Radial StageBug SB-1 1-channel Active Instrument Direct Box Reviews
Radial's high-performance StageBug SB-1 active DI delivers crystal-clear, full-bodied direct sound from your bass, keyboard, or acoustic guitar. To reduce noise, Radial spec'd the StageBug SB-1 with an ultra-quiet active circuit that converts your signal from high- to low-impedance. Your signal is then buffered and balanced to drive long cable runs. The StageBug SB-1 is 48V phantom-powered, so there's no futzing around with batteries - it's plug-and-play, all the way! Plug in an acoustic guitar and you'll enjoy rich, natural tone with sparkling high end, even with low-output pickups (there's a 15dB pad to handle the hotties). The SB-1 is also great on keyboards and bass. At Sweetwater, we're quite taken with Radial's little StageBug SB-1. We think you will be, too.
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Highest Rated Reviews
Radial Stagebug SB1-1
I own a few of these bitg active and passive. Radial makes top shelf DI's. They work without issue and are built like tanks.
Perfect for acoustic guitar
I tested this with my Bourgeois Signature D with K&K pure mini passive pickup. I went through a Fishman Tonedeq and a few other pedals (pictured below) and then directly thru the Stagebug. My signal was more authentic thru the stagebug directly and went crystal clear to my DAW. Had to do very little to get the sound to its ideal tone shape. This little box is excellent!
Nice compact DI
Used just once but it worked perfectly. Nice and compact, clear signal. 48VDC power is nice. I'd buy another if needed.
Stagebug
I would like to say hats off the Sweetwater this stage bug works great and I am enjoying it so. I love Sweetwater and will continue shopping with them .And the staff is great friendly service and good text service thank you Sweetwater
StageBug for electric bass
Sounds great with a Precision Bass through our praise band PA.
No over abundance of knobs & buttons. As simple as it gets. It"s awesome.
Nitish Kulkarni, again, pointed me to the right product without overspending.
Sounds good, pedal board friendly
I recently started using a joyo ac tone (knock off of tech21 Liverpool) to eliminate carrying an amp to gigs... I found passive direct boxes required the board preamp to be maxed out, so have been using an old active behringer di I've had laying around... sounded fine, but the thing was a tank. I think this is cleaner sounding, very solidly built, has all the features you need, great price, and is tiny and fits great on my pedalboard... would be great to keep in any guitar/bass case or gigbag as well. If your thinking about it, just buy it!
Sounds good, pedal board friendly
I recently started using a joyo ac tone (knock off of tech21 Liverpool) to eliminate carrying an amp to gigs... I found passive direct boxes required the board preamp to be maxed out, so have been using an old active behringer di I've had laying around... sounded fine, but the thing was a tank. I think this is cleaner sounding, very solidly built, has all the features you need, great price, and is tiny and fits great on my pedalboard... would be great to keep in any guitar/bass case or gigbag as well. If your thinking about it, just buy it!
Great DI
The product description sort of glosses over this, but if you need an active DI to buffer a weaker signal (like a passive acoustic pickup) into a signal a soundman can work with, this does that.
The other options for active DI's that will boost a signal like this are either large, expensive, or both.
Solid DI
Awesome DI. Sounds nice and is super compact. These sound great on acoustic and bass guitars.
I wish it had a ground-lift, but the built-in pad is a nice feature. Plus a phase-reverse.
Crisp and clear
Showed up at a gig where we didn't need our equipment which I thought would make things easier. Well it turned out their board didn't accept 1/4" and I needed a direct box. After much research, I settled on the stage bug as a compromise between cost and performance as I thought I'd only use it when "needed". This item showed up and I set it up to test running through my Mackie board with phantom power for the first time. It's now a permanent part of my signal chain and mounted on my pedal board. Unbelievable sound improvement and very simple. My buddy plays through a LR Baggs, I haven't compared for sound quality but the ease of plug and play without constantly "adjusting" is a big win for me.
