Over fifty years ago, Carl Countryman started crafting custom gear for touring rock bands and performers. Today, our family business is an industry-leading manufacturer of legendary direct boxes and ultra-miniature microphones, with the same goal of serving audio professionals all over the world with personal attention and exceptional quality. Our wide range of direct boxes and highly customizable earsets, lavaliers, instrument, hanging, and podium microphones are all designed, manufactured, and rigorously tested at our facility in Menlo Park, California.

Through the 60's and 70's, Carl Countryman engineered a multitude of custom electronic equipment for artists, including the electrostatic piano pickups for the Grateful Dead used in their Wall of Sound. After founding Countryman Associates, he continued to develop electronic sound equipment, including the Type 986 Phase Shifter and Type 85 Active DI Box, and the E6 Earset.

Countryman has a rich history of innovation, having been the first manufacturer of the earset microphone and active DI box.