DI Boxes vs. Line Isolators | What's The Difference and Does It Matter?

If this is a debate you have not gotten sucked into yet, congrats to you. The new line isolator boxes from Pinstripe and Walrus have taken the guitar modeler world by storm, and people have Opinions about them.

But what's the difference between these new objects and the DI boxes that live sound professionals have been using for sixty years? And is switching to one of these new line isolators really going to improve your sound?

Featured here: the Walrus Audio Canvas and the Radial ProD2. The amp modeler I'm using is the Strymon Iridium set to the Chime model, though these units work with any of the other competitors (Line 6 Helix, Walrus ACS1, Universal Audio Ruby) too.

Guitar is a Fender JA-90 Jim Adkins Telecaster, and the drive pedals I use are the Paul Cochrane Timmy and the Mojo Hand Rook, if you need to know.

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Unless I state otherwise in the video, everything I test out on here is stuff that I bought myself. There are no paid reviews on this channel and only a couple times have I ever had items sent to me for review. All opinions are my own!

AMAZON LINKS FOR THE GEAR IN THIS VIDEO:
(These are affiliate links so if you buy something, I may earn a small commission)

Strymon Iridium: https://amzn.to/3E5WduM
Walrus Canvas Line Isolator / DI: https://amzn.to/3IppseM
Radial ProDI: https://amzn.to/40XfsAQ

My guitar is a Fender JA-90: https://amzn.to/3Kd9LJ7

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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:24 What is a DI Box?
2:55 What is a Line Isolator?
6:46 The Internet Has Opinions
8:51 The Level Difference
11:02 But Do They SOUND Different?
14:12 DI versus DI
15:28 Concluding Remarks