Calvary Worship Forum ~ View topic

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product rating: 10 out of 10

before i review this product, i'll let you know that i just found out today that the maker has retired and has discontinued his products. however, with a little searching you'll be able to find one.

with that said, the Raven Labs Active DI is a great find and buy for anyone that can get it. all Raven Labs units are handmade and numbered (mine is #106) to ensure precision and quality. these aren't mass produced like those little $4 adapters (Image 1 below).

this DI is made sturdy with two little roll-bar protectors of the front panel and thick metal casing all the way around (Image2). it accepts 2 inputs, has a isolated tuner send, an xlr send, a 1/4" send, and my favorite, it has a Send/Receive for any effects pedal (or rack mount for that matter) which can be blended into the overall guitar signal at the level of your choosing! now that's impressive! few DIs can control the level of effects they send to the board, but the Raven Labs does just that.

i also copied this from another review: Extremely accurate electronics, low noise, a proprietary balanced output transformer, useful features, and ultimate portability are the key features of the Raven Labs Model APD-1 direct boxes. It is comfortable in all situations, whether they be live, or in the professional or home studio. With over 100 hours of battery life under normal conditions, it is perfect for remote location recording.

The precision electronics are built around a Multiple Arrayed Geometric Inductive Coupled (MAGIC) balanced output transformer. Since the output transformer has very little loss, the output signal needs less gain afterwards. Therefore, less noise, distortion and anomalies will appear in the recorded signal. The APD-1 can be powered with two 9 volt batteries or an A/C wall adapter. Battery replacement is easy with the aid of an external battery compartment.

here's a list of the features of this great little DI.

-FRONT PANEL-
(Image 3)

2x Independent Inputs - each with own In/Out Switch

Side Chain Effects Loop with Blend Control

Effects Assign Switch - effects can be routed to both XLR and to Amp Jack or just to Amp Ouput

Passive Phase Reverse Switch - affects XLR Out only

XLR Pad - with -20dB, -10dB, 0, & +6dB positions

Mute Button with red LED indicator

Power ON/OFF switch

-BACK PANEL-
(Image 3)

To Amp Jack - sends input signal to an amplifier or any unbalanced input

Tuner Send - on a side chain and isolated, will not load down an instrument

Effects Send & Receive Jacks

Balanced XLR Out Jack

Ground Lift - for balanced XLR connector

Dual 9 volt battery holder

AC Adapter Jack

-ELECTRONIC SPECS-

Input Impedance: 10M eg Ohms each channel

Maximum Input Level: 3 volts RMS

Maximum Output: 6 volts RMS

Frequency Response: 10Hz and 60 kHz, +0, -1dB

Distortion: 0.008%, 20Hz - 20 kHz, output level 0dB, load: 1K Ohm

Signal to Noise Ratio - greater than -95dB, unweighted

Output Impedance: to Amp, Effects Send, Tuner Jacks = 100 Ohms

Effects Return Jack Input Impedence - 22K Ohms minimum

Output Impedence: XLR Out = 22K Ohms minimum

Output Transformer:

Core Material: high permeability nickel

Wire: oxygen free, high purity copper magnet wire

Winding Construction: Trifiler wound, fully symetrical close coupling with balanced DCR, wide bandwidth design with full isolation and low insertion loss

Chassis: Steel, powder coated

Dimensions: 6.7" (W) x 1.75" (H) x 6.25" (D)

Weight: 2 lbs

this is a great device if you can find it. currently no major chains carry Raven Labs products, so keep your eye on ebay for one.

i also found a site where you can order them from the UK.

http://www.smart-distribution.co.uk/p92.html

however, if you don't have the luxury to wait, then check out THIS website for more info.

also, for more information on Raven Labs products visit THIS website.

maranatha
geno

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(Image 3)