Radial ProDI 1-channel Passive Instrument Direct Box Reviews

I purchased this to act as a DI between my modelling pedal board, the sound board, and my stage speaker for live shows (I no longer use an amp)... The stage speaker has a XLR out (Bose 812), but the tone of the Bose is far too colored to act as the signal that should go to the board.
This is not my first and only Radial DI, I use the PRO DI 2 as well for some of my acoustic guitars. The passive nature of these units is really clean and exactly what you want the sound tech to get and exactly what the sound tech wants to get in terms of signal. Very simple equation... everyone is happy... and the audience gets to hear your instruments without compromise.
They are built like tanks and the circuitry allows for an unencumbered signal. I would recommend a Radial PRO DI 1 or DI 2 to any musician that likes to have just a little more control when playing rooms where you share the responsibility of good tone with a sound tech.
And as always... Thanks to Bob Furlong, my Sweetwater service tech for the help!

Got this on a Wednesday, hooked it up at an event the next day, played the event Saturday.... absolutely no trouble and super easy. Great sound.

Best DI I've ever used. Using them in my home studio and at church. Only DI's I use.

Simple, well built, rugged. Clear soumd- great value!

I have been using Radial DI's as far as I can remember. This one replaced the cheap DI box for the keyboard at church. We had loud hums, loud buzzes and could not figure it out until we replaced the DI. I would not settle for any other DI box but Radial. All problems were gone once I plugged this in.

We use these for Church Band and are very happy with them.

Works as advertised!

I've used this as a DI for my band's "silent stage" setup for about 5 years. Our sound man recommended this one. He said he tried others but they died. I've been using this DI on my pedal board without issue.

Absolutely satisfied! Upgraded to this over a Live Wire SPDI. Don't let the reviews fool you, you really do get what you pay for. This Radial ProDI is infinitely superior. The ground loop button works fine, which is great for my noisy rig. It's a confidence booster to have equipment you can count on.

I recently purchased a Boss Blues Cube Artist which has quarter direct out. I learned quickly it generates a lot of noise when connecting it to the church PA system, which of course did not go over well with the congregation. I explained my situation to Kyle at Sweetwater and made the purchase at his recommendation. I could not be happier. The Radial works as advertised. Clear tone and no more noise!
Thanks again Kyle!

I have always used Radial DI Boxes when I can for just about any application, and this particular DI is one of my favorites. Its a good value for the money and always performs well. I highly recommend this DI Box as well as the Radial JDI and/or J48 for all of your DI box needs.

Great signal treatment and easy to use.

This DI came highly recommended by an excellent and experienced full time sound engineer. I've only used it once, and it worked perfectly.

First, Sweetwater's service and shipping was exceptional as always. Thank-you Riley K.

I recently bought two Radial ProDI units for our church, one for the electric drum set and another for the bass rig, to go straight to FOH. We already had a Radial JDI unit on the keyboard, so I had expectations of what Radial's products would be like.

These ProDI units did not disappoint. The sound was clear and present. Both instruments sounded just as they should. The Pad button actually reduced the signal for the drum set perfectly. The ground lift is there if you need to get rid of a ground loop. The "thru" option works well if you wish to have an amp on stage as a monitor. They are both built really well and I'm confident even rough handling will not be problem.

I will admit my experience with other brands is limited. But having had experience with Radials products, I can't see going to anything else. I know the temptation is there to save a couple bucks on a piece of equipment that does its job by not ever being noticed. But I would to hate to spend half as much and be frustrated by a product that interfered with our sound.

I play bass with active pickups, so I needed this passive DI to run the signal to the mixing board. I finally got to use it this past weekend, and the Radial ProDI worked as advertised. I had a great sound, and the group loop button immediately removed the "buzz" I was hearing. Highly recommend.

Lots of headroom compared to others. Strong and reliable too.

I've only had it about two weeks and used it a couple of times, but so far very impressed. Works well for recording into my audio interface, but it really came in handy at a gig this past Saturday night. The sound person at the venue let me run her XLR cord from my Radial Pro DI into her system, and I used the "thru" output to also run my signal into my amp, which served as my stage monitor. Really worked well. Sounded great from both sources. From its heft I can tell it's very well made. Thanks to Sweetwater sales engineer Forrest Powell for his help with this recommendation and purchase,

Clean sound, built like a tank. Extremely quiet output if you want it to be. Everything you need to make sure your performance was captured properly.

