DI boxes

John Halliburton

John Halliburton

Junior
Jan 10, 2011
428
2
18
The city with big shoulders
I own four Countryman 85, three were bought new, one used. The new ones are ten years old, the used one is five. I also own four Whirlwind Director single channel DI's, all bought used.

After a gig last weekend where some signal path problems were discovered and C.A.T.(Combat Audio Techniques) were employed, I have been running through the gear used to isolate the problems 100%.

First, one of my Countrymans has developed intermittent signal problems due to the cracked internal circuit block, shown in the photos below and attached:

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I'll be contacting them about a replacement part shortly.

I also had a problem I thought I had corrected with one of the Whirlwind DI's, thanks to a little schematic help from Mr. Keltz himself. However, I discovered after buying some more from my local dealer and friend, that I had missed that the green lead from the transformer had been broken off almost inside the can. Another email to Mr. Keltz, and a replacement transformer is on it's way. I wanted to thank him today here in public for some great service on a Whirlwind product that I bought used, and discovered that the previous owner had mucked around with(the broken green lead was not the only thing messed up in this DI), and Mr. Keltz promptly and personally handled. It's certainly one reason I own those DI's and a Medusa snake.

Best regards,

John

PS. As pointed out on another DI thread somewhere by Mac Kerr, the phrase Bogen used is one I will pay heed to more: ''Assume Nothing'', and pre gig double checking will have to be more stringent
 
Re: DI boxes

John Halliburton wrote on Tue said:
I also had a problem I thought I had corrected with one of the Whirlwind DI's, thanks to a little schematic help from Mr. Keltz himself. However, I discovered after buying some more from my local dealer and friend, that I had missed that the green lead from the transformer had been broken off almost inside the can. Another email to Mr. Keltz, and a replacement transformer is on it's way. I wanted to thank him today here in public for some great service on a Whirlwind product that I bought used, and discovered that the previous owner had mucked around with(the broken green lead was not the only thing messed up in this DI), and Mr. Keltz promptly and personally handled. It's certrainly one reason I own those DI's and a Medusa snake.
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+1 on Whirlwind and Al Keltz. Al has taken care of me more than once. Last month he swapped out an intermittently faulty HotBox which was probably 10 years old. Got a shiny new one now to replace it. Last year he sent me a whole batch of stage box return XLRs at no charge, as the originals had a known issue where eventually the backplate of the connector would start falling in the box, A neutrik design issue. 100% top notch customer service and products. I see no reason to buy snakes or DIs from anywhere else if something more than price matters.

Greg
 
Re: DI boxes

Another +1 for Al Keltz

One of the clubs I work for had a bunch of IMP direct boxes and the ground lift switches in them just went limp with a broken internal spring or latch.

Once he learned of it a bag of new replacement switches appeared in the mail a few days later.

Countryman service, when I've needed it which hasn't been often in the last three plus decades, also been top notch.

Type 85 boxes aren't indestructible but you really DO have to abuse them to make them not work. The crack inside John's is the first time I've ever seen THAT.

One note though, it's a lot easier on the more recent ones to re solder the connections between the 1/4 inch and XLR jacks than it was on the older ones. There's only a small fraction more clearance between the back of the jacks and the plastic battery/electronics block but it makes a BIG difference for those of us with fat fingers.
 
Re: DI boxes

Lee Brenkman wrote on Tue said:
Type 85 boxes aren't indestructible but you really DO have to abuse them to make them not work. The crack inside John's is the first time I've ever seen THAT.

One note though, it's a lot easier on the more recent ones to re solder the connections between the 1/4 inch and XLR jacks than it was on the older ones. There's only a small fraction more clearance between the back of the jacks and the plastic battery/electronics block but it makes a BIG difference for those of us with fat fingers.
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I think I have one of each at least. The broken 85 in the photo has a different block color than one of the others, which is more golden color. I'll have to go back and open them up in the morning and check on the clearance issue you bring up.

I have heard nothing but good things about Countryman's service as well. I wasn't expecting the cracked block failure, instead the silent-stealthy mode.

Best regards,

John
 
Re: DI boxes

Lee Brenkman wrote on Tue said:
<snip>

One note though, it's a lot easier on the more recent ones to re solder the connections between the 1/4 inch and XLR jacks than it was on the older ones. There's only a small fraction more clearance between the back of the jacks and the plastic battery/electronics block but it makes a BIG difference for those of us with fat fingers.
Click to expand...



Yeah, I was wondering why my new Type 85 was about 1/2'' longer than the older one I have.

 
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