Whirlwind DI into Alembic preamp

[hotsnake]

Just got a hold of a Whirlwind IMP 2 box.. one of these

IMP 2 - Catalog - Whirlwind

it was lying around our old space and when we moved out nobody claimed it and well, anyways, my question is:

WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS THING DO?

I can't discern much of a difference in tone when i have it plugged in versus not plugged in to my setup: fender jazz bass -> alembic preamp -> crest ca-9 -> ampeg 810.

I know it's not really hurting my tone any, but I figure there must be a good use for this thing. So yeah, what can I do with it? I also run a dirty amp with a bunch of effects, wah, distortion, etc. Maybe it would be better used with this?

[Munjibunga]

It's used to send your signal to the mixing board. There's no need for it in your rig as described.

[bongomania]

+1
It is not an effect or a tone shaper, it is for converting unbalanced signals (like instrument cables) into balanced (like mic cables), and the purpose of that is for sending your signal to a mixer, for PA or recording.