Does what it should at a great price.

Pro gear in every aspect. Rugged, simple design and no power required. I use it to feed my passive bass direct to the board. No complaints so far; plenty of signal with no noise. A must have for any performing bass player, acoustic guitarist, and keyboardist (would want to upgrade to the two channel version). Soundmen should have a crate full of these.

This little direct box gets the job done at a very affordable price.

These little jewels are perfect for cleaning up the signal and removing that irritating line noise. Put this on both my Moog (mono) and Yamaha MODX (stereo) and the input is super clean.

This little box does exactly as advertised. Great direct box.

I do a "one man" show with acoustic guitar running through a QSC Touchmix and K10.2 speaker, this enhanced my sound my my Martin OM-28 with a Fishman Matrix Infinity pick up in it. Made the sound, louder, richer and fuller. Will always use one of these now. Also, my sales engineer Cristian Good is awesome, makes me always come back to Sweetwater.

Context: I play electric bass and use this DI box to send the signal from my pedal board to wherever it needs to go.

I bought this to eliminate hum and noise being picked up through a long instrument cable. I wanted to switch to a balanced cable from an instrument cable (TS). I loved that this box was passive -- it doesn't consume a power out from my pedal board's power supply.

The XLR cable definitely eliminated the noise problem, but it does have a lower gain signal at the mxier board. Specifically, the instrument cable connection requires a gain at the mixer board of +30db and with the XLR cable I need to up the gain to +45db. (Maybe an active version would address that, but I'm happy with this passive DI.)

The unexpected nice feature that I didn't think I'd need is the ground lift switch. In some setups I've encountered a ground loop, and the ground lift switch just makes that go away.

As it should be, no annoying noises when used.

I've always heard Radial made some great products, but this was the first time I bought and used one. A bit more than I normally would want to pay for a DI, but if you're a pro...get it. I think I could actually throw this against a wall or have a car run over it and it would still work.

I've really never seen any box or pedal made with material this thick. And, all the jacks, buttons, etc., are recessed enough that you could drop it on any flat surface from about any height and you could expect it to work. Well done, Radial!

To make log story short, I'm ABSOLUTELY happy. Great quality, reasonable value.
Strongly recommend.

You just can't go wrong with a Radial DI. Totally clean sound.

perfect tool if you need a DI

Now that we are using these for our acoustic guitars, the sound is awesome and we have eliminated the squealing problem when we tried to push the volume.

Perfect item

I had tried recording bass via a cheap DI a few years back and was very unhappy with the results. This time I bit the bullet and bought quality. What a difference! It made a bass track (first time using it) I was working on full / round and sit just right in the mix, no eq required. Can't wait to try it on guitar. Great great product!

+ Excellent,solid, tough construction
+ Does not pick up noise like some others do (great shielding)
+ Padded bottom helps it stay where you put it
+ That lip around the edge helps protect the little push-button switch from getting stepped on (the lip is a nice design feature, but maybe a better switch would also be a good idea - rocker switch))

- This costs a little more than many other brands, but it is built like a tank and performs very well (you get what you pay for)

Note: I purchased the passive version (I have no experience with the active, version ... that requires power)

Recommend: Yes. I plan to purchase another -- when I next need one.

I've only used it a couple of times on a recording job recording a band. Used it on the bass guitar and it worked like a champ. I can just feel and see the quality of this unit. It was quite, no extra noise, clear tone. It just works, and works good. I'm stickin' with Radial. Marc Trainor.

quality product, very pleased

Another great solution recommended by my Sweetwater Engineer, Ed Nystrom! Have used less expensive Di boxes in the past. This one does not impact the quality of the guitar tone. Very nice! I will be getting another soon.

Really outstanding bang for buck. I have purchased 3 so far. Yes, the Radial JDI is better though some debate as to twice as good per price. I own a JDI for its ability to handle a speaker level signal. The ProDI is at a very sweet spot for price/performance. Outstanding for church PA use as it is simple, hard to kill, and does not need phantom power. Its improvement over the usual cheap DI's folks get is painfully obvious once heard. Anybody can hear the difference! This is not some esoteric tiny audio nuance thing, the change is huge.

