dbx

Two channels: Gate, VCA compressor, over easy/hard knee, peak limiter. UTILIZATION Very easy to use because it has only the most basic controls, which allows you to find the right setting pretty fast. SOUND QUALITY Fabulous, like the legendary 160, much better than the more recent versions (166A/166XT) Drums, bass, guitars OVERALL OPINION I've used it for quite some time in my studio, I generally use it for overheads with 2db gain reduction when recording. During mixdwon I use it on the toms, but sometimes also on the snare or kick.

If you hit this compressor with a very hard signal you will hear the compression and the sound of the unit. The sound of the unit is not what I want in a compressor for all things. I used this for very specific instruments such as snare drum or at times a kick drum, but not on vocals. For vocals, even at a mere 2:1 it is very noticeable and I don't want that in a vocal performance. I don't think you would want this for studio applications. I would buy a better compressor such as the Empirical Labs or a really high end unit. The unit lay out is about as simple as you can get. Threshold, ratio, output, bypass.... you get the picture and for the price it is great for live. I have seen many young producers use this compressor and use it the wrong way. For the price it is a bit high for my liking and I would not get this unit for the studio but that is my opinion and I am sure that there are many studios that use them in-house for vocals and other instruments but for me it is way to compressed sounding even on a light ratio and with not much input gain it can be heard. I tried it on bass guitar a few times and it is really a great unit for that but that was live and when I used it for vocals live it picks up so much bleed that I had to go back to using it for bass and guitars. When I have tried it in the studio it really does not sound like some of my compressors that cost about the same. I like the Blue Tube better for the studio personally. UTILIZATION It is not difficult to get use to if you have used a hardware unit before. If you have not it will be confusing. The manual will only help you if you know compression and how much to use or not to use. SOUND QUALITY I used this on snare drum, bass and guitars only. I only like DBX on bass guitar or snare. The hardest hitting instruments. I also use it on kick or room mics. If you like colored compressor this unit will suffice but if your not use to compression this will be over your head. OVERALL OPINION It has a colored sound and if you are not use to compression you may want to get use to it on a plug in first. DBX has a very distinct and so you have to be very careful as to how much to use. I have tried this on Live Sound and snare is the most common use for it or in a guitar rig it is great. I have seen a lot of them in guitar racks for some time. If you are not use to the sound of the DBX compressors it is very distinguishable to my ears. There is a sound of DBX that only DBX can provide. I love DBX for live but not my favorite in the studio. For this money I would shop around for a studio compressor.

The DBX PB48 is a low-cost, no-frills, 48-point, 1/4" TRS jack front-and-back patch bay. Patch channels can be normalled or de-normalled depending on how you have each module oriented--to change configurations, you loosen a plastic nut, remove each module, rotate it an re-install. The plastic nuts are spaced close together which can make them difficult to access and manipulate, and care must be taken not to crack them. The process of removing the modules for re-configuring is fiddly and tedious. If you expect to re-configure your patching scheme very much, I would look at other bays with easier mode-changes. The faceplates are very simple, clean and dull: charcoal metal frame and white label strip areas. I suggest using a thermal label printer with 1/4" tape for labeling these bays. I used 8 or 10 of these bays for years until my recent installation of a vintage console with internal TT patch bay. Patching is good and solid for a while with the DBXs, but in due course you will find the need to clean the internal contacts (coating a patch cord end in Deoxit D5 and inserting it several times in each patch point will do the job. Due to poor chassis rigidity and flimsy plastic-nutted module mounting, the modules are very prone to cracked socket solder joints on the module PCBs with continued use, which will cause intermittent connections and incorrect signal levels. I was pleased as punch by the time I upgraded patch bays and retired the dbx bays after about 5-7 years of service because they'd gotten to a point where I was having to pull and re-solder modules all the time just to keep the studio usable. I have also owned and used similarly priced and classed bays by Re'an and Neutrik. I consider the dbx and Re'ans to be very low duty, suitable for a light-use home studio and no more. The Neutriks are the best of the bad bunch, easier to reconfigure, a little more rigid hence a little better life expectancy, and good connectors. It would be a better spend of money for more serious or frequent patchers such as commercial facilities or frequent-use home studios to to bite the bullet and look into more expensive, slightly more permanent but better built, more difficult to install BUT more efficient, reliable and professional TT/Bantam patch bay options with multipin quick-connects or hard connection terminals on the back. The patch points on my 31 year old MCI console are much more solid and reliable than a ~5 year old, routinely used dbx PB48...let's put it that way (the dbx bays sure install easier, though!) Again, in a light-use home situation, I expect they would be longer-lived and just need periodic cleaning. Sonically, well, you're always going to lose a little something with the additional connections points a patch bay adds to the signal chain, and this rings especially true with jack in, jack out bays like the dbx PB48, but beyond that, these guys don't do anything especially horrific in a worse-than-average sort of way to the sonic quality of the signal. They're no better or worse than other similar bays in this regard...er, until you've patched one too many times, the solder joints start letting go and your signal starts getting wonky.

