen with open ears, and expect to make some adjustments to get the sound you want.
by Sam from UT on
Music background: Gig about twice a month
See also: Attenuators, Hughes & Kettner, Hughes & Kettner Direct Boxes, Hughes & Kettner Attenuators & Simulators
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