Its incredible the mis-information you can get caught up in online

[jgcable]

Simple question... a player wants to send a signal out to the PA from his amp. They don't want to use a traditional mic into a speaker.
So... they ask... "can I use a direct box in between my amp and the speaker cab and use the XLR from the direct box directly into the mixer?

The majority of the responses are NO!!!! You will blow up your amp or you will blow up the PA etc.....

Incredible.

I am running an Orange Micro Terror into a 1 x 12 cab. I have a Behringer Ultra G direct box (with 4 x 12 cabinet emulation and 2 pad switches) in between the amp head and the cabinet. I have an XLR cable plugged into the output of the Ultra G and that cable runs out to the board.
It works perfectly and it sounds great. I use this rig for rehearsals. I can show up at rehearsal with hardly anything and be set up ready to go in 5 minutes. BTW... the Micro Terror is really amazing. I have a Zakk Wylde Overdrive in front of it to punch it in the face a little and that's it.
Plenty of gain, thick mids. Sonically it has everything. Great for rehearsals or back up incase a live amp fails.

[Nightbat]

Just call it a powerbrake or loadbox and they'll come running with the cables

[markD]

I used to do fill-in gigs on bass and my amp was a Fender Bassman 100 head with a Musicman cab with a folded horn (real 70s style, lol). To give the sound guy a DI, I'd run a direct box between the head and cab, like you're doing. Never hurt the amp. Go figure....

[VitaminG]

as long as the head still sees a speaker load, what's the harm? He couldn't just turn up with a head & a DI, but he says he's still running it into a speaker cab so it should be fine. Although I don't think it's going to sound great. Unless he uses some kind of speaker emulation.

[roodyrocker]

We've used the Palmer PDI-09 for exactly what you describe. This little DI box is specifically for guitar and does feature a built it cab sim going out to the PA.

[jgcable]

We've used the Palmer PDI-09 for exactly what you describe. This little DI box is specifically for guitar and does feature a built it cab sim going out to the PA.

I have compared the Palmer to the standard H&K Red Box to the budget Behringer Ultra G and I got to tell you... if it was just for the studio I would go with the Palmer but for live use.. I find it almost impossible to tell the difference between the 3. I actually like the way the Ultra G sounds the best and I usually use it with the 4 x 12 cab emulation turned off. I don't have a single amp that it doesn't sound good with.
I am also using one of those budged Carl's Speaker Soak attenuators. Its a 50w 16 ohm version. One knob. It was extremely inexpensive on Ebay.
It works great and even at pretty extreme attenuation it sounds good. I don't need to attenuate that much live but its nice to give the soundman exactly what he wants when my amp is mic'd. Its usually no more than 6 db.

[catzodellamarina]

I have had the red Behringer for years. We bought the Bose PAS L1's when they first came out and I used the DI with that setup. I overloaded one of the Bose sticks when I picked up the DI and accidentally turned off one of the 10db buttons. Since then I have used a mic on my cab but the DI is still in the band box. It has been used from time to time for guests and acoustic guitar. If I remember correctly, the 9v battery lasts a long time too.