The 9 Best Stereo Direct Boxes (2023 reviews)

The pyle stereo direct box's material feels more premium than its price would suggest. The box is constructed of very sturdy metal. It reduces stage clutter, noise and signal loss from long instrument cable runs. It provides attenuation to interface a line or instrument output with a balanced microphone input. You can even plug your guitar, bass or keyboard amp’s speaker output into the pdc22, which can handle ratings and still deliver a perfect signal.

The purpose of this box is to convert unbalanced to balanced for noise reduction. It is great for any stereo. It is made of metal, feels sturdy, and the connectors fir snug. They also allow you to set input levels via a switch just in case your input is hot.

Why We Like This:

Clean strong signal and versatile with ground lift and input pads
Works very nicely as a passive di
Good brand reputation

Best For synth: Mackie Stereo Direct Box

Buy on Amazon

Next on the list, we've got yet another box that manages to win our hearts. It's the mackie stereo direct box and it's widely considered as one of the best convenient box you can buy. This is an “active” DI box, meaning that it needs a battery or phantom power from the mixer. This device translates input from each 1/4" input to the associated XLR output. It feels like a solid little box that is well made. If you are using your own board, this is a cool piece of hardware and has a lot of nice features like the 15db pad, the ability to combine two sources or use the second 1/4" jack as a "through" jack.

This last feature is actually very useful not only for driving an amp onstage as a monitor while the low-Z signal goes to the mixer. It is great with no buzz or hum.

Why We Like This:

More buzzing sound from the computer through the mixer console
Tons of flexibility, small enough to fit on a pedal board, and quiet
Lot of satisfied buyers

Best For price: Samson Stereo Direct Box

Buy on Amazon

Samson offers a variety of box for personal choice and yet maintaining quality in all the variants. The MDA1 is a budget friendly direct box. It features a ground lift and runs on either battery or phantom power. It can be used in a country music concert hall. It’s quiet with multiple instruments and amps. It provides an even frequency response on any audio signal you connect to regardless of its output impedance. It’s perfect for tracking with a computer. It’s a neat little device. It’s built like a tank and is inexpensive for what you get.

Why We Like This:

Does not add any noise in the signal
Adds a serious boost to presence
Good brand reputation

Best With headphone out: Whirlwind Stereo Direct Box

Buy on Amazon

The whirlwind stereo direct box should be able to handle its purpose and duties with ease. For a presenter or an A/V tech, it is a clean and classy solution. This DI box converts RCA or 3 mm inputs to XLR output and you can adjust the volume with this DI box. It maintains audio fidelity completely. A single summed xlr output with a switchable ground lift gives you the clear, noise-free sound you need. It is perfectly, without any hiss or hum. The volume knows that balancing the input for a sound check is very simple.

This DI box converts RCA or 3 mm inputs to XLR output is very simple. These are amazing stable and last for years.

Why We Like This:

Connects 1/8 inch and rca components directly
A must for djing or sound reinforcement
One of the new comers and featured product

Best For Live Use: Radial Engineering Stereo Direct Box

Buy on Amazon

We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate box. The radial engineering stereo direct box is exactly that - it's a simple box that hits all the right notes. It is a great resource in helping select the right box and hooking it up correctly. It is a passive direct box for multi-media/audio/video use. This helps when the DI is placed in an area that gets a lot of use, or an uneven surface. The Radial unit works perfectly for these needs easily and the sound quality is great. It is great for live use.

Why We Like This:

Uses the same excellent transformer as the prodi series from radial
One of the new comers and featured product

Best For Ipad: ART Stereo Direct Box

Buy on Amazon

The art stereo direct box is capable of outshining several other box featured in this list in overall features in its price range. Innovative graphic equalizers that actually show you exactly where feedback may occur, and a full complement of cool little useful tools designed for stage and studio, art offers affordable audio solutions that deliver unmatched quality, tone, versatility and reliability. It is designed to take line level inputs (guitar, effects generator, for example) and convert them to a microphone class (balanced) input, so you can play your instruments through a pa system. It can be plugged into a mixer that only has xlr inputs. It's also good to use for having a local amp (fed from the front side passthrough jack) as well as feeding a combined PA amp.

The DualThru jacks also are helpful. It is used to power the di box with internal amplifiers. The dualxdirect provides two independent high quality active interfaces that let you connect instrument, line, or speaker level signals to a mixer or other balanced inputs.

Why We Like This:

Works on 9v battery or phantom power
Very quite and lean sounding direct box
Well built and runs great off of the phantom power from the mixer

Best With Phantom Power: Kopul Stereo Direct Box

Buy on Amazon

We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate box. The kopul stereo direct box is exactly that - it's a simple box that hits all the right notes. This usage lets you split a guitar signal during recording, so you have the amped track in addition to a clean, DI’ed take to use during the mixing stage. It is a stereo, passive di box designed to bridge the gap between consumer-level audio sources and pro audio destinations. These are suitable for instruments such as electric guitars, basses, and keyboards.

It comes with this unit, you can route the audio of instruments, smartphones, tablets, receivers, and more into mixing consoles or pa systems.

Why We Like This:

Isolated transformers & aluminum housing | warm & smooth sound
Good brand reputation

Best For Bass: Radial Stereo Direct Box

Buy on Amazon

The radial stereo direct box is capable of outshining several other box featured in this list in overall features for the price point. The Radial Prod2's warm sound, legendary build quality and compact design have made it the most popular stereo direct box made today. It features two independent channels with separate inputs and thru-puts for the artist's stage amp and two fully isolated outputs for the system. These deliver 20hz to 20khz performance with less than 1.5db deviation above 18khz and are able to withstand tremendous signal levels without distortion.

The Radial products are quiet, reliable, and road-tested. It is a must have for live performances. It is a compact stereo direct box developed specifically to address the needs and challenges of interfacing a stereo keyboard to a professional audio system. It is easy to quickly tell if the switches are in or out.

Why We Like This:

Works very well and passes high quality audio from computers, and instruments
Low distortion and zero phase distortion
Delivers what they promise

Best For playing worship music: Rapco Horizon Stereo Direct Box

Buy on Amazon

We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate box. The rapco horizon stereo direct box is exactly that - it's a simple box that hits all the right notes. 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 stage performance, and home studio. 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.

Their church uses these converters for keyboards, acoustical and electric guitars to play back through the main speakers in the sanctuary. It offers lasting durability and also it is made of heavy duty steel box. 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
Good brand reputation