DBX 286S Mic Preamp/Compressor

Product Information

Enhancer HF Detail Characteristic: Program-controlled shelving equalizer, approximately 15dB maximum HF boost Noise: <-80dBu unweighted (20Hz-20kHz); Both Gain Controls set for 0dB, all processing controls OFF The Compressor module sounds fine and provides enough control to tame the dynamics of various sound sources. Now that I own other hardware compressors, it's not my first choice, but it was my only choice for a long time, and I've used it to produce a lot of music. Here is the deal, modern interfaces like the RME Babyface or Audient ID22 have mic preamps that are lightyears ahead of this unit. Then OK you have the gate (which worked well if If recall) and all the other gizmos, expenders compressors and so on.

You should get an instant answer on whether your application has been successful, though in some rare cases Klarna or V12 may need to look at the application in more detail. If you're using a bunch of plugins to improve your mic for live situations, such as live streaming and meetings, it's time to ditch plugins that emulate De-esser, noise gate, compression, light EQ. It's adding latency/delay in your vocals, and you're having to account for that. This is where the 286s comes in, by offloading audio processing to hardware. You'll account for the core portion of your audio processing through the 286s, and will pretty much ditch all plugins for live use cases. The Output should be set to 0. Adjust this if need be to fit the equipment you're using like a mixing desk or a USB soundcard like the Scarlett 2i2. I am a beginning voice actor and have slowly been building my home studio and equipment. Prior to purchasing and implementing the DBX 286s into my signal chain I was having to edit out miscellaneous sounds, compress, remove breaths, etc. using plugins in my DAW. It could be very time consuming. I researched and found a lot of experienced voice artists are using this.I know nothing of the Drawmer unit. Many types/pieces of gear are capable of getting you "where you need to go"; it's just some get you there much faster and easier than others. If you can afford to experiment with inexpensive, used gear you'll know when the good stuff happens.On a side note... The funny thing about used gear at the moment seems to be that people are trying to sell most of it for more than I can get new online, especially where I am. I have even sent them links saying LOOK this is CHEAPER NEW and trying to make an offer. They still seem to refuse to accept. Ha! The sonically pristine dbx 286s Mic Preamp has all the features you need, including wide-ranging input gain control, switchable +48V phantom power, and an 80Hz high-pass filter to remove low frequency hum, rumble or wind. Use the patented dbx OverEasy compressor to transparently smooth out uneven dynamics. Eliminate vocal sibilance and high frequency distortion with the frequency tunable De-Esser. Fine-tune the Enhancer HF Detail control to add sparkle and crispness, and make adjustments to the LF Detail control to add fullness and depth. And, the separate threshold and ratio controls on the Expander/Gate allow you to subtly reduce headphone leakage or radically gate noisy sound sources. The other feature I needed was better pre-amp for greater gain. Although I use a condenser mic for narration, I'm planning to use dynamic mics for podcasting. This device took care of the gain problem too. the gate is the only thing I have no complaints about. If the unit didn't have such bad / unmusical distortion then it would useful. HF Detail: Characteristic Program-controlled shelving equalizer, approximately 15dB maximum HF boost

However, the Gear4music extended warranty scheme provides an enhanced service, and is designed