Acme Audio Motown D.I. WB-3

The Sound That Made History

During Motown’s heyday, a major technical component of “The Detroit Sound’ was the direct input box (DI). Designed by a young Motown audio engineer in the early 1960s, the musicians plugged straight in and achieved a distinct, colorful distortion that would become recognizable all over the world. The DI box was adopted by such Motown greats as James Jamerson Sr., Dennis Coffey and Bob Babbitt, who defined the sound of a generation with their soulful playing and crisply captured notes.

Recreated by Acme Audio, the new Motown D.I. WB-3 brings the exact character as the original DI box. Modern updates include the improved variable attenuated for high-level input and the custom-made, rugged steel case (the original DIs were built in Aluminum boxes). Owners of the Motown DI will find that it increases sound quality in a marginal acoustic environment, for the cleanest, purest sound source possible.

Recreating a Classic Transformer

The Motown D.I. WB-3 features transformers that have been painstakingly reproduced to exactly replicate those used in the original version of this direct box. In an effort to perfectly replicate the quality and sound to the original Motown Direct Box, Acme Audio tracked down the original manufacturer of the coveted transformer and enlisted them to start making them again after nearly 35 years.

As a result, the Motown D.I. WB-3 is built to the exact specifications with the same materials as the original and exhibits the same audio character and lack of low-frequency magnetic saturation that sets it apart from similar devices. The Motown DI is now available, making this unit not only a fine audio interface/level converter, but a piece of audio history.