(Disclaimer: This is by no means an apples to apples comparison, but more of a, "my needs have changed and will I be happy with a Stagebug?" conversation.)
I've been using a Tech21 VTBassDI for several years. Long story short, I'm switching a lot of things out in my pedalboard, and now only use the VTDI as a passive (well, active but bypassed) direct box. A couple of days ago, I got my Stagebug SB-2 in the mail. When I first plugged it in, I was both incredibly thrilled and incredibly disappointed. I was thrilled that it was DEAD quiet compared to the VTDI. No hum or hiss at all, while the VTDI did hiss quite a bit in comparison. But then I depressed the ground lift switch on the VTDI, and found it ALSO to be just as quiet in my headphones. I don't know why I never thought to try that before. The electrical system in my house is old, ungrounded and incredibly noisy. I never thought to use the ground lift because I'm a dumdum. So now I have two options that are both very quiet. But I found that the VT sounded so much louder, fuller and richer than the Stagebug.
Then it dawned on me that it wasn't a fair contest because I was comparing a passive DI (the radial) to an active one. And in most of the DI shootouts that I've listened to lately, the active ones sounded more lively and more pristine. But once I raised the outputs of my preamp/EQ and upped the volume on my Rolls PM50 - through which I'm monitoring everything - so that the volume of the Stagebug was more comparable to where the VT bass' level is, it sounds very, very similar to the VTDI. I went back and forth (and back and forth and back and forth . . . and then back and forth a few more times) between the Stagebug and VTDI many times, adjusting levels accordingly, and there is negligible difference between the two. If anything, I think the Stagebug might dull the highs (like, the really high, "glassy sounding" highs) just a little compared to the VT, and it makes things sound a little smoother. But I'm fine with that. It is described by Radial as having a more vintage tone which would well suit basses and keyboards. I didn't want a DI with super pristine, very "high-endey" tone. I wanted more warmth. When I listened to a shoot out of the JDI vs the ProDI, the JDI sounded more pristine and glassy, while I preferred the sound of the ProDI, Jensen transformer or no.
So the Stagebug will free up some space on my nano board, and will also free up a power supply spot, and it sounds great. It's definitely a winner to me.
