Pyle PDC22 Dual Direct Box Review

Howdy!

Over the past few years I have done plenty of reviews on direct boxes, with prices ranging from 20 bucks to hundreds of dollars, but the bottom line is that if you plan on plugging your bass or guitar directly into a PA system you are going to need some sort of direct box. Today we are looking at one that just came into Rex and the Bass, and it is one of the better values out there, the Pyle PDC22. This one is a bit different, as it is a dual box that allows two instruments (or one stereo instrument) to be plugged in at the same time.

You may remember Pyle as the company that made those mediocre yet big and thumpy car speakers back in the 1980s. Well, it turns out that nowadays they crank out mediocre yet amazingly low priced pro audio equipment that is generally good enough to get the job done.

The PDC22 is a really handy thing to have around. As this is a passive unit, it is best used on instruments with an onboard preamp (active electronics), and if you have a passive bass, you may want to consider an active direct box

This unit is a bit bigger than your regular DI box, but it is not too huge, measuring approximately 5.5” x 4.75” x 1.5”. It weighs in around a pound and it has a real solid feel to it with a rugged steel chassis. These are made in China, if that makes a difference to you.

This is not a terribly complicated piece of equipment, with two 1/4-inch high impedance input and throughput jacks, two balanced XLR outs, ground lift switches, and 0/-20/-40 dB attenuation switches. That is all, folks!

This DI box is easy to hook up, just plug into the ¼-inch inputs, hook up XLR cables to the outs and run them to the mixing board. If you want you can use the ¼-inch outs to send the signal to your onstage amps/monitors too. If the signals are too hot, the attenuator switches can cut the signals down to more normal levels.

The Pyle PDC22 DI works well, and I do not notice any degradation in tone, although I do hear a slight drop in level. I have even used this unit a few times when I did not really need to so that I could use the ground lift to get rid of some extra signal noise. There is not much to it, but it does everything it is supposed to without any drama. I wish I could say that about more products from Pyle.

Best of all, the Pyle PDC22 dual direct box is dirt cheap. It has a list price of $46.99 and as Amazon price of $19.23, and this includes Pyle’s 1-year warranty. For this price I recommend picking one up and tossing it into your road case, because it really could be handy to have one around.

Mahalo!