Please recommend me a DI Box other than the Countryman.

[Rex Rocker]

I have a Countryman Type 85... and something's wrong with it. It keeps making these random noises and the level goes up and down for some reason...

So I want something different that's as good and doesn't cost more.




Any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[BLUElightCory]

I'd personally just fix the Countryman, it's a great DI.

In that price range you might also consider the Countryman Type 10 (a newer active model) or the Radial JDI.

 

[Rex Rocker]

Problem is I don't know where I should take it to get it checked... I'm in Mexico. Besides, I believe the little board/battery module is filled with epoxy, making it impossible to repair if the issue is there.

Type 10 seems a bit too expensive for what I'm wanting to spend. It's $220, right?





http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...irect_Box.html

This has a Jensen transformer... anyone tried one of these? No pad function kinda scares me. Would it be able to handle actives?

 

[Rex Rocker]

Anyone else?

Forgot to mention. I'm using it to track both my guitar and bass that have EMG's both. Would a passive Radial ProDI be enough for this duty? I mean, the cheaper, the better too as long as it's not a POS.

 

[Rex Rocker]

Anyone?

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

BSS AR-133 seems like the best alternative on paper IMO!

 

[Rex Rocker]

Thanks!

How much is that one?


Think I might be better off getting another CM 85? I mean... I did like how that one sounded... when it worked...

Also, back in your shootout, the J48 and the Redeye didn't sound THAT different from the CM with active pickups, right Marcus? I don't think the link is up anymore to listen for myself...

And what kind of specs did the DI in the Redeye have? I cannot find the specs on that one since Little Labs just replaced it with an active model... I wonder if you have any info on that, Marcus?

 

[DWatson]

I had a similar issue on my countryman(noise and some changes in levels), so I took a look inside and found out to be that the ground wire on the xlr out was loose and wasn't completely soldered. I sometimes let people borrow the di box and I figured someone didn't push the button on their xlr cable in enough before disconnecting it from the di and probably pulled it loose. I simply re-soldered it and it was back to working condition.

The one thing to note on the BSS AR-133 is that when you use the in-line pad it does change the input impedance from 1M to 47k. And you will most definitely need to use it for active pickups(at least I had to in the studio). I personally found the Countryman to sound better when comparing the two.

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

That's really useful info on the BSS DWatson, thanks!

And Hugo, yeah, for active pickups the passive Redeye I found pretty much indistinguishable from the Countryman (and it was pretty close with passives too, but the CM did edge it out), so if that's all you're gonna be using with it than I would think any decent passive DI would be ok - that said, I'd still vote just trying to find another CM!

As for the J48, found it ever so slightly harsh in comparison

 

[Rex Rocker]

Oh, thanks for the tip! I did have a look inside and everything seemed normal with the wires, but I'm gonna double check...

Which one's the ground wire? :Spin:


And thanks Marcus!

 

[Rex Rocker]

Just desoldered and resoldered all the wires to the output... Nope, that wasn't the issue.

 

[Josh Burgess]

You are giving it phantom power, right?

 

[Rex Rocker]

Yup. Tried it both with phantom power and a battery, and neither makes a difference.