Unika Di-Box User Manual

DI-BOX

Index

01 Overview

01 Features

03 Audio Connection

04 Input PAD Attenuation

04 Eliminating Hum and

Buzz and the Ground Loop.

06 Specications

DI-Box

Made in Taiwan

USER GUIDE

6F, No.168, Xin-Hu 2nd Rd.
Nei-Hu District, Taipei City. 11494.
Taiwan, Republic of China.

[phone]

[phone]

　　[e-mail]

Unika Electronic Co., Ltd.

www.unika.com.tw

UNiKA DI-BOX User Guide

1

OVERVIEW

The DI-BOX is a single channel active direct box, it is very easy to use, simply plug it in,

turn on the power and it goes to work. However, there are a number of features built in

that should be understood in order to get the most out of the DI-BOX. So please take a

few minutes to go through this user guide to ensure you get the most out of it.

[e-mail]

If you still need further clarication, please send email to us and we will

do our very best to reply in short order.

FEATURES

• Single channel high impedance direct inputs with XLR-1/4" TRS combo

connector for electronic musical instrument signal feed.

• The ¼" TRS LINK socket carries a parallel-wired direct feed from the input.

• Selectable 3 steps attenuator for Hi-Z direct input.

• Accept power from plug-in 9V battery or +20V to +48V phantom power.

• Single channel XLR Balanced Low-Z output with isolation transformer.

• Ground Lift Switch: lifting pin-1 on the output XLR isolating the DI box

grounding system from that of the rest of the system.

UNiKA DI-BOX User Guide

2

①

② ③

⑥ ⑦ ⑧④ ⑤

①

Input PAD:

0dB, -20dB & -40dB selectable 3
steps attenuator reduces the input
sensitivity to prevent overload.

②

XLR-1/4" combo socket High

impedance direct input for electronic
musical instrument signal feed.

③

¼" TRS LINK socket carries a
parallel-wired direct feed from the
input.

④

POWER ON/OFF LED indicator &

Phantom Power indicator.

⑤

POWER switch:

Used to switch the power ON/OFF.

⑥

Ground Lift Switch:

lifting pin-1 on the output XLR
isolating the DI box grounding
system from that of the rest of the
system.

⑦

XLR Balanced Low-Z output with

isolation transformer.

⑧

Battery holder.

UNiKA DI-BOX User Guide

3

AUDIO CONNECTION

As with all audio gear, always ensure audio system levels are turned down or
equipment turned off before making connections. This will avoid plug-in or turn-on
transients from damaging more sensitive components such as tweeters.

The DI-BOX feature XLR-¼"TRS combo jack INPUT, a ¼" thru-put LINK and a balanced
XLR OUPUT.

Connect your source instrument to the input and the balanced XLR output to the PA
system or recorder. The LINK connector output provides the means for connecting the
signal to a stage amp or personal monitor system. Simply connect the LINK to your
amp or monitor.

Unbalanced cables are much more susceptible to noise than their balanced
counterparts. Keeping unbalanced cables under 8 meters (25') in length is good
practice while balanced cables can easily extend to 100 meters (300').

The balanced output of the DI-BOX is mic level, meaning that it should be connected to
the mic input of a mixing console or mic preamp. Once connected, make sure phantom
power is activated.

When 2 or 3 keyboards are used by a single performer, it is possible to reduce the

number of DI boxes needed if a mixer/amplier is used by the performer for his personal

monitoring. A single DI box can be fed either from a line-level output from the head (pad

set to -20dB) or from the amplier power output (speaker output) (pad set to -40dB).

Using the amplier's output means that the signal being fed to the console is post any
effects units and the power stage of the amplier, and so will be more representative of

the signal being fed to the speaker, including any deliberately introduced overdrive etc.
Use the -40dB setting for this application.

Instrument direct input & Parallel link connection

For Unbalanced connection, pin-3 should be connected to Ground with pin-1.

