[Harp-L] Review: Hughes & Kettner Red Box Pro

[Special20 <special20harp@xxxxxxxxx>]

The H&K Red Box is a small DI box that takes your amp's speaker signal
as its input, and converts it to a balanced line-level signal to send
to your PA or recording mixer.  Since the signal is post-power tubes,
you get all the tubey goodness in the sound, unlike many Line Out
signals.  All I own are vintage tube amps with no Line Out at all, so
I was very interested in trying the Red Box

Harp amps often need to be mic'ed, and the Red Box is a good
alternative.  With the Red Box you never get room effects or
bleed-over, and you don't have to futz with the mic placement and
angle to get good tone.  With the Red Box your "mic'ed" tone is
totally repeatable no matter where you play or how much time you have
to set up.  The Red Box needs no batteries or power adapters; it runs
on the phantom power that comes back along the XLR cable from the
mixer.

How does it sound?  I think it sounds great.  It is possible to get a
better sound with the right mic and the perfect mic placement, but not
often.  The Red Box has a speaker cabinet simulation that gives you a
good-to-great sound every time.

First I tried it with a hot-rodded 1970 Fender Champ.  Several months
ago I replaced the Champ's RCA speaker tap with a Switchcraft 1/4 inch
phone plug, so hook-up was easy:  Champ speaker out to "Input" on the
Red Box, the speaker to the "Thru" on the Red Box, and an XLR cable
from the Red Box to the mixer.   The cab sim was switched on.  The Red
Box also has a ground lift switch in case you get some hum.  I warmed
up the tubes on the Champ so I would get a little hair on the notes,
and turned the volume to 6.  I hit "record" on the computer and played
for a while.

The sound on the recording was impressive.  The room I practice/record
in is kind of live and boxy, but the recording had none of that (of
course).  It sounded like a perfectly mic'ed amp, with all the lovely
power tube distortion.  It did not sound exactly like the Champ, which
is one of the best-sounding 5-watt harp amps I have ever heard, but it
sounded very good.

Next I tried it with the Masco ME-18 and 2x10 Avatar cab.  I wanted to
see if the Red Box made it sound the same as the Champ.  No way.  It
reflected all the things I love about the Masco:  Huge bottom end,
less compression, thumping power.  Once again, the Red Box didn't
sound EXACTLY like the Masco and Avatar, but it sounded really, really
good.

I think the H&K Red Box could be a great tool for harp players.  It
makes it a breeze to send a good signal to the PA to augment your tube
amp.  In studios that prefer to use a DI, it sends a better signal
that recognizes your power tubes as an integral piece of your tone
package.  A pro guitar buddy swears by the Red Box, and he persuaded
me to try it.

The street price for the current H&K Red Box is about $120.  I found
mine on eBay for $55.

-Spec20