The DBX 163X is a simple compressor/limiter that comes as a single channel unit. It is an analog piece of gear, and only takes up half a rack space, so if you had two of these you could fit them perfectly in a single space in a traditional rack casing. I don't know what types of connections it has, as the one that I've used was already connected to the patch bay, but it does have a 1/4" input in the front. UTILIZATION It doesn't get much simpler than using the DBX 163X for a compressor/limiter. It only has a slider for setting the amount of compression that you'd like, and a level knob for setting the gain make up/output level. That's everything there is to know about the make up of the 163X, so as you can tell this is a very simple piece of gear. It also does have a series of LED lights for metering your compression level. I haven't ever needed to look at the manual for this, so I don't know anything about it. SOUND QUALITY The sound quality of the DBX 163X is really quite good. Generally I'm a much bigger fan of the older DBX gear, but the 163X has a more modern compression sound. It's good for a variety of applications, but I've had success using it mostly on drums. I don't think that it sounds full enough on lead vocals, but it depends on the singer. In general I use these for mixing drums, but again they are definitely suitable for use with other instruments as well. It's really easy to get a quick sound, which is also a big plus with this, as it allows you to see quickly if it will work for the application you're trying to use it for. OVERALL OPINION For a compressor that can be had at a very cheap price used, the DBX 163X is a great deal. It isn't up there with the DBX 165A and 166, but it has a more than respectable sound that is useful more times than not. I've used this in a higher end professional studio, but since they are pretty easy to find at a cheap price, they are definitely a perfect fit for a home studio as well. If you're looking for some bang for your buck in a compact compressor/limiter, the DBX 163X is definitely something worth checking out.

The DBX 166XS is a 2 channel compressor/limiter and gate. It is a rackable unit taking up only 1 rack space and comes in a fresh white color that pops out. Out of all of the DBX products that I have used in the past, I was very surprised on the actual build of this unit because I have used some other rackable units from them in the past that are not built very well and the knobs break off very easily. On the 1667XS I have yet to experience any problems with the knobs or the unit as a whole and I have been working with it for about 7 months now. UTILIZATION There are 2 XLR inputs and 2 ¼ inputs; 2 XLR outputs and 2 ¼ outputs with 2 ¼ side chain I/O. It is very easy to get this unit up and running, it only took me about 5 minutes to start working with and I didn’t even have to look at the manual. But strangely my unit didn’t come with a manual; I had to download it online. I am not sure if this was a mistake or if that is the way they are distributing the manual to cut down on paper cost. SOUND QUALITY I have tried many different things with this compressor and I love using it with different instruments and drums to see what sounds I can get. I like to use this to compress many different audio signals before pushing them through my interface to Pro Tools. I have used it on everything from guitars to brass instruments just to see how it sounds but my favorite is the kick drum because I can get some really cool sounds with the gate and compression. OVERALL OPINION This unit has turned into more of the “experimental” sounding unit for use. It only cost 239 dollars which was a lot less than most of the other compressors that I have ever purchased. Also DBX has a 266XS unit that is very good too and it is even cheaper than this one is as far as the price goes. But like I said with DBX you have to be careful because some of the products may be built “cheap”.

The DBX 463X is a single channel over easy noise gate that is an older piece of gear no longer being made. It's a really simple piece of gear, that has a Hi-Z 1/4" input in the front of it. It also has 1/4" connections for input and output in the back of it, as well as for a few other features including for stereo coupling this with another one. It is rack mountable, but will only take up half of a single space. UTILIZATION The make up of the DBX 463X couldn't be much more simple. The only parameters that is has are for threshold and for setting your 'downward expansion,' which is basically setting the amount of gating that you'd like. That's all a user will need to know about the the 463X, but the manual is put together pretty well with a lot of information on it if you think you need some help with it. SOUND QUALITY I don't really know what to say about the DBX 463X in terms of sound quality, other than it does it's job and doesn't add it's own color to the mix. I've only used the 463X on various different drums and for no other applications. I've used it on a few tracking sessions where I was getting a lot of bleed from other microphones on the tom tom drums and wanted to simply gate it so that there would only be a signal when the toms hit, which was easy enough to dial in. It did the job just fine for this application, but I'm not sure that it's any better or worst sounding than other gates out there. OVERALL OPINION While gates are really all that necessary by modern recording standards, DBX 463X does it's job well if you're looking for one. It can be had at an incredibly cheap price if you're able to get one used, but I'd probably only recommend doing so in a larger studio setting where something like this might be needed every now and again. As far as single channel noise gates go, the DBX 463X will definitely give you some bang for you buck if you need it.

