Palmer PAN 08 Review: Four Channels of Active, Transformer-Isolated DI

Direct boxes are utility equipment. When they work properly, you tend not to think about them very much. The Palmer PAN 08 is one of the better examples of why that is a compliment.

The PAN 08 puts four active DI channels into a single rack space. Each channel provides an input, ground lift, switchable gain and an isolated balanced output. For a studio or live rack that regularly needs several clean isolated feeds, that is an extremely practical arrangement.

Why active matters

A passive DI asks the source to drive a transformer network directly. That can be perfectly appropriate, but with some lower-output or higher-impedance sources an active input buffer is useful because it presents the source with a controlled load and provides its own drive for the output stage.

The PAN 08 also gives us +6 dB and +12 dB gain selections at the front panel. The rear-panel attenuation switches provide additional flexibility when matching it to the equipment downstream.

Importantly, active electronics do not mean Palmer abandoned isolation. The outputs are transformer balanced, so the PAN 08 retains the galvanic isolation that is one of the principal reasons for using a DI in the first place.

Built for actual work

Our unit was made in Germany, and the construction is excellent. It is heavy, beautifully assembled and feels like equipment designed to live in a rack for decades rather than something intended to meet a price point.

That matters with utility equipment. A DI tends to get connected, disconnected, moved, repatched and generally treated with less ceremony than a prized microphone or compressor. The Palmer feels entirely comfortable with that role.

In use

What we like most is that it solves four channels of the same problem at once. Rather than having individual DI boxes and cables scattered around the studio, the PAN 08 gives us four isolated, high-quality feeds in a single rack unit.

It requires external DC power, which is the tradeoff for the active circuitry, but in a permanently wired studio rack that is hardly a serious disadvantage.

Still available

The PAN 08 is a long-running design, but it remains commercially available rather than merely being a used-market product. That makes its longevity more interesting: this is not simply an old studio utility box we happen to have kept around, but a design that can still be bought new.

Verdict

The Palmer PAN 08 is not glamorous, but it is the sort of utility box we keep finding uses for. Four active channels, transformer-isolated outputs, useful gain options and excellent construction make it an unusually practical studio tool.

Highly recommended.

Specifications

• Type: Four-channel active DI box
• Format: 19-inch, 1U rackmount
• Channels: 4
• Outputs: Transformer-balanced / galvanically isolated
• Gain: Front-panel +6 dB and +12 dB selections
• Attenuation: Rear-panel attenuation switching
• Power: External DC supply

Manufacturer: Palmer