Designed for electric guitarists, the Hughes & Kettner Red Box 5 is a compact enclosure in a DI form factor that mimics the tone of speaker cabinets. Thanks to its -26-dB pad switch, it can be used with both line-level signals and speaker signals, making it suitable for implementation with tube amplifiers, solid-state amplifiers, and combo amps of all sorts.
Other switches afford you the ability to filter the sound of the cab. The Loose/Tight selector allows you to switch between a more chunky, hefty sound and a timbre that's more diffuse and airy. Likewise, you can choose between aggressive or warmer tonalities with the Vintage/Modern switch. The Small/Large switch selects between emulations of small and large cabinets, while the remaining selector is a more utilitarian ground/lift switch for mitigating the noise associated with ground loops.
The Red Box 5 has three connection points. Two 1/4" jacks are on hand—one input and one thru; this allows you to place the box in-line between your amp and your cabinet, which is one way to route signal through the box. You can also feed the Red Box 5 with signal from your amp's FX send jack, should the amp have one. A single XLR jack is provided for sending signal to mixers, recording interfaces, or the house PA. You can power the Red Box with a 9V battery, through 48V phantom power over the output, or by means of a power supply, which is available separately.