The 10 Best Passive DI Boxes For electric Guitar (2023 reviews)
We consider a passive di box for electric guitar to be a worthy investment in the long run.
We are here to help you choose the right one for your needs from all the best available products in market today.
Our review process:
Our Top Picks:
Best overall: Buy: Behringer Passive DI Box For electric Guitar READ REVIEWBest For hooking into A stage snake: Buy: Yovus Passive DI Box For electric Guitar READ REVIEWBest With feedback: Buy: Pyle Passive DI Box For electric Guitar READ REVIEWBest For PRESENTATIONS: Buy: Hosa Passive DI Box For electric Guitar READ REVIEWBest For home recording: Buy: Donner Passive DI Box For electric Guitar READ REVIEWBest For Stereo sources: Buy: Mackie Passive DI Box For electric Guitar READ REVIEWBest With EQ: Buy: LR Baggs Passive DI Box For electric Guitar READ REVIEWBest DI Box: Buy: Radial Engineering Passive DI Box For electric Guitar READ REVIEWBest For signal switching: Buy: Joyo Passive DI Box For electric Guitar READ REVIEWBest For playing worship music: Buy: Rapco Horizon Passive DI Box For electric Guitar READ REVIEWBest overall: Behringer Passive DI Box For electric Guitar
Buy on Amazon Behringer line of box come in a pretty wide variety of styles, so you can definitely find one that suits your individual preferences and needs. While they're not amazing or mind-blowing (this IS just a passive DI box, mind you), they're surprisingly quiet and solid. This load can be a speaker or speaker load simulator, basically what you would normally connect to the amp. It is a passive device and requires no 9v battery to power it up. It is good for new devices, watchout for static on old instruments. The box is passive, so it simply converts the signal from the unbalanced 1/4" cable from your instrument into a balanced xlr output that would then go to an xlr input on your amp. The plating on the connector looks robust.Why We Like This:
- Simple to use and for most applications will deliver excellent results
- Works flawlessly for electric bass/acoustic-electric guitar
- Very nice device, no hum or buzzing when connected, just clean tone
- Excellent for a simple basement setup
Best For hooking into A stage snake: Yovus Passive DI Box For electric Guitar
Buy on Amazon The yovus passive di box for electric guitar should be able to handle its purpose and duties with ease. This DI Box is a good value, well made and has great features. It will get you a signal from your guitar into an interface to record the guitar. It includes a ground lift switch and 2 levels of padding. It will give you any extra volume. There will be knobs (vol, gain, etc and a battery or power source) involved to control the amount of boost. It is a low cost chinese made passive di. It is great for keyboardists, acoustic & electric guitarists, bassists, and other instrumentalists needing to plug into the snake on stage. It is clear that the response of this box is very flat. It is the best economical choice for a direct box.Why We Like This:
- Simple switched resistive attenuator to allow level correction
- Works great as a secondary di box
- One of the new comers and featured product
Best With feedback: Pyle Passive DI Box For electric Guitar
Buy on Amazon We would, of course, be remiss if we didn't mention pyle passive di box for electric guitar for daily purpose. The box is a great little tool that provides attenuation to interface a line or instrument output with a balanced microphone input. It is ultra-compact and housed in a tough, road-ready metal case. It reduces stage clutter, noise and signal loss from long instrument cable runs. The switch is really cheezy mechanically. It allows you to easily connect keyboards, guitars & outboard signal processors. The purpose of this box is to convert unbalanced to balanced for noise reduction. They are a must for noiseless recording. They also come in handy hooking a guitar or bass directly into a mixer by balancing the high output of the guitar or bass into a lower input signal that the mixer can cleanly use.Why We Like This:
- Good, inexpensive and dual in and out
- Excellent to isolate noise and hum from external source
- Works very nicely as a passive di
Best For PRESENTATIONS: Hosa Passive DI Box For electric Guitar
Buy on Amazon Next on the list, we've got yet another box that manages to win our hearts. It's the hosa passive di box for electric guitar and it's widely considered as one of the best convenient box you can buy. It has a design for a di box using a jensen jt-db-e transformer. It's a single, tiny transformer inside the box with no support circuitry. It can be made to work for a mono instrument if coming out of the xlr jack. It's "adequate" if connected just right and you don't need a 1/4" output. This device has a instrument/line input and a Microphone output. This splits the signal cleanly with little appreciable additional noise. They'll even handle an electric piano with very little loss of punch and clarity, which says a lot. The ground switch is handy (not needed on this occasion) and the line/instrument switch does indeed work and make a difference.Why We Like This:
- Absolutely clean and silent operation, no hissing or buzzing
- Low noise, durable, and reasonably priced
- Good product, solid and well built
Best For home recording: Donner Passive DI Box For electric Guitar
Buy on Amazon The donner passive di box for electric guitar should be able to handle its purpose and duties with ease. It is the magic of electromagnetic induction. It is a compact passive direct box that is perfect for guitartbasses and keyboards. The input is connected to a single coil, and this is placed next to 2 coils which connect to the XLR output. This also has the potential to introduce a lot of extra noise when the ground loop switch is not engaged. This is a fantastic DI box, perfect for independent recording. It’s super simple to use and the parallel output makes it useful if you want to run your guitar into a mixer and amp. The ground lift switch is a must and works fine. The sound quality is really good.Why We Like This:
