MDA1 Mono Active Direct Box

I've been wanting a J48 for a long time, but the $200 price tag has kept it out of my and many others reach for years... Enter Samson like a tank thru a guitar store with the venerable MDA1 Active DI! This thing is a road worthy beast, and just as heavy duty as a J48, but is more simplistic, and at $35 bones this thing is a steal for anyone who wants to direct inject into their I/O. The bad ass ground lift switch killed my hum problem too! After having the J48 shoved in my face for years, I just had to crack the case and see what was under the hood of the MDA1 (see images, J48 posted for comparison), and I am very impressed, not with just the heavy duty steel case, but with the very clean solder work and quality 100v/50v caps within it. This is not a generic DI by no means, and it is comparable to Radials $100+ DI's. Works just like a J48, but without all the bells and whistles you don't really need, or will never really use unless your doing an opening gig for Metallica! I tested it on my I/O and it runs off the phantom power, or you can pop in a 9v on stage. Sound is clean, no coloration, and true bypass too! Pound for pound against the J48, the MDA1 stomps a mud hole in the J48's ass when it comes to price vs. performance! The Samson MDA1 will get the job done just as well, and save your wallet from a brand name ass kicking!... Don't hesitate... Get one, or two, before their gone! UPDATE; 5.27.21 Had to order another one of these Samson DI's... The one I reviewed here is still going strong since I bought it a little over three years ago. Does the same dam thing all the other high priced DI Boxes do, I eventually got a used J48 and I can't tell the difference between the two in a DAW or Live pass thru... Clean amp signals to my I/O and DAW, haven't had any problems whatsoever with it. Runs right into the stage mixer no issues. Don't buy hype! Buy a SAMSON!

Performed perfectly

Easy to use. Has all the important features. I like the attenuation pad switch and the on/off button for the active circuit powered by an onboard 9v battery. It still outputs thru the unit to my guitar amp when the active XLR output to the PA is switched off with the button. The sound quality is great and the unit is mostly quiet and free of PA 'pops', if you pay attention and don't start yanking on things while the PA is hot. Connections along the chain to the power amp of the PA are sensitive. Disconnecting a reverb pedal from a hot PA input line might cause a booming sound like kicking an old Fender amp with an inboard reverb tank while turned up. A loud and expensive sounding sound erupts! You have to be careful. I can see people taping the cable connections. You have to pay attention before unplugging your guitar. Turn off the PA. Switch off the active direct box. Avoid more than a couple connected effects pedals because those patch cable connection are susceptible to easily triggering popping in the PA. Very loud mini shorts actually. Happens when tiny sparks jump around at the sites of cable connections. You can't actually see these sparks. They occur in the electrical circuit at the jack site interfaces.

solid product for the price

I've been needing a direct box for about a year now and decided to get this around black Friday to hold me over until I could get a Radial Direct Box. Now that I've started using it, I might just use this as my main Direct box from now on. It's relatively well built and feel extremely sturdy for the price, and I haven't had a issue with it even during heavy usage. Considering recommending this to me friends for there first Direct Box.

Works great. This actually has less noise than the audio interface guitar selector. So I now use this for line in on the audio interface vs selecting guitar on the input selector. Much better!

Excellent Direct Bod. Works to send Guitar signal through a mixer. However, it seems to need the POWER ON when used WITH or WITHOUT an amp.

Ordered December 8, 2024, it took 20 days to be delivered. This was after being ordered with Amazon prime, next day delivery. The Samson active DI box does work and sound wonderful. Our direct to board instruments sound very nice. The Samson active DI replaced some old school transformer DI boxes.