The new Radial Engineering JDI stereo passive direct box is now shipping.
The first unit was delivered to the Commodore Ballroom, a music venue in Vancouver. “The new stereo JDI allows the Commodore to offer yet another high quality Radial DI option to our visiting engineers and artists,” states Paul Way, front of house at the Commodore. “A stereo solution in a single package, very useful on a crowded stage or pedal board.”
The JDI stereo passive direct box includes input and thru-put 1/4-inch connectors plus a -15 dB input pad on each channel. This is supplemented with a ground lift switch that lifts pin-1 on the two XLR outputs to further reduce hum and buzz caused by ground loops.
Built to handle the abuse of live touring, the JDI Stereo employs a 14-gauge steel I-beam inner frame and a book-end outer shell. The design eliminates stress on the PCB, reducing opportunity for solder joints to go ‘cold’ while the outer shell creates a protective zone around the switches and connectors.
The steel enclosure also works with the transformer’s mu-metal cans and internal Faraday shield to protect the inner workings from magnetic fields such as those generated by stage amplifiers, keeping signal transfer quiet and free from hum.
Radial Engineering president Peter Janis: “We have spent countless hours on top, behind and below concert stages, discussing the needs of today’s most demanding technicians. One of the reoccurring themes is the use of two direct boxes to handle a stereo source. And although Radial has been producing stereo direct boxes such as the Duplex for years, the move towards compact setups to lower the cost of air travel has become an important attribute whose time has come. The JDI Stereo is simply the solution to a new problem that is based on economics.”
