Alternative to Countryman Type 85 DI

gregbackstrom

gregbackstrom

Supporting Member
Feb 3, 2005
2,053
2,067
4,601
Tacoma, Washington
#1
Hi gang!

I recently had to send my Type 85 to Countryman for repairs after 15 years of pretty light duty use. It still works fine with phantom power, but it no longer works with a battery. It's been at Countryman for two weeks, and I found out today that it'll be six months or more before their service tech(s) look at it and can give me a quote. Since no one has these in stock anywhere, I'm assuming that these aren't being made anymore. I'd like to replace it with something that sounds the same, is small and can be powered by an internal battery. Is there such a device being made? If not, what's the best sounding alternative? My typical use: I get to the gig, and the back line is satisfactory, but I still need to get my bass into my in-ears rack. I pull out the Type 85, plug my bass or effects into the input, 1/4 unbalanced pass-through goes to the amp and the XLR goes to my in-ears mixer.

Thanks in advance for suggestions!
 
  • Like
Reactions: DJ Bebop
#3
hmmm, if it fits your needs well, why not just buy a used Countryman 85 ? Looks like there are plenty on Reverb. They are pretty hardy (yours lasted 15 years) so used should not be a big problem.

As an alternative I think the Klark Technik 10A and the LiveWire ADI will run on battery or phantom power.

good luck!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bassdirty, newfuture, AR_Soundman and 2 others
#7
This is what I ended up getting when I was shopping around and considered Countryman. But I ended up with a Whirlwind since I really like their quality.

WRL-DIR_E.JPG
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: S-Bigbottom and Lo-E
#10
Warm Audio Active DI. They also can take speaker level as well like Countryman(I wouldn't recommend for bass although I have used it for 100 guitar watt amps. ) Takes 2 9V batteries and will also run on phantom. Last forever

Warm Audio Premium Active and Passive Direct Boxes For Pro-Grade Studio And Stage Applications

Warm Audio accurately recreates the classic recording gear that has delivered music's biggest hits. We believe that legendary sound should be within reach for every musician.
warmaudio.com warmaudio.com
 
  • Like
Reactions: gregbackstrom, Mr. Business and bassbrad
#14
gregmon79 said:
This is what I ended up getting when I was shopping around and considered Countryman. But I ended up with a Whirlwind since I really like their quality.

View attachment 7065524
Click to expand...
I have the Whirlwind Hotbox, which is a Countryman copy as far as I can tell. It’s a perfectly good DI and sounds fine.

I also have a pair of Countryman Type 85s that I purchased used. Neither they, nor the Whirlwind, have ever let me down.

Radial DIs are really nice but I find that the sound is more colored than the Countryman or the Whirlwind. Just my two cents.
 
#15
I just picked up a Source Audio Zio, and brother, it’s worth the extra dough. It’s quiet, has useful, simple, quality tone controls as an extra, and all the DI functions you need (XLR out, signal out, ground lift) and you get a HPF to boot.
 
  • Like
Reactions: akukulich
#20
Countryman DI's invert polarity on the signal (at least the ones i've used do) which is something to be aware of if you are mixing it with a cab mic. I'd go with (in order of preference)

Radial passive DI
Radial Active DI
Rupert Neve (portico) DI
Avalon U5

but you can't go wrong with a Radial, they are tanks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back