All user reviews for the dbx 160X

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.

This analog limiter is a rack able unit that can also be used as a compressor as well. This unit is a high quality piece of gear and should not be over looked especially if you need a great limiter. This limiter can not be compared to a software limiter because it is just so much better than any software limiter to me. I have been using this limiter off and on for bout 7 years now, im not sure when it was created probably way before I started using it but comparing it to any software limiters is a mistake. Nothing will give you great compression and limiting like the dbx 160x can.


UTILIZATION

Very easy to use and set up especially if you know how limiting and compression works, well not just how it works but how it works in a hardware unit and not software there is a major difference. Using this unit you wont be able just to click on different limiting presets and compression presets. You will have a lot of control over your music but you can do the same with software as well except the software limiters just arent as good, unless you spend a ton of money on a limiter and compression plug in and in that case the dbx 160x would be cheaper to go with because it is not expensive at all anymore.


SOUND QUALITY

Using this compressor and limiter has been a great investment for me and I continue to use it from time to time. It just isn’t good if you are going to travel a lot, that is where the software limiter plug ins come in to play for me and when they get used the most. I hardly never use a software limiter or compressor if im in the main studio or even at home most of the time.


OVERALL OPINION

Overall, it has great compression capabilities

Analog technology. Everything has been said, it's a great machine.La modifiée.Remplacé mine is the original opamps by BurrBrown.OPA PA 2134.
Result: more details of "potato", but that's 160 X and 160 A machines are having any way if you have the opportunity to take at least one.

UTILIZATION

Yes easy to use. On bass and percussion.

SOUND QUALITY

Mine is modified. Modif easy to do for qq'un who really knows a bit of soldering components.

OVERALL OPINION

I've had two ans.Facilité use. Purchased on ebay usa, from a vendor that I know.

Specifications:
Compressor / limiter analog
not editable
6.35 / O + possibility to connect 2 160x which is a slave for stereo compression.
Rackable
For the English doc is here: ftp://ftp.dbxpro.com/pub/PDFs/discontinued/manuals/160X%% 20Owners 20Manual.pdf

UTILIZATION

Configuration very simple but, of course, the more simple is more subtle ....

I did not have the manual but I found the site DBX (see above), there is also that of the 160A (same thing but easier to read) in English only. Anyway, it's very simple.

SOUND QUALITY

Come on, the only really important thing, the sound:

Then there is simple and too bad if it was already said elsewhere, is transparency! It compresses as you want (possibly a lot!) But without changing an iota of the original sound. Impressive!
It can be seen as a good or not according to what you want, but in my opinion, color the sound is not a compressor ....

I mainly use the compression function Over Easy (the soft knee DBX what.) To record voice and acoustic guitar.

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for 2 days (yes I know it's not: I will come to an edit if necessary later!)
The best: the efficiency and transparency.
The least: you have to be honest, there is little adjustment but it's pretty subtle to find what you want to happen (we'll say he just know how to use a compressor, well, anyway, with a little ear, you get there !!!).

I have never used compressor that level but in terms of transparency, it is sufficient to compare the processed sound and the sound and untreated in terms of compression efficiency, well .... , same answer!

I just purchase in the 300 euros. I think it is newer and has been replaced by the DBX 160a (apart from the input / output XLR, I do not know the difference except that A is made in China and the X was Japan ....) which is around 500 euros new.

I think it's a good value but of course, home studio, you can do without this kind of tool. Finally it should be noted that one can also use it on stage, I was tough enough air for that!

I do it again this choice without any problems!

EDIT: well, that's more than a month that I use and I confirm my first impressions are:

completely transparent, super efficient, we must learn to adjust to their own needs, but you get there because the settings are very simple and so the ear is enough!

Mono Analog Compressor Rack 1U in height. Connectors on Jack. No On / Off button.

UTILIZATION

The config is very simple, very vintage in approach, because the compression curves are preconfigured, it only remains to choose the one you want .... I have not read the manual, it's stuff that "feels", I mixed the whole weekend with and I wonder if I'll really take the trouble to read the manual I mainly placed above the bass, then taken to the mix with a different setting each time. It is true that we hear a clear improvement when going through something. I think back to others later, because it does not cost too much to chance ...

SOUND QUALITY

The compression effect is very well "calibrated" I'll try to pass bass drums and snare to see what it looks but I'm pretty confident in the outcome Both bassists who have used it in the studio were both thrilled, one playing rock vintage, the other Hard, each with a different setting, were able to make their own sound ...

**** EDIT **** from 28/12/2009
After playing well in the mix with my compressor, it seems that it gives a nice color on the low when it comes in strong. The sound comes off fairly well with the Bass Drum (which itself goes into a 1176 via a bus the table), which is exactly what I was looking ... on the other hand, seeking a specific color for my compressor, I do not take another dbx160 for guitars or keyboards, but possibly for the toms, why not!