The church already had assorted low budget direct boxes. One was used on a Yamaha electronic drums and one on the main Yamaha keyboard. After changing to the Radial Pro DI on the drums, the kick drum became punchier and the paper fwack was more realistic. The worship leader playing the Yamaha keyboard commented how the sound in practice was great. When asked, she said that the keyboard was clearer. The sound from these direct boxes is worth the extra cost.

I had been using the ProCo CB-1 for my acoustic guitar direct. Switched over to the ProDI and was really impressed. Kind of like getting a new guitar for $100.

I'll admit I was a little skeptical of the glowing reviews - I mean, it's a DI - what's the big deal? Is there a noticeable difference in sound?
Lets find out.
I recently put together a small, high quality PA system and I noticed that my acoustic guitar sounded a little thin and lacking through my otherwise excellent sounding speakers. The DI that I was using was an inexpensive unit that was about 15 years old, so I did my research and came across the Radial Pro DI. Now, I don't mind spending money for good stuff, but I expect to get my money's worth when I do, so I ordered the Radial Pro and A/B'd it with my other DI - and I was gonna be not-too-happy if I could not hear a significant difference.
The result? When I plugged into the Radial, the sound was full bodied, and the difference was significant and obvious - I got all the sound back that I was missing! Lesson learned: don't play a $1000 guitar through a $25 DI. I will be buying more for the rest of my system.

These things are tanks. Great clean quality. I have repurposed all my whirlwind IMP's as doorstops.

I plugged it in and it sounded better then I thought it ever would. I was blown away. Perfect for just about anything I drop it on.

Let's face it, a DI box is not the sexiest thing you can buy. They usually get buried under a pile of cables or stuffed in a rack. A they're pretty much all the same, right? Especially passive DIs...there's just not that much going on inside them. At least, that's been my thinking for years.

I've had a couple of Whirlwind Commander DIs I've been using since the 80's. They've never failed me, and I though they sounded pretty good. And at the time I bought 'em, they were pretty much the darlings of passive DIs.

Fast forward to 2014. I had been loaning a band mate one of those Commanders for sometime, and had need for it back. He told me to order him a replacement and swap 'em out. After having previous experience with Radial gear, knowing that it's built like a tank, and seeing them on pretty much every major tour out there I felt good about using the ProDI.

When it came it, I was impressed with the fit, finish, and heft of the box. The ground life and attenuation switches felt solid, as did the 1/4" connections. This thing could probably survive getting run over by a fork lift (note: I take no responsibility if you decide to test that theory).

We got it installed in the bass rack, and at the next gig line checked it through the PA. Holy smokes!!!! Where did that bottom octave come from? I swear, it was like disengaging a high pass filter somewhere in the signal chain...we had never heard low end coming off the bass like that before. And not a sloppy, loose low end. Smooth, tight, defined...just the way it should be.

Just goes to show you how much the transformer in a passive DI affects the tone. This was just night and day.

Do yourself a favor next time you need a passive DI...spend a few extra bucks and spring for the ProDI. It's the best tone for the buck out there!

...that other DIs fantasize about becoming when they grow up. If you buy a different one you're just gonna wish you bought this one. Solid, sounds great, simple to use.

The sound quality that this direct box provides is impeccable. During rehearsal the church that I mix for found themselves short one Direct Box when we added another guitarist to the team. For rehearsal purposes only we had to have him plug directly into the input on the stage (using a 1/4 inch to xlr cable). The sound was awful! After purchasing a PRO DI and having the acoustic player plug into it the sound quality was drastically better. These DIs not only sound great, but the rugged design and durability is superb. Stop looking at cheaper DIs and buy this one. It is worth the money!

I have always used low priced DI boxes, because I didn't really understand what they did. I just knew I had to convert my guitar signal through one of these to run long distances through the snake... until the sound engineer at a show came up and said, "Use this DI box. I'm getting noise through yours." He handed me the ProDI, and what a difference! I still don't really know how they work, but I do know there is a huge difference. I bought my own!

Never thought our direct boxes were that big of a deal until I went to buy a new one. I thought the $30-$50 ones would give you what you needed. I was so wrong, professional musician friend convinced me to give thie a try, and I'll never go back to cheap DI's. The difference was startling, and actually made me feel really foolish for using the cheap ones for so long. Spend the money, it's a fraction of what your guitar cost and it makes all the difference.

