ART DUALZDirect 2-channel Passive Direct Box Reviews

I have run many ART products over the years (active/passive DI's, cable tester, splitters etc). Great products, solid build, always works, reasonably priced.

Other user reviews say that this is a decent passive D. I. for live venues with no indication of hum or noise. Some grievances say the lettering is small and dark, and the 1/4" jacks are too close together for plugs with big barrels, 90° head, or even a Square Plug SP400. Indeed the concerns are valid but resolvable. Somewhat large and weighty to put in a pocket for venues that have no D. I.s, but a small sacrifice for a unit that is study, reliable, accurate, noiseless, and stereo/two channel with independent controls. These days too many indie and pop-up venues don't have D. I.s, so it's another device to pack in. In fact, I put it on a Pedaltrain Nano to assure it makes its way to the venue.

It's an inexpensive passive stereo DI that works well. I'd say it's a great value.

I've been using this ART 2-channel direct box for about a year and have been very pleased. It helps me separate the stereo channel coming from a laptop or tablet (running enhancement loops or tracks) so I can send music to the house and click to the musicians on stage. I tried this as an alternative to pricier models and have loved it! Very solid. No need to buy the more expensive options!

Within minutes of connecting between a pc and Yamaha m7cl-32, my hiss and hum was gone!! Bought to replace a dual line active direct box that went bad. Connected and played with a few of the switches on the box until the noise went away. Works exactly how i was hoping! Plenty of options to select to tailor to different setups.

The ART DUALZDIRECT 2-channel passive direct box is a gem. It works well, has low noise and is perfect for my application. I am using it for our Rolland V drum set at our church. The thru plugs allow me to link the sound from the drum module into a small mixer in addition to feeding it into the main sound system. The small mixer receives the drum audio as well as a monitor mix from the main system which then feeds into a couple of studio reference speakers which provide the drummer a nice stereo monitor that makes the drums sound more like an acoustic drum set. The compact size means that there isn't an unsightly mess of extra equipment sitting around either. Win, Win, Win!

This product works great! Well build and feels like a durable expensive product.

Thanks to Frank Gerdts for always help me with all my orders since my first purchase with sweetwater!

Worked great! Useful controls!
Solid body, bottoms functioned well, feels like a sturdy unit.
Only concern is lettering colors make it hard to read.

Just what I needed before my session. Worked great. Used in conjunction with Behringer board for 1/4 inch inputs. Thanks again guys! P. S. Send more candy!

I have been in bands a long time and had home recording set ups for 35 yrs.. Sometimes you can not go for budget items but this unit works great for me. When I record a fresh song and want a drum track I can run a guitar and bass(Me) through the 2 channel Art and voila a great headphone sound for the drummer. I recommend this to all home recording studios.

Does exactly what its described and at an amazing price.
Purchased to remove unwanted noise, and for the filter functionality on each input. Its not really going to give you any amplification so running this into a decent mic -pre is important.

A must for live keyboard players that want to run through the house PA system like myself, as most digital keyboards have unbalanced outputs. This little box by ART holds it ground (VERY sturdy construction, you could run this thing over with a semi) and does exactly what it's supposed to do, allowing you to run cables long distances without any noise/hum.

I have yet to mess with the ground loop/phase shift switches, because I haven't even had to use them yet. This direct box is completely easy, and could be described as "plug and play." Right from the box, I plugged my Korg Triton Studio into the front 1/4" inputs (I like to plug L (mono) into INPUT 1, and R into INPUT 2. You can then run the XLR outputs (OUTPUT 1 and OUTPUT 2, respectively) to the L & R mixer inputs.

Oh, and let's not forget... It's only $40!!!!!!!!

A big thanks to Patrick Dennis, my Sales Engineer for hooking me up with this little guy, it has invaluable since the day I got it. In fact, as I write this, I'm thinking about how I will be using it at an outdoor weekend gig tomorrow!

Compact, well built, easy to setup and use and did exactly what I needed. Had problems with my studio speakers and needed to eliminate the noise only in those speakers. Worked like a charm! For the price IMO it can't be beat.

I have used a few different varieties or these, seems like the cheaper ones are always noisier, not the case with this little guy. For the price I don't think ti can be matched

I use this box mostly for instruments like keyboards and it works like a champ. The build quality is also great too.
But I had to knock off a full star because of the terrible dark purple labels used for the input and output jacks. It's almost impossible to read even with reasonable lighting. White labels for EVERYTHING would have been the right choice.

This product could almost be a 5 star, as it does the job its supposed to for literally a fraction of some competitors. I will say the criticisms about the read-ability of the markings that I read before ordering are entirely on point. Purple text on black, Seriously? Its barely legible in daylight and completely useless on the dark stage at a bar gig, or even a less than brightly lit studio. Just a dumb, likely marketing driven, decision. White lettering for the switches and the thing gets at least 1/2 star higher rating, though maybe 5 Star "blown away" is not something I'd say about a product like a DI Box. As it is, I'll be making up some labels of my own, so I can avoid any hook up issues and expect this box will meet my needs for the foreseeable future.

nice little DI box,does the job

Great Stereo DI boxes. Better than most because there is a ground lift on EACH channel.

I use the Art DualZdirect to connect My Mac which I use Mainstage on to conntect to the FOH mixer. Great Price! Work Great No Problem! Happy Camper!

I am using this DI to connect the output from the soundcard on a PC to an ashley line level mixer at our church. Even though the mixer can take unbalanced signals, and the cable was not that long between the PC and mixer; without this device we had a lot of hum and noise using audio from the computer.

I previously had looked at more expensive solutions but finally found this passive stereo direct box which greatly improved the sound. There is still some background noise, but it is far below the signal level and could be from the PC/soundcard itself. I'm happy. I don't have to try to EQ out the higher frequency noise that use to drive me crazy.

This unit is priced right and has the features commonly needed. Well built and weighs enough to stay put when twisted mic cords are attached. Sonically, it performs just fine.
My only complaint is the small, dark labeling on the unit. First time using it, I was trying to make connections on a dimly lit stage in a hurry during a band changeover. I had to use my phone light to identify the connections. Had the labeling been larger and in white print, there'd of been no problem. I plan to paint on connection labels or at least left and right identifiers.

I can recommend this unit as a fine value and I would buy again.

This is a good unit. Does the trick. However, one down side, is that the input and thru jacks are so close together, if you have cables with a bulky connector head, they actually don't fit well. We bought this with two "Lead" brand 1/4" cables and the cables don't fit side by side into the connectors. So be careful of that! Otherwise, yes it's a great unit with lots of good options on it and seems pretty rugged.

This is a great sounding, clean, lightweight, compact, full featured, well built stereo direct box that I can't read a word written on it on a dark stage. Even with a flashlight the lettering is just plain hard to see. It is still the best option for the price. I just had to mark the ins and outs so I could plug everything in correctly without being able to read the small print. Other than that I love it.