The Samson MDA1 is an active direct box that provides a flat frequency response regardless of the source impedance, making it the right choice for instruments with passive pickups where a passive DI might roll off the high end. Acoustic guitars with piezo pickups, passive bass guitars, and vintage instruments all benefit from the active circuitry preserving their full frequency range.

It runs on either a 9V battery or 48V phantom power from the mixer, so you always have a power option available. The 1/4-inch input and thru, balanced XLR output, ground lift switch, and rugged metal construction cover the essentials. If you've noticed your passive bass or acoustic sounding dull through a passive DI, the MDA1's active buffer circuit solves that problem while keeping the signal clean and noise-free all the way to the board.