Granted, a DI is usually not considered a "cool" piece of gear. It comes with no effects, and is usually not something you can impress somebody with. But for those who are serious about clean, unaltered sound, then a quality DI is very much in demand.

The Pro DI goes beyond quality, both in sound and construction. These things may literally be bullet-proof! Short of repeated drops from the top of a building onto pavement, one would be hard-pressed to damage the internal components. Also, with the outer "jacket" being slightly larger than the main body, a direct impact to the jacks due to a drop is nearly impossible. Being indestructible, however, means nothing if the sound is bad, but this DI sounds great! They are crystal clear, allowing only the true sound of the instrument pass through.

I replaced three budget DI boxes in my church with three Pro DI units, and the difference was immedeate and drastic. As other reviewers have mentioned, the Jensen-equipped units are probably even better (if that's possible), but for the modest sound system at my church, these are as good as it gets.

Do not hesitate to shell out a few extra dollars on this DI. High dollar instruments and accessories can only sound their best if the DI isn't junk. The Pro DI, however, is aptly named, because it truly is a professional piece of equipment. Highly recommended!

We are using six at church and are ordering more because they are great!

I've used direct boxes before, both in live and studio applications. Usually it's been bass or acoustic guitar. I recently had the need to put a DI on my pedal board since my newest electric guitar has a piezo bridge in it. All I can say is I don't need to take an acoustic guitar with me to gigs any more.

The ProDI is built like a TANK, too! The housing is 14 gauge press-broken steel. Run over it with your car, I dare you. You can't hurt it!

Easily the VERY BEST DI under $100. Possibly the best DI under $200

Thanks to the wonderful delivery guy who left the package in front of my garage door, it got ran over...and it held up and still worked perfect. How's that for durability? Oh yeah, it sounds awesome!!!

I used to use a Behringer DI100 as in some other stores, its got a good reviews. But recently I had to buy another DI box for an active bass guitar, and then i realized how bad was the performance of the DI100. You can get cheaper DI's in the market. But I have learned that it is wise to spend a little bit more money and get better products like this one.
It is a very simple DI box, with no fancy stuff like the Radial JDI. But it will definitely do its job with an amazing quality, without having to break the bank.
It is very easy to use, and your musicians will love it.
You will not get disappointed.

Gives direct input and a pass through input very well. Cleans up the signals very nicely. A must have for home recording!

I love this little DI! It sounds great and is very affordable. And is a definite upgrade from the cheap passive DI's that the church had when I got here. The reason it only gets 4.5 stars is that it just doesn't make as big of a difference to the sound as its big brother, the JDI. The church here has several Pro48's and a bunch of cheap passive boxes, but nothing that is even close to the quality of the ProDI or the JDI. So I picked up one of each, and it has made my life a lot easier as a sound engineer! Again, the 4.5 stars is because it just isn't quite as good as the JDI. But it is right at half the price.

Overall, a great DI. And great bang for the buck. I just like the JDI a little better.

I have only been able to use this product once since I made the purchase. I swapped it out to replace an older model direct box that belonged to the church where I play and the sound quality on my guitar was significantly enhanced. I had suspected that the DI old box was part of a hum problem in the sound system and this Radial Pro DI box really improved the overall quality of my sound while eliminating the humming.

I am getting a good clean sound. Hammond SK1 to a pair of Radial ProDI using stereo. Mic signals to main mixer. Through connections to keyboard amp.

I bought two of these to use in conjunction with a new Mackie board I had to eliminate miced amps in the small recording area I had, in favor of a feedback free direct signal. I know, using a mic is usually considered "the best" way to go, but I needed something else.

These quite simply have everything you need, nothing you don't. They are inexpensive, built to withstand even the worst mistreatment and do exactly what they are supposed to do, with no fidgety tweaking or adjustments required. They really are "plug and play."

Electronic hum and ground noise went from a bit annoying to zero the second I plugged in, and the signal to the board is clean, full and works great for recording. Using older guitars without shielded cavities? This will fix any interference problems that might cause, with no modification to the instrument.

