Countryman and J48... which to keep?

[JazznFunk]

I now have in my DI arsenal a Radial J48, a Countryman Type 85, and a Radial JDV. The JDV isn't going anywhere simply because it's like the 'sports car' DI and sounds so great, but I feel like having a J48 *and* Countryman may be a bit redundant.

I also rarely use most of the features on the J48, and quite a few of them are duplicated on the JDV. Leaning toward selling the J48 and keeping the Countryman, but what say you?

I love them both, but the J48 just seems to be 'too much' DI at times for me in live settings.

 

[svtb15]

Countryman... Keep that one.. a standard that will always be great ... and you cant break it... Put in underwater. it will still work.....

 

[Bassist30]

The 48 is a great DI especially for passive basses. If the bass is passive I would say stay with the J48. SVT is a very good friend of mine but I have to disagree with him as far as which to use. The Countryman is a great DI and used frequently on many recordings but... there are more choices since its popularity. But SVT has more toys than me and as far as DI's he is stacked.

 

[Dave W]

I'd keep the Countryman myself. I've heard very good things about the J48, but like you mention it's a little redundant with the JDV.

Of all the DI's I have, my Type 85 is the only one that comes to every single gig.

The 48 is a great DI especially for passive basses. If the bass is passive I would say stay with the J48.

The Countryman is also active, just like the J48.

 

[Big John66]

You really can't go wrong with either one. Personally, I'd keep the Countryman.

 

[georgestrings]

I'd keep the Countryman myself. I've heard very good things about the J48, but like you mention it's a little redundant with the JDV.

Of all the DI's I have, my Type 85 is the only one that comes to every single gig.



The Countryman is also active, just like the J48.

Another factor is that the Countryman can run on a 9v and doesn't necessarily need phantom power, whereas the J48 can only operate on phantom power... Here's another vote for keeping the Countryman and JDV - you wouldn't have trouble selling either one, though - they're all great DIs...


- georgestrings

 

[georgestrings]

If the bass is passive I would say stay with the J48.

Non-issue, as they're all active DIs that work great with passive or active instruments...


- georgestrings

 

[svtb15]

As georgestrigs already mentioned ...The countryman also works off 9V battery or Phantom power too..
I also like that the countryman can also take a speaker output , up to about 1600 + watts... which can be cool if you want that ..
mine is 35 years old and still going...
Added plus about the countryman is they are made in the USA

 

[shuu]

This is interesting.

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[JazznFunk]

Thanks fore the insight, everyone. I decided to stay with the Countryman and the J48 is on the market. I A/B'ed them, and in spite of the J48's clarity and power, I still felt like overall the Countryman had the 'character' I wanted.

 

[svtb15]

We did a A/B/C with a REDDI / Countryman type 85 / JDI and J48
The REDDI had the nicest harmonic content... The Countryman surprisingly was liked more than the Radials...
The radials were stark sounding was the comment.

The Countryman was very good. Had the least amount of things to mess up on it.( less switches) was cheaper and to many sounded better than the J48.
I currently use a REDDI on 95 % of my gigs... .But I also have a Contryman type 85 in my bag since about 1978 or so.. Same box. Still sounds great and battery lasts a long time.. It has been the Industry standard for bass DI in almost every recording studio on the planet... And for a good reason... Its a FET discrete circuit that is indestructible.

 

[JazznFunk]

Indeed. I still like my JDV in the studio... for whatever reason it sounds more 'alive' than the J48. I think I like the Countryman because it isn't quite as 'perfect' as the J48, as strange as that sounds. The top-end rolloff that the Countryman has works well for bass, and I notice a more forward-focused midrange with the Countryman.

 

[fokof]

This is interesting.

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Thanx for that link , very interesting.

 

[jmclearnon]

I love my JDV, would love to try a REDDI though. But i already have a beast DI can i justify getting another one.....

 

[TimmyP]

Note that some of that 'character' might be because the output of the Countryman is polarity-reversed (pin 3 is hot).

 

[Munjibunga]

I have several of each, and I'd keep the J48. I prefer it over the Type 85, but not by much. I think the JDI actually sounds better than either of them but, of course, it's not active. I have a couple of those, too.