There's a lot of Turface or calcinated clay absorbents out there, they seem to be functionally the same with main differences in color (red, brown, black etc). I have one crape myrtle in a mix of pine bark chunks and unsifted black turface (thrifty-sorb) but those trees will grow in anything.
DE and Turface are very similar, since Turface is like ~66% silica (diatoms) and the ~33% alumina (clay), where DE is 80-90% silica.
DE has worked well for me the last couple of years. After the first year or so it starts to turn green from algae growth within its pores. I believe this to be a good thing because the soil itself drains well but maintains humidity within each granule to support life. I would recommend mixing DE/Turface with at least one other component because of its flat shape it has a tendency to compact into itself. This second year, I've began mulching with a top-layer of pine bark nuggets onto my DE in pond baskets to keep it from drying out so quickly and perhaps to keep the roots insulated. I like to think that this helps overall. During the rainy season I rarely have to water.