Admittedly, I have not owned them long, but the way they are built I'm not too concerned about durability, and if you read pervious reviews, you won't find any complaints in that area.

I highly recommend these, even just for the casual musician who wants a dead clean/clear signal to their amp or board. Try it; you will like it. You really have nothing to lose as Sweetwater has a fantastic return policy on anything that does not meet your expectations, though this little tool will measure up.

We recently purchased 3 Radial Pro DI boxes and replaced our older less expensive D boxes. Wow, what a difference in sound quality with our guitars and keyboards. As usual, great products, great prices and great support!

Needed a DI box to take out hum noise through a sound system where I work and this was recommended. Worked great so I purchased this one for my personaluse with my acoustic electric and it works great.

this seems like a fine product. i am using it to connect my roland v-drums (TD-10) to an audio interface (for recording) as well as to a keyboard amp (for hearing the drums). the drums have stereo out so i bought two (rather than the pro-d2) in case i later want to re-purpose these, and because i can send one wire left and another wire right. by using the "thru" out to the amp there is never any latency when recording. and the xlr out mates with the audio interface's xlr-in. i am not an expert so maybe there is a better way but this works. also, by using xlr to the interface i can set a good record level, whereas going 1/4 inch from drums to interface would bypass the interface's preamps (my signal level was too low when trying it this way). as others have said, the box seems very strong, i bet you could drive a car over it without damaging the circuits. the sound quality seems fine too, i am using the "lift" button so i guess that interferes with any ground loop that might be going on. perhaps cheaper ones would work but i am happy with these, seems like a good company with some good products.

For a passive DI, I have always thought they were basically the same. I heard so much about the Radial difference, I took the plunge. In a direct A-B comparison at home running into a Roland AC-60 amp up against a trusty Whirlwind IMP 2 (which itself is a very good DI and has all the same basic features), the Radial Pro DI gave a cleaner, louder and "thicker" sound.

At a gig, to specifically test this DI in a real life situation, I used my acoustic guitar with a Fishman Rare Earth Blend PU -- which I normally run through an active Baggs Para DI -- run straight into the board via the Pro DI . (This gig at a multi-act benefit concert did not allow time for a sound check.) I had no hands-on at the sound board --I expect the Radial used a little more gain at the board than an active DI would have. But the sound was warm, full and rich, all with no fuss.

No regrets on this purchase. I expect to be using this more often, especially on those occasions, such as festivals or guest spots, where I need to just plug in and go. I give it a 4.5 instead of 5 only because I wish it were less than 100 bucks!

The combo amp that the bass player in our church worship band uses as a monitor lacks a "line out" to connect to the sound system. With the Radial Pro DI he simply plugs his bass into the input, sending a signal to his monitor via the "Thru" jack, and a balanced signal to the church sound system through the XLR output. Problem solved.

It is a very nice unit. The construction sensibilities impressed me down to the components and PC board used. They are designed to survive considerable abuse and they really do sound good. Lesser units color the signal. Yes, it isn't the Jensen transformer. It sure looks like they sure were inspired by one. It does nice things to keys and is a great improvement over cheap active DI's on things like Pods or electric acoustic outputs.

I'm a Music/Guitar Teacher and Musician/Singer for a local Church here in Saginaw, MI. The Church only had XLR hookups in the Church. By my talk with Charlie Davis for the money we both chose the PRODI Direct Box would do the trick for me. YES! Last Sunday at the Church the sound person and I tried it through the PA at the Church and the sound came thru wonderful. Great sound came thru for my Guild D-55E with the Wavelength Duo pickup with mic. Very happy with this Direct Box. It will serve me well.

Needed a backup box and this is well built and does the job.

Perfect DI for the home studio

This product works like a charm. This direct box makes the
Keyboard clearer and full sounding.

Worth the money.

I bought this to replace another passive direct box that says IMP on it, because I suspected a Radial DI would to a better job. And I was right. The entire band noticed when I put the Radial PRO DI on the keyboard. The guitarist said it was like someone took a blanket off the sound.

I am very pleased with the Radial PRO DI. It sounds great, it's built like a tank, and is affordable. I'm saving up for another one!

Ok...I would have given it 5 points but not the "blown away" part. I chose Radial because I know I will get bullet proof excellence. I'm done buying cheap DI boxes!