Sonic Albert and I are pretty much of the same mind on this one... but a few years ago we ran into some fairly cool little DI's called the "Ax Max"... for $75- they're pretty hard to beat [sorry if this is coming off as spam... that wasn't the intention]
FWIW, IMO, none of your post ever come-off as spam... and I've always trusted your opinion (we have similar taste).
I wish some of the distributors on HR would takes notes from people like Dan Kennedy and yourself, and learn how to post helpful messages without squeezing their spam and dripping pimp juice on us.
With that said... thanks for always being up-front and honest in all your post.