- Well made and built pretty solidly
- Power supply and no battery needed
- More static buzz and no more bass amp
- Inexpensive and straightforward, will definitely recommend to anyone else starting out with home recording
Best For Stereo sources: Mackie Passive DI Box For electric Guitar
Buy on Amazon Mackie has been making great box for years, thanks to a combination of clever design and appropriate materials. Mackie has a strong reputation in the music world, and this well-built little unit does just what its designed to do. An essential tool for every musician and engineer, the mdb-1p passive di has everything you need to adapt unbalanced, high-impedance audio to a balanced, low-impedance output with minimal noise. It features dual 14 high-impedance inputs with thru outputs and. This is an “active” DI box, meaning that it needs a battery or phantom power from the mixer. This is a line-level signal converter to an XLR output. This unit does not require any power. It is available in four different models, and the mdb series will give you the peace of mind that your sound will faithfully get to your audience the way that you hear it on stage. It features switches for polarity, low cut, and ground lift.Why We Like This:
- Very solidly built, quiet, with many useful features
- Tons of flexibility, small enough to fit on a pedal board, and quiet
- Solid, flexible, affordable active direct box
Best With EQ: LR Baggs Passive DI Box For electric Guitar
Buy on Amazon The lr baggs passive di box for electric guitar's high-end materials makes sure that it ages well with use. These guitars are typically hard to get a good balanced sound with just a piezo, but the K&K with the Venue produces a great tone at all volumes. With Taylor's simple bass and treble only EQ on the guitar, the Venue will help you dial in the tone you want quickly. It comes with its all discrete signal path, hi graded semiconductors and exclusive use of audiophile grade film capacitors, the venue di is on par with the world's elite preamps and provides a studio quality sound for the stage. The Sound quality is incredible and has many adjustments. The Tuner function and boost pedal make this a box that all acoustic players in a group should use. It is intended that you send the output signal to a mixer or recording device.Why We Like This:
- Need to be both portable and consistent
- Feels solid, plenty of options and tone shaping features
- Lots of tone control options, and a great tuner
- The absolute best solution for acoustic guitarists
Best DI Box: Radial Engineering Passive DI Box For electric Guitar
Buy on Amazon The radial engineering passive di box for electric guitar should be able to handle its purpose and duties with ease. It really sounds good, natural, and musical. It's the type of great sound that you notice more when it's not there than when it is there. The JDI produces a nice sound over the entire range of the keyboards. It's made of a solid steel case to protect it from damage on stage while at the same time create an "EM cage" to shield the internal electronics from outside interference. This is even more satisfying when running sequences. Passive DIs do not require any addition power source like batteries or AC input. It's a solid workhorse that won't let you down. Day and night difference, this DI box adds virtually no color and sends a clean signal.Why We Like This:
- Great sound, built like a tank
- Sounds great and very natural, no hiss or humming at all
- Fantastic sound, a really transparent di
- Sb-6 isolator to kill the noise spreads from effects
Best For signal switching: Joyo Passive DI Box For electric Guitar
Buy on Amazon Joyo makes beautiful and great box with classic and smartly choosen materials. If you're serious about your music, this is definitely a piece of equipment you should consider adding to your setup. It's like having a superhero on standby, ready to swoop in and tackle any ground loop problems. It's easy to use, versatile, and provides exceptional sound quality. There's no ground buzz or hum present with this box and it provides a VERY clean signal. This unit is very well built. It's used for both performance and recording purposes, making it a great investment for any musician or producer. It's like a Swiss Army knife for musicians, as it accepts both 6.35mm TRRS and XLR connections. There is absolutely no noise introduced, and it fully buffers the input. This is a great solution for achieving the tone in your head.Why We Like This:
- Very well made and works as intended
- Great quality and useful tool in live or recording
- Reamp / active direct, no power required on reamp, works on distorted bass too
- Each switch feels solid when pressed, or when knob is twisted
Best For playing worship music: Rapco Horizon Passive DI Box For electric Guitar
Buy on Amazon If you want nothing but a box that is reliable, this rapco horizon passive di box for electric guitar is certainly a wise investment. It is great for playing worship music through a church pa system on a small budget. It offers reliable input jacks as well as a loop-through 1/4 inch jack. It can be used in reverse to reduce the noise much better than a. There is a transformer between the 1/4 and the xlr male out, so when the guitar/instrument signal enters the 1/4, the transformer changes the signal to Low Impedence. It can be used for running a guitar through the sound system at church. It requires an attenuator, conversion cables and setting the camcorder audio level to MANUAL. It works well and is quite inexpensive. It would highly recommend these for your stereo recording or broadcasting needs when interfacing between a computer and a mixer.Why We Like This:
- Features 1/4 inch input and xlr male output
- Awesome for stereo or duel input/output instruments
- Good brand reputation