Type 85S Stereo Direct Box is a two-channel version of the classic Type 85 FET Direct Box. Each channel uses the same FET-based Class A circuit as the Type 85 to connect any high-impedance instrument pickup to a balanced microphone (XLR) input. Connectors and switches are recessed into a single-piece extruded case with extra thick walls. You can literally drive a truck over the Type 85S without hurting it. Internal electronics are molded in epoxy and fully protected against electrical damage. The input can withstand 220 VAC and static spikes up to 20,000 V. Most mixing consoles provide 48V phantom power, and the Type 85S will automatically use it. If you don’t have phantom power, or if your phantom power is very low, the Type 85S will run for about 130 hours from a single internal 9 V battery. We designed the Type 85S so that you only need to provide phantom to Channel A to power the unit. Each channel of the Type 85S uses only hand-selected high-quality discrete components woven into a single-ended Class A circuit, much like a classic tube microphone preamp. The Type 85S has an incredibly smooth, sweet sound. Unlike many active DI boxes, the Type 85S can always isolate ground, even when running on phantom power, to help eliminate hum and buzz from ground problems.