XLR-TRS Combo input

1-Ground2-Signal Hot +

3-Signal Cold -

Fig-2: XLR-¼"TRS Combo

socket for direct input

Fig-1: XLR Plugs Balanced connection:

1-Ground
2-Signal Hot (+)
3-Signal Cold (-)

1

Female Male

2 1

3 3

2

UNiKA DI-BOX User Guide

4

Fig-3: ¼"TS Unbalanced connection Fig-4: ¼"TRS Balanced connection

Tip-Signal (+)

Sleeve-Ground

Tip-Signal Hot (+)

Ring-Signal Cold(-)

Sleeve-Ground

INPUT PAD ATTENUATION

The most common use of the direct input is with guitar pick-ups or keyboards. The optimal
setting for this is most likely with the pad switch set to 0dB, although with some high-output
pick-ups the performance of the direct input may be improved if the pad switch is set to

-20dB to prevent possible clipping of the input signal.

The instrument is connected to the XLR-1/4" Combo jack socket, and a parallel link feed

taken from the other jack socket to the instrument’s own amplier.

The direct input can also be fed either from a line-level output from the head ( pad set to

-20dB) or from the amplier power output (speaker output, pad set to -40dB).

ELIMINATING HUM AND BUZZ AND THE GROUND LOOP

The DI-BOX is equipped with output isolation transformers to eliminate hum and buzz
caused by stray DC voltage and ground loops.

Computers, optical projectors and other consumer equipment can be particularly noisy,
Anyone that has incorporated audio with a projector knows that noise can be a serious
problem, so transformers can be incredibly useful when combating system.

A ground lift switch on the outputs takes this one step further by lifting pin-1 on the
XLRs. Computers are often the source for noise problems in audio systems, so greater

care is certainly needed to keep things quiet.

UNiKA DI-BOX User Guide

5

Battery Installation

A To install or replace the internal battery, rst undo the knurled screw on the battery
compartment - DO NOT undo the flush panel screws.

The battery cover should now fold back towards the edge of the unit, revealing the
compartment. Attach the flying lead battery terminals to your battery, and slide the
battery into the compartment, with the connector towards the outside of the DI-BOX.

For best reliability and long life, we recommend you use only high quality alkaline
batteries in your DI-BOX.

Phantom Power

The DI-BOX can work reliably on a wide range of phantom power voltages, although of
course the typical supply provided by modern consoles is +48 volts.

The DI-BOX accepts supply voltages of +48 volts down to +20 volts without loss in
performance.

While the DI-BOX is receiving good phantom power, the power LED is lit continuously.
Should the supply fail for any reason, the DI-BOX will switch over automatically to run

from the internal battery (as long as one is tted!). Under these conditions, the power
LED flashes approximately every 2 seconds.

Power ON/OFF Switch

The On/Off switch is used for both phantom power and battery. To avoid battery drain
when the unit is not in use, ensure that this switch is set to the upper OFF position
when storing or packing the DI-BOX.

Optionally, an internal link can allow phantom power to activate the DI-BOX regardless
of the On/Off switch setting.

This link must be changed by an Authorized Technician only. Please refer to your
Dealer/Distributor for details.

ELIMINATING HUM AND BUZZ AND THE GROUND LOOP

UNiKA DI-BOX User Guide

6

Direct Input

Unbalanced, XLR-¼"TRS combo jack.

(Pin-2 Hot, Pin-3&1 Ground).

Link Output

Unbalanced, Parallel link output ¼"TRS jack

for feeding to other equipment.

Direct Input pad at 0dB at -20dB at -40dB

Direct Input Impedance 1 MOhm 47 KOhm 47 KOhm

Max. Input level before Clip +9 dBu +29 dBu +49 dBu

Output level Maximum +9dB output level before clip.

Output impedance 600Ω matched, Transformer Balanced.

Output

Balanced transformer isolated

(XLR-M, Pin-1 Ground, Pin-2 Hot, Pin-3 Cold)

Frequency response 30Hz to 20KHz, +0/-1 dB

Dynamic range >109dB

Noise floor <-105dBu, unweighted 22Hz to 22KHz.

Total harmonic distortion Less than 0.005% at 1KHz, 0dBu output

Ground lift Lifts pin-1 on both XLR outputs

DC Power

plug-in 9V battery or

+20V to +48V Phantom power

Construction

Ultra-rugged,

Aluminum Alloy case with rubber pads

Size ( W x D x H ) 151mm x 135mm x 64mm（5.9" x 5.3" x 2.5"

）

Weight 650gm, 22 oz. excluding battery

SPECIFICATIONS

(Specications are subject to change without notice.)