I'm still trying to decide between the two; however, to answer the question on the fly, I would have to say passive. Reason being, you don't have to worry about that darn battery. I had to change mine out several times but that was before I learned that to preserve the battery on my particular guitar (5 string Ibanez 505 Soundgear) I needed to remove the cable from the guitar when not in use - this is really an inconvenience for me. I wish I knew about combination Active/Passive switches when I was seeking to purchase my bass. It would be nice to toggle back and forth between modes. Not to metion having that added bit of security from being stranded should your battery die on you.