I have to admit that my primary use of preamps is the DI. DI's have been fantastic for me as a bass player. No noise complaints and I can re-amp things later if I want an amp sound. So I wish more companies would do this and make their products more accessible to bass players and synth players. This DI is very good, but I don't like it best with all of my basses - I think it will be something of a specialized purpose for me. But for that purpose, this DI sounds excellent. My jazz bass with active EMGs and very worn in flats has never sounded so good. With the fat turned up, and the high shelf off it has a very nice Motown kind of vibe to it. But, I can also get a nice crisp sound with the high shelf 'on' that has more note definition. It sounds great with a plectrum as well. The DI is new to me, but I also have used it on a Moog DFAM. It sounds really good and fat through this DI. I'm grateful to have it. I suppose an argument can be made to just shell out the difference and have the versatility of a mic preamp, but this is a bit of an underrated bargain and a sleeper. It may not be for everyone and it's not my most versatile DI, but the above scenario is worth the price of admission for me.

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I'm a producer and engineer but as an instrumentalist, I get most of my work as a bassist. I've generally been skeptical of DI-only recording because it just lacks some of the magic an amp gives you. Decided to finally get serious about DI and bought this and I may never go back to micing an amp. It really is that good. The few tone controls are more than enough to sculpt the sound and it's impossible to get a bad sound out of this. As other people said, if you can gain stage in a way that allows you to drive this thing a little bit, that's where the magic happens. I really need to get a second so I can begin tracking stereo sources.

My only caveat - this thing is expensive for what is, at the end of the day, a DI box. If you're a newbie, your money is probably better spent elsewhere. But if you are at the point where you are ready to drop real money on a DI, this thing is the real deal.

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I have the Rupert Neve 5060 center piece they are known for the transformer and much warmth , on the other her hand the API has a huge transformer on it as well but give a different kind of warmth but add a bit more clarity with the warm, the fatter function is amazing the high function is superb the API gives you more punch and is great for drums percussions pianos and vocals I'm not saying it's better than the Rupert Neve sound. It's different and I use both on different projects

This thing sounds awesome! I have an MPC Key 61, Novation Bass Station II, Roland Jupiter X, and Prophet 10 all going through 6 of these in an API 500 series Lunch Box. The way you can dial in the tone you're looking for is legit. The magic happens when you drive the gain up just enough to get that saturation/distortion. I also own software plug-in emulations of some of the most iconic API gear, and now that I actually own API hardware, I can definitely hear the difference. The plug-ins come very close to "that sound", but the hardware delivers a tone that's truly amazing.

I replaced an Avalon U5 with this API unit. I am happy I did. The API has more punch and mojo, and is much more intuitive in use. With recording gear one of the questions that I ask first is "how much noise does this add to my signal chain?". This unit doesn't add any noise. It is clean and quiet just like pro level equipment should be. I mostly use it with my Ernie Ball Bongo, but I've used it with my electric guitars as well, both with results that I've been thrilled with. I will eventually add one more of these to my chasis.

I'm sure this DI is awesome on pretty much anything you run through it... but at this point, bass guitar has been what I've used it for. AND IT's AWESOME! Clean, fat, tight... I'm blown away.

This preamp is great and has more tone options than I should expect from a DI. It has plenty of gain and will be used regularly for keyboards and drum machines in my setup. The thin/phat tone control makes it perfect for getting your tone just right before recording. This API is worth every penny. I own two.