Radial DI vs. Countryman

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 6:44 pm

I currently have a Countryman DI, an L.R. Baggs Paracoustic, and a Whirlwind passive DI. The church has been borrowing all of them every Sunday, and I am going to get them to buy a couple of good DIs so that I can take my stuff home once in a while. I'd like to get a Radial comparable to the Countryman (to be used for bass and/or keys). I'm hung up on the decision between the JDI and the J48. Any thoughts?

BTW the church is going to use these for live sound. All of these units have a good rep as far as that, and we have so many instrument coming in and out of the mix that I think it is wise to have a variety of high quality DIs since you never know what is going to sound best with a particular piece. My personal interest is in how they would interface with a recording setup, particularly with keys, but I'm interested in your experience with how they work in any situation

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 7:29 pm

They are both good and either will serve you well. I have a 20-year old pair of Countryman's that have been used for anything and everything with never a problem.

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 7:56 pm

Contact me off-line Bob. I have a J48 I'd be willing to loan you for a week or so. I think you'll really like it!

J.

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 8:12 pm

All of them will work and work quite well. Maybe I'm wrong but isnt the J48 Radial the one that uses a 48v phantom tap out of a board?

My partner and engineering buddy has three in the studio right now that are starting to really turn my head to the possibilities of DI. His have particular chips and particular sonic stamps....sorta like different microphones. One is simply a cable...the DI is built into the connector.

We use the LR Baggs Para unit quite a lot. It has an amazing sound for particular instruments. And of course theres the Countryman 85. It was always amazing to hear the sigh of relief from the various soundmen when you'd pull that out as part of your traveling rig.

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 8:39 pm

Yes, it's phantom powered and the J (at least according to documentation that I had read years ago but can't seem to find nowadays) refers (referred) to the Jensen transformer it uses (used)..

It, to me, is one of the most versatile DIs on the planet. Of course, versatile and perfect for every application are two completely different things. By versatile, I mean it works VERY well on every source that I've ever used it on. Do some sound better on some applications? Sure. But I've never used a DI that sounds so good on so many sources. If I had to choose 1 and only 1 for the proverbial dessert island, the J48 would be it.

Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 10:01 am

The JDI is passive, and uses the Jensen tranny.
The J48 uses 48v phantom, but no Jensen tranny due to the active electronics.
Both are awesome, I would use the JDI first (fat sound), but go to the J48 if a higher input impedance is needed.

Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 10:13 am

Thanks for the clarification. I knew one of them did. That makes a bit more sense.

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 1:24 pm

I preferred the jensen, but both are good.
TD

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:40 am

Hope I am not hijacking this thread but why would a DI need or use Phantom Power? Does it simply replace the need to have a battery?

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:10 am

donthaveone wrote:

Hope I am not hijacking this thread but why would a DI need or use Phantom Power? Does it simply replace the need to have a battery?

Yes. In most situations I prefer using Phantom Power since once it's on it's more reliable than a battery. However (off topic) I wish Radial had allowed for batter power for it's computer DI, since many boards don't have phantom on their stereo inputs.

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:00 pm

Could Phantom Power be supplied from a mixer (which has individual phantom power) via a 60' snake without screwing up the sound on any channels? Or would a separate power supply at the stage end be required?

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:22 pm

Codemonkey wrote:

Could Phantom Power be supplied from a mixer (which has individual phantom power) via a 60' snake without screwing up the sound on any channels? Or would a separate power supply at the stage end be required?

Phantom through the snake is fine.

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:26 pm

Good, thanks. I remember seeing something a few posts ago about power not being supplied properly after 25 feet but I'm sure tube mics were mentioned at the same time. We use dynamics (I know these don't need Phantom) but just in case we ever get condensers...

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:14 pm

Codemonkey wrote:

Good, thanks. I remember seeing something a few posts ago about power not being supplied properly after 25 feet but I'm sure tube mics were mentioned at the same time. We use dynamics (I know these don't need Phantom) but just in case we ever get condensers...

That might have been in reference to the question I asked about tube mic leads.

I've personally run phantom power (along with audio) through a cable run in excess of 1000' before with little to no issues. Though I'd be hesitant to do this without proper loading on the preamp.

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 1:18 pm

I have the JDI, just bought it yesterday. It seems very transparant to me. I tried a few basses and Guitars through it now. I don't hear any added "fatness". But it does it job as a DI nicely!

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