**** EDIT **** on 26/01/2010
A sound engineer is mixing a few songs come to my house, he took under his arm a few racks with it to complete my set-up. He had with him-among others-2 dbx 160X. He mixed all of his guitars in a stereo bus dedicated to this pair of compressors. It was a "big sound", but not bold or aggressive, just the guitars were much more present, all the time, no color, no further aggression ... So once again: not transparent but we feel there is a magnification of something when an instrument through this small rack ...

**** EDIT **** OF 08/07/2010
I have 2 two constants in the Studio. According to the titles I have to mix, they serve me on any style of source (vocals, bass drums, guitars, bass, synths, organ, ...) and every time I say "really great as bike "!
I think back further, I have a lot of compressors, but it has a quality / price (used) really hard to beat!

OVERALL OPINION

I use it recently, but now consistently. Moreover it has no On / Off switch, so it encourages the use when the whole system is powered.

One of my friends told me that ingestion front of people "known" (Veronique Sanson and others) used it on each slice of the table, but also on their table every ride!! To describe the somewhat "universal Swiss Army knife" of the craft ...

I own or have owned a few compressors: Joemeek VC1qc (2 copies), TLAudio Fatman 1 and 2 (sold both), Universal Audio 1176, Summit TLA100 ...
Thereof, and with a great price, is the Swiss Army knife, used routinely at the slightest session, ALWAYS! And this is not the case autrezs "big" references ...
What I like least: the small little less is the lack of On / Off button, but it would always be "On "....
Value for money monstrous opportunity (between 200 and 300 Euros ...), do NOT hesitate to take one or even more! I want to buy many more!
Paul

A super mono compressor, stupid: threshold, ratio, and an output gain. Over a button-easy (for a more gradual compression, and a bypass, a truth, which directly connects the input jack to output jack.
Stereo linkable with a simple TRS.
A function that is often overlooked: in addition to jacks, there is a screw terminal. On this terminal, there is a jumper between the compressor inlet and the detection input: by removing the jumper cables and fashioning appropriate, you can compress a track based on the level of another. For example: the bass drum that compresses the low ... On the 160A, this entry exists in jack, the terminal has disappeared.

There are two versions 160X: oldest are manufactured in the USA, most recently in Japan. And 160A are made in China ...

UTILIZATION

There's no easier to use! We chose a ratio, and adjust the Threshold watching small LEDs that work well: when it is green, the sound level is below the threshold, when it's red, it is above the threshold and the compressor acts as the ratio selected. When it triggers the OverEasy, a third LED operating between the two previous ones: the orange LED indicates that the level is "around" the threshold in the area or compress it gently, that is not as much as the ratio selected but a bit anyway.
Finally, we can give a little gain with the last pot.

Live, it's happiness can not hope to find a compressor that adjusts so quickly and that sounds all the time.

If you use two 160X stereo from time to time, you can leave the jack coupling continuously. When you need it, it triggers the button "slave" on one of two compressors, and it made all the settings on the other. Not only does it once the settings for both, but it behaves like a "real" stereo: the sound is compressed to the same on both channels even if only one of two (and any both) exceeds the threshold.

SOUND QUALITY

This is actually the most transparent compressor I had the opportunity to test. There are other very real compressors, much more expensive as the 1176 or the dbx 165, LA2A ... that have great sound but a color particulère their own. This 160X has no color, it gets bigger, it wakes up the details buried in his home, but added nothing.
The output gain is monstrous: it can increase the level in reasonable proportions, without any degradation or even discrete staining, no breath, nothing! This machine gives an impression of "his own".

The over-easy is the voice or if you just want to smooth the level of an instrument without audible compression effect. Once it was removed, it was a more punchy, more honest with attacks.

For cuts of pork, we can push beyond the ratio of the infinite (!) And have a sound that loses the level when it exceeds the threshold. And then pump it damn, if that's what we're looking ...

OVERALL OPINION

I have two, one American and one Japanese, and I think back one or two others. There are other hardware compressors that attract me much, but they are so much more expensive ...

The dbx 160X is an analog compressor/limiter. It has XLR connections in the back and is rackable - it will take up a single rack space. The metering is smartly made and the bright LEDs help you to see exactly where you level is at.

UTILIZATION

The configuration of the 160X is pretty easy to follow. It has a knob to set the threshold, a knob to set the output gain, and a knob for compressor ratio. It then has a buttons for bypass and to change the display of the metering. I don't have a manual for this so I don't know if it helpful or not, but the unit is easy enough to use that most shouldn't need it except maybe during set up or troubleshooting.

SOUND QUALITY

The sound quality of the dbx 160X is pretty good overall. It is good for drums and guitars, but lacks the full quality I would look for in a vocal compressor. The ease of use makes it quick and easy to get a good sound and the bypass button is handy when A/Bing your signal. It is nice to have a few of these at once while you are tracking if you like to track drums with compression.

OVERALL OPINION

I've been using the dbx 160X compressor for about two years or so. While this isn't the best sounding compressor out there, it is very solid and works great for drums. The price is what will draw most to these, as they are quite cheap, but not cheap enough that they can be considered an entry level compressor. These definitely sound better than the dbx 166 and 266, but is a bit more expensive than both. If you are looking for some compressor that are a reasonable price and sound good, the dbx 160X is worth a look.