With over half (52.7%) of participants in this month’s MI retailer poll reporting upwards-trending sales when it comes to bass DI boxes, this may well be one of the sleeper-segments of the industry at the moment.
While not necessarily visually striking (in most cases) or especially “cutting-edge” – as a concept, anyway – or “sexy,” DI boxes are pretty darn essential, allowing a bass guitar to be directly connected to a mixing console, PA system, or audio interface while preserving signal quality and reducing noise. “Little” things like signal balancing, impedance matching, and eliminating ground hum may, again, not seem especially exciting, but you try playing a gig in a mid-size or larger room without one!
Read on to learn what trends are shaping this portion of the MI industry in 2025 and what brands are currently producing the good stuff that players and FOH engineers seek.
When compared to this time last year, sales of Bass DI Boxes at your store are…
Up: 52.7%
Down: 18.2%
Level: 29.1%
Most Bass DI Boxes sold at your store are…
Active: 13.3%
Passive: 58.3%
Equally split between Active and Passive DI Boxes: 28.4%
At your store, what brands of bass DI boxes are generating the most profit?
A-Designs: 12%
Aguilar: 49%
Ampeg: 349%
Art: 12%
BAE: 9.3%
BBE: 12%
Behringer: 37.3%
Broughton Audio: 37.3%
Countryman: 62.4%
Darkglass: 49%
Hosa: 12%
IK Multimedia: 9.3%
Jensen: 9.3%
Klark Teknik: 3.5%
LR Baggs: 7%
Lampifier: 3.5%
Livewire: 3.5%
MXR: 37.3%
Mackie: 12%
Palmer Audio: 4.9%
Peavey: 7%
ProCo: 4.9%
Radial Engineering: 68.3%
Rapco: 4.9%
Rupert Neve Designs: 39%
SansAmp: 37.4%
Trace Elliot: 4.9%
Valeton: 7%
Warm Audio: 7%
Have you been noticing any significant trends when it comes to DI box sales or design?
“Most active demand is with the church market.”
Pete Van Alstyne
Pete’s Music Center
Lisle, Illinois
“Nope! Slow trickle of them going out now and then.”
Jason Struble
Sight & Sound Prod, Inc.
Muncie, Indiana
“Valeton, specifically the Dapper bass Mini, is an incredible value in a bass DI box, and it’s also a preamp and a compressor as well as a tuner that sells for $89.”
Jon Hiller
TC3 Music Supply
Metropolis, Illinois
“No longer is a ‘plain.’ DI acceptable. It’s got to have tone shaping qualities – compression, parametric EQ, et cetera.”
Dan D Patterson
Patterson’s Music
Fort Wayne, Alabama