The original Dbx 160 comes either as a single channel compressor/limiter, or as two paired together. The one that I've used is the model that came as two in one rack mountable casing. It is an analog piece of gear, with the 160 now coming in a variety of new models. I'm unsure what type of connections it has in the back of it since the one I used was already racked up and ready to be patched with the patch bay. UTILIZATION The make up of the Dbx 160 is pretty standard for a compressor/limiter. Each channel has parameters for threshold, compression, and output gain, which is almost as simple as you can get for something like this. The 160 also has a VU meter which is programmable and can show either input, output, or gain change levels, depending on which button you press in. Even less experienced users probably won't require a manual, but I haven't seen it anyway so I can't say anything about it's make up. SOUND QUALITY The Dbx 160 is undoubtedly the best of the different 160s that I've got experience with. I'm a big fan of the way these older Dbx units sound in general, as I think they have a lot more fullness to offer when compared to the newer Dbx models. I've used the stereo 160 in a variety of formats, including to track on drum overheads - really just to touch them to keep them in check and to add a bit of warmth to the sound. I've also used the Dbx 160 for mixing with a variety of applications that include bass guitar and acoustic guitar, again just to add some warmth and thickness to the sound. These are really just great all around compressor/limiters and I would bet that they would excel in most situations you put them in. OVERALL OPINION I don't know what type of price the vintage Dbx 160s command now, and I do see them here in there in professional recording studios. As far as I'm concerned, these older Dbx units are the best that they have to offer, and the 160 in particular really sounds great. I can't say a bad thing about the 160 as I've had nothing but good experiences with. I'd encourage anyone with access to one of these to take advantage of it and give it some proper use if you aren't already doing so...

The Dbx 902 is a discontinued de-esser that fits inside a 500 series style casing. It is an analog piece of gear and isn't rack mountable in a traditional sense. Once you've hooked it up with your 500 series casing, which is necessary to use this, you'll have all your connections on chassis. UTILIZATION The configuration of the Dbx 902 is pretty simple and straight forward. There isn't anything that will really throw you for a loop here if you understand the basic make up of de-essers. It's just got parameters for frequency and range, as well as a button for mode and for bypass. That's really all that a user of the 902 will need to know about using this, so I don't think that a manual is necessary. SOUND QUALITY The sound of the Dbx 902 is definitely above average. I generally use de-esser plug-ins since I don't have anything at home in terms of outboard gear to use, but I am happy when I'm in a professional studio and they have a nice outboard de-esser to work with. It isn't that big of a deal since I'd say that only one of every five or so sessions I'll even use a de-esser, but for those sessions that I do need it, having something like this around is a huge plus. It has a very clean sound and does the job just about as good as any other de-esser that I've used, barring a few at the very top. It will at the very least definitely give you better sound than you would get with most de-esser plug-ins. OVERALL OPINION Although Dbx is not longer making the 902s, as quick Google search will tell you that there are plenty of dealers selling used ones out there, no to mention that I'm sure you could find some on eBay as well. The prices that I was seeing were very reasonable, although keep in mind that this can really only do one thing, albeit it does it very well. Dbx is a company that I wholeheartedly would recommend in general, and the 902 is definitely something worth checking out if you've got a 500 series rack and are looking to add an inexpensive de-esser.

The Dbx 162 is a vintage stereo compressor/limiter. It is in the 160s family, and has the same look and style to many of the models in this line of dynamic processors. The 162 is strictly an analog piece of gear, with no digital parts at all. It has XLR and 1/4" connections and will take up two spaces in a traditional rack space. UTILIZATION The Dbx 162 isn't a complicated compressor, consisting of only the basic parameters found on most compressors, so if you have any experience with dynamic processors, you will definitely recognize these parameters and should be able to use it without a problem or the assistance of a manual. It simply has parameters for threshold, compression, and output, as well as metering options for each of the two channels. I've really only used this a stereo compressor on stereo pairs of recordings, and haven't tried to split up the channels, so I'm not really sure if this is possible. SOUND QUALITY The tone quality of the Dbx 162 is very similar to that of the 165A, but definitely has its own sound as well. Being that it is a stereo compressor, I'd first recommend using this on stereo pairs like drum overheads or even a pair of electric guitar mics, but I'm sure that if you wanted to you could branch out with it and use it on unmatched stereo pairs as well. Like the 165A, the 162 certainly has a lot of grit to its tone, and isn't the type of compressor you would use if you were looking for a cleaner tone. Rather, I love using the 162 for situations where I might want to roll with a particular crunchy tone and enhance it. OVERALL OPINION The Dbx 162 is definitely one of the hardest to find in the Dbx 160 series, and Dbxs in general, so determining a price range isn't easy. However, if you were really interested in picking up one of these, I'm sure you could do so if you played the waiting game. Even though this is a great stereo compressor on its own, if you're really looking for this type of tone, I'd recommend looking at some of the other compressors in this line like the 165A that are a bit more accessible. Having said all of this, the Dbx 162 is a great stereo compressor on its own, with a style all its own.

