Recording - July 2013 - 16

B Y PA U L V N U K J R .

At the last NAMM Show, I was introduced to the Radial Engineering StageBugs
by Radial’s founder, President, and chief
madman Peter Janis. Radial is one of the
world’s foremost makers of DI (Direct Inject)
boxes, with a proud pedigree stretching
back to the classic JDI passive direct box
and now including single, dual, and multichannel units, passive and active, with
many different optional features. They’re all
massively overengineered, built to last forever, great-sounding... and perhaps a tad
pricey for the hobbyist or beginner.
The StageBugs are designed precisely for
the entry-level market: small, well-built, and
marvelously affordable. Each member of the

something you’re into, it also allows you to
split and send your output to an amplifier.) A
recessed ground-lift switch (which works even
on phantom power, no battery needed) is
located on the side of the box; the output side
contains a male XLR output and a
phase/polarity switch. Unlike Radial’s spendier DIs, all of its ins and outs are plastic sockets, but they should stand up fine to daily use.
Internally the SB-1 uses an active buffer
circuit with a phase splitter. A few relevant
specs: Frequency response 20 Hz to 20
kHz, total harmonic distortion under
0.006% at 1 kHz, input impedance of
800 kilohms, output impedance of 330
ohms, dynamic range over 100 dB, equivalent input noise of –101 dBu, and a noise
floor of –97 dBu. While not entirely on par

Radial Engineering
StageBug SB-1 and SB-2 Direct Boxes

stereo source into the Input and Thru jacks
cleanly sums its signal to a mono output!
The SB-2 has a 20 Hz to 20 kHz (± 0.5
dB) frequency response, a 115 dB dynamic range, total harmonic distortion of
0.005% at 1 kHz, a 140 kilohm unbalanced input impedance and a 1 kilohm
balanced output impedance. Again, its
specs are not up to those of the JDI, Radial’s
passive flagship model that uses a Jensen
transformer, but they’re still very impressive.
Putting the Bugs on Stage
It’s hard to say that these boxes sound like
this or like that, because as with any good
DI, both units do their job well and don’t
sound like anything at all. With my Fender
Marcus Miller Signature Jazz Bass, which
features both active and passive pickups,
both units handled the signal well. I really
like the sound of that instrument’s active circuit, so here the SB-2 was the better choice.

Portable personal DI for a wide range of applications
StageBug family shares the same 8.25" x 5"
x 1.75" all-metal enclosure; they’re made of
16-gauge steel with a baked enamel finish
and a nonskid rubber base, and weigh 0.8
lbs. each. There are five models currently
either available or forthcoming, and we had
a chance to start off this Guitar issue’s look at
DIs with a quick test of the first two on the
market: the SB-1 and SB-2.
SB-1
The SB-1 is a +48V phantom-powered
active design; it’s billed as an acoustic DI
created for use with standard acoustic/electric guitars as well as bass. It should not be
confused with the SB-4 (review forthcoming), which is purpose-built for acoustic
instruments with piezoelectric pickups.
The input side of the SB-1 features a –12 dB
pad button, a 1/4" instrument input, and a 1/4"
output marked Tuner, allowing you to have a
tuning device actively in your signal chain
without repatching. (Of course, if tuning is not
16

RECORDING July 2013

with Radial’s flagship JDV and J48 active
direct boxes, these specs are all really
good... certainly superior to those of many
other budget DIs on the market.
SB-2
The SB-2 is a passive design with an isolated Eclipse ET-DB3 transformer. A passive DI is one of those ubiquitous devices
that everyone needs in his bag of tricks for
getting most instruments of a non-miked
variety into the mix, be they keyboards,
basses with active electronics, DJ mixers,
laptops with 1/4" interfaces, and more. You
can use the SB-2 with guitars and basses
that have passive electronics, but the SB-1
is better suited to those instruments.
The SB-2 uses the same layout as the SB-1
with a few alterations. Instead of a phase
function, that button on the SB-2 lifts the
ground. Otherwise all the other ins, outs and
functions are the same, although its pad is
–10 dB. One other nifty feature: plugging a

At my usual live-sound gig, the SB-2 was a
huge step up in sound and build from the
usual cheap fare. It was also nice to have the
active SB-1 for bass, since one of our usual
bass players uses a Danelectro model which
is known for its unique vintage sound, but has
notoriously low output. Smiles all around,
which is what an engineer wants to see.
Conclusion
When I met with Peter Janis at NAMM, he
mentioned that his intent with the StageBugs
was to offer a portable and affordable DI for
pretty much everyone, while still retaining
Radial’s reputation for quality. At such affordable prices, we may just see a swarm of these
little guys! Look for more StageBugs in
upcoming issues, including my current
favorite, the unique SB-5. Stay tuned...
Prices: $80 each
More from: Radial Engineering,
www.radialeng.com

http://www.radialeng.com

Recording - July 2013

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