Okay, here's the deal...

In the comments section of the entry on my PCBs, Lindon ponders on the following theme:
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Whats that “Groove Tubes” *thing* in the background!?….grief and you complain about Mackie gear…I’m hoping its just some crummy catalogue they sent you or its ironicly being used as additional wrapping on you PCB’s….otherwise my faith will have taken a dent. :-)_

Here’s what happened: I went in to Guitar Center (gasp, choke) to pick up some other shit, and saw that they were blowing the Groove Tubes Ditto Box out for $89. I figured “well, I always could use another DI. How bad could it be?”

The answer is “so shitty, you can’t even sell it without feeling bad about it.” It would actually be all right if it weren’t for the nagging buzz/hum/hiss/whatever that completely overwhelms everything you run through it. That, and the fact that it generally sounds like roasted dog shit.

The thing is that I keep my studio on the chilly side. If I need to play keys, I have to warm my hands up. And as it turns out, aside from its other failings, the Groove Tubes Ditto Box makes a hell of a heater. God’s honest truth, the only use I’ve found for this thing is to warm my hands. I’ve read good things about the Vipre, and that other t00b-a-thon they just released looks not bad, but the Ditto Box is one of the most amazing pieces of crap I’ve ever run a signal through. A Whirlwind Imp would be a better choice for DI than this.