Radial Engineering JD6, R800 6000 Owner's Manual

True to the Music

Radial JD6
Six channel rack mount D.I.

Part # R800 6000

Owner’s Manual

Radial Engineering
1638 Kebet Way, Port Coquitlam BC V3C 5W9
tel: [phone] • fax: [phone]
email: [e-mail] web: www.radialeng.com

www.radialeng.com

Radial Engineering is a division of JP CableTek Electronics Ltd.

Radial JD6 Owner’s Manual

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE NUMBER

1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................1

2. The JD6 Design Concept ..............................................................................................................2

3. Development of the JD6 ...............................................................................................................2

4. Rear Panel Connections ...............................................................................................................5

5. Using the JD6................................................................................................................................6

6. Grounding Options for the System Engineer ................................................................................7

7. Typical Stage Set-up Using the Radial JD6..................................................................................8

8. Typical Studio Set-Up Using the Radial JD6 ................................................................................8

9. Optional Output Panels.................................................................................................................9

10. The Advantage of Going Passive!................................................................................................9

11. Radial JD6 - Questions & Answers .............................................................................................10

Warranty Information ...................................................................................................Back Cover

1. INTRODUCTION

Congratulations on your purchase of the Radial JD6 multi-channel direct box. The JD6 is a world-class 19" rack­mountable DI system that has been optimized for use with keyboards, audio-visual equipment, computer sound
cards, samplers, electronic drums and instruments of all types.

As there are many innovative features in the JD6, we recommend that you take a few minutes to read through this
manual in order to familiarize yourself with the design and features that are built in. Most importantly, the Radial
JD6 features internal grounding options that will be of particular interest to engineers when integrating the JD6
with keyboard racks and audio-visual systems.

Should you have a question or application in mind that is not covered in this manual, we invite you to log onto the
Radial web site at www.radialeng.com to check the Questions and Answers section for the latest updates. Of course

you can also send us an email at [e-mail] should you have a particular need.

Have fun!

Radial Engineering
1638 Kebet Way, Port Coquitlam BC V3C 5W9
tel: [phone] • fax: [phone]
email: [e-mail] web: www.radialeng.com

Radial Engineering is a division of JP CableTek Electronics Ltd.
Specifications and appearance subject to change without notice.

Radial JD6 Owner’s Manual • V1.0 • 07-30-03 (Ref # R800 9647 00)

Radial Engineering JD6 Owner’s Manual

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True to the Music

2. THE JD6 DESIGN CONCEPT

Over the past several years, there has been a shift in the way keyboards, digital samplers and electronic drums have
been used in live sound. Most notable has been the integration of the portable PC (personal computer) and sound
card as part of the musical array. Add to this the insurgence of the disk jockey and his assortment of scratch
samplers and one can begin to foresee the need for a new interface to ‘tame the beast’.

Live sound is but a portion of this emerging market. The introduction of affordable 24bit / 96kHz technology has
allowed the musician, artist and engineer to fashion a ‘home office’ and create a completely viable project studio in
the comfort of a spare room. The same live touring equipment must be able to transition from the road to the studio
right along side the computer.

Ultimately it must be easy to use, be able to adapt to a variety of set-ups, be compact for maximum rack density and
sound absolutely amazing. And uh… did I mention that it must solve all those nasty ground loop problems that
cause keyboard technicians to have nightmares?

3. DEVELOPMENT OF THE JD6

The Radial JD6 is a 6-channel version of the highly successful Radial JDI direct box and
supercedes the Radial JD4 as the new standard 19" rack mounted direct box.
Upon inspection you will notice that channels 1 and 2 differ from channels
3 through 6. A ‘Swiss Army knife’ approach is introduced to
allow the 1st two channels on the JD6 to be problem solvers
for stage and studio. Added features include a high
frequency filter to reduce noise, a merge function
to mix left & right keyboard outputs to mono and
choice of ¼” inputs or RCA ’ s for improved interfacing
with audio-visual equipment and computers. The other
4 channels address basic DI requirements as normally
required for keyboards, electronic drums and other electronic
devices.

As with all Radial direct boxes, the audio signal path is of utmost importance. The Radial JD6 is a passive direct
box and employs the world’s finest Jensen™ audio transformers for absolute performance. You can hit the JD6 with
tons of level and you will never saturate the core! At less than 0.006% distortion at 20Hz, the JD6 has no equal.
However harmonic distortion is only part of the story: the Radial JD6 exhibits less than 4º phase deviation at 20Hz
making it the ultimate choice for keyboards where extreme dynamics and wide frequency range is required. There
is nothing more demanding on electronics than a digitally sampled grand piano and the JD6 handles these dynamics
without altering the tone, introducing phase shift or intermodulation distortion.

Key features on the JD6 include switching jacks for channels 1 and 2 whereby the front jacks take priority over the
rear panel jacks. This is of particular importance in studio set-ups where the JD6 can act as a patch bay to quickly
reconfigure the signal path.

To add greater efficiency for touring, a series of extension panels with individual and multipin connectors are also
offered. Furthermore, each channel of the JD6 has been provided with internal grounding switches to allow the
system engineer to select between floating and chassis grounding for maximum flexibility.

Of course, as with all Radial products, the JD6 is designed to handle the most abusive environments. Welded 14
gauge steel construction, baked enamel finish, high-cycle rate switches and glass-filled high-impact polymer connectors
with nickel silver contacts combine for maximum durability. The Radial JD6 is supported with a 3-year limited
warranty.

Radial Engineering JD6 Owner’s Manual

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