Countryman Type 85 Active Direct Box

The Type 85 is the ultimate in quality and convenience. It lets you connect an acoustic instrument pickup or an electronic instrument directly to a microphone input.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What does it do?
The Type 85 connects any high impedance instrument pickup, even piezo pickups, to a balanced microphone (XLR type) input. It provides a strong, clean signal to the mix board without adding noise or distortion.

What doesn't it do?
It won't change the tone or volume you hear from your own amp like passive direct boxes. It won't add hiss, distortion, or buzz like some active direct boxes. It won't break just when you need it. It won't develop a dead battery on stage because it runs on Phantom power.

Why does it sound so good?
The Type 85 doesn't use a cheap FET opamp. It uses only hand selected high quality discrete components woven into a single ended class A circuit much like the classic tube microphone preamp. The Type 85 has an incredibly smooth, sweet sound.

Why is it so hard to break?
Connectors and switches are recessed into a single piece extruded case with extra thick walls. You can actually drive a truck over a Type 85 without hurting it. Internal electronics are molded in a single epoxy block and fully protected against electrical damage. The input circuit can withstand 220V AC all day long and static spikes up to 20,000 volts!

Does it need a battery?
Most mixing consoles provide 48-volt Phantom power and the Type 85 will automatically use it. If you don't have Phantom power, the Type 85 will run from an internal 9V battery. An alkaline battery will last about 400 hours.

How does it eliminate buzz?
Hum and buzz are often caused by a connection between the mixer and ground at the guitar system. The Type 85 can always isolate ground, even when running on Phantom power. Most direct boxes can't do that.

Where are the rolloff switches?
It doesn't have any. The Type 85 is designed to transfer the sound of your instrument to the mixing console, adding nothing and taking away nothing. Adjusting the frequency content of a sound source is an artistic decision best done at the mixing location where you can hear the results and easily make changes.

Technical Info

Input Resistance:
Pickup mode: 10,000,000 ohms, 10 times the input resistance of a typical guitar amplifier
Speaker mode: 10k ohms

Input Capacitance:
60 Picofarads, equal to 2 feet of low capacitance guitar cable

Maximum Input Level:
Pickup mode: 5 Volts P-P
Speaker mode: 300 Volts P-P Equal to 2,800 watts into 4 ohms

Input Protection:
220 Volts RMS and 20,000 Volt static discharges

Voltage Gain:
Pickup mode: -10dB
Speaker mode: -46 dB

Noise (shorted input): 149 dB SPL, 1 kHz at 1% T.H.D.

Frequency Response: 20Hz to 20kHz +/- 1dB

Distortion: 0.018% THD @ 1kHz and 1 V P-P in, 0.08% IMD 10kHz/60Hz 1 V P-P in

R.F. Filtering: 250 kHz Low Pass on input, 30kHz Low Pass on output

Power Requirements: 48 V @ 0.4 ma Phantom or 9 V battery

Dimensions: 1.75 x 3 x 5 in. (45 x 77 x 127 mm)

Weight: 18.5 oz. (0.52 kg)

A truly professional DI box! Straight-ahead features and straight-wire sound quality. Its rugged housing has also helped in making it a favorite of pros everywhere. Amp and instrument 1/4" jacks; XLR out.