The Dbx 586 is a dual channel vacuum tube based analog pre amplifier. Each channel has both 1/4 inch connections and XLR connections. It is a rack mountable unit and will take up two rack space units. UTILIZATION The configuration of the Dbx 586 may seem a bit confusing at first since there are so many parameters, but after a bit of using it, it is pretty easy to use and understand. It has a lot of different knobs and buttons to get the perfect level coming into your console or audio interface. Everything is easy to access and the phantom power and pad buttons are always handy. The manual for the Dbx 586 is pretty thorough and is helpful to have around when trying to learn all the ins and outs of this unit. SOUND QUALITY The sound of the Dbx 586 is awesome as the real vacuum tubes give your tone a really warm sound. It will color your sound a little, but it only adds to the beefiness of the sound coming in. I have used the Dbx 586 on a number of different instruments including vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitar, and electric keyboards. I'm always happy with the sounds I get while recording and especially for when I'm trying to an extra big sound. OVERALL OPINION I've been using the Dbx 586 dual channel vacuum tube pre amp for about two years and it is another fine product from Dbx. The price is very reasonalbe, which makes it a great choice for the home studio owner looking for a nice tube based pre amp. However, it sounds good enough that it is suitable for the professional studio owner and engineer as well. The wide array of parameters allow for this to be a versatile pre amp capable of recording just about anything you want with it. I definitely recommend the Dbx 586 for those looking for a nice tube based pre amp at an even better price.

The dbx 165 A is a rackable single channel compressor and it is analog piece of gear. I'm not sure about the connections as it is an older piece of gear and the one I use has been modded to have external XLR connections. UTILIZATION The set up is standard as far as outboard gear goes as long as you have the right connections. Beyond set up, it is a really flexible machine in terms of easily dialing in a great tone. I really like the sound of this thing when the compression is turned up all the way, it smashes the sound unlike most compressors I've used. I've never used the manual as I've never had access to one, however, it is pretty easy to figure out the controls. SOUND QUALITY The DBX 165A has a sound of its own. It has a vintage warmth and certain crunch that is unique. I mostly use the 165A for drums, but also sounds great on electric keys like a Rhodes or a Wurli. That being said, this is a great all around compressor and can add its warmth to just about anything you want to compress. If you are going for the warm sound it makes it can be perfect for any application, but it is limited in some ways because I can get a much cleaner compression with some other compressors. My favorite application of it might be for just really smashing and over compressing the signal, specifically on mono drum overhead. OVERALL OPINION I first used the DBX 165 about 2 years ago. I like the gritty warmth it produces and is one of my favorite DBX models, which says a lot considering the reputation DBX has for making great products. While I believe DBX no longer makes these, you can probably find one used at a reasonable price. This is a great addition to anyone's compressor collection, but it wouldn't be the compressor I would buy if I was looking for my first one or second compressor as it isn't clean enough for most situations that I would use compression.

The dbx 166XL is a compressor - limiter - gate in the form of a rackmountable piece of outboard gear. It is an analog piece of equipment and it has both XLR microphone inputs and outputs and has 1/4 inch inputs and outputs. This is handy because I can either plug my instrument direct or plug a microphone into it before I send it to my audio interface. UTILIZATION The configuration of the 166XL is straightforward and is your basic compressor. It is easy to get a good sound out of it and is capable of getting a couple of different types of sounds out of it - ranging from a light compression sound to really squishing the signal, and it is also a sufficient gate. It all depends on what you'd like to do with it. The manual is pretty complete and was helpful when setting it up with my configuration. SOUND QUALITY The sound quality of the dbx 166XL is a little bit above average in my opinion. While its pretty clean, the sound won't blow you away. It is a basic compressor and is definitley helpful to have a few of them around for recording drums if you like to track with compression. I have used this on snare drum, kick drum, guitars, and bass guitar. I like it a lot on drums, as it will fatten up your signal a bit and is clean. Its faults I think come in the that it sometimes gets too tinny, but if you use it in the right situations, it usually is reliable and sounds good. OVERALL OPINION I've been using the 166XL for a few years. They are a real cheap option for the home studio owner who wants a few compressors to use for tracking. They sound good and are easy to use, while being quite well built and reliable in terms of it not breaking down. I like this model better than the dbx 266XL, but they are pretty similar in nature, I just think that the 166xl sounds better and cleaner, and is probably worth the difference in price. I definitley recommend those home studio owners on a budget to check out the 166XL as a reliable option for using compression.