Radial J48.
http://www.radialeng.com/re-products.htm
No onboard tone shaping, just a really great sounding active DI with robust signal and clean headroom to spare. I'd been using an inexpensive Horizon Straightline DI at jobs for about a year, which slowly but surely began to get on my last nerve. It didn't sound very clear and was prone to light clipping when I dug in pretty hard with piezo undersaddle systems (especially with acoustic-electric mandolins, which are quite picky by nature).
For the first outing with the Radial DI, the difference was night and day. The signal was so focused, detailed, and clear that my volume (or perceived volume) was drastically different than what I'd gotten used to with the Horizon. My mixer and boost pedal levels were immediately backed down after the first song of the set. Since I dug the Radial, I figured that the Baggs with the additional EQ shaping would be even cooler (and not to be misunderstood, it
IS a good sounding, quality DI). However, I was constantly tweaking the Para DI's knobs to try to get it to sound as good as the simple Radial circuit. Eventually, I had a Homer Simpson revelation and just settled in with the J48. I had similar experiences with the Tech 21 SansAmp Acoustic DI when I gigged with it about five years ago; it had capability of totally bypassing the EQ section, which is what I ultimately wound up doing. In bypassing the tone circuitry, I liked it as a DI quite a bit.
The only time I miss something like a Para DI is when I play my Fender acoustic-electric 12 string live. Its inherent low mids tend to bloom, so some notch capability comes in handy. Otherwise, I really have very limited use for external mids controls with the A/E instruments that I play.
I like the idea of a simple DI that sounds great, as paired with a separate unit that has extensive EQ shaping capabilities that can be bypassed at the stomp of a foot, and I think this tandem approach might be where I'll ultimately wind up going. This EQ/boost is looking pretty good to me:
http://www.empresseffects.com/paraeq.php
I've used lots of garden variety, inexpensive DI's such as Morley and Whirwind, and my opinion is that they mostly sound like the price paid. Not totally bad, not totally great. For the sake of convenience, I used a Peterson StroboStomp as a double duty utility box for a while; I feel that it's a far better tuner than it is a DI, but it does get high marks in the Swiss Army Knife category.
I've seen Demeter tube DI's pretty often at studios.
http://www.demeteramps.com/products/...es/vtdb2b.html
I've cut some split-signal bass and acoustic (-electric) guitar tracks with Demeters, and I've always thought the tones were really warm and pleasing. It's been a long time since I've used a Countryman, but I've always liked them. I did a bass session last year where the signal was split between an old Ampeg SVT and a David Eden pre/DI, which sounded pretty amazing.
There's tons of stuff out there that I haven't tried. I hear really good things about Schertler.
http://www.schertlerusa.com/preamps.htm You can spend anywhere between about twenty bucks and several thousand dollars on this stuff. I'm pretty happy with the Radial for now as a dedicated DI, but I'd like to pick up a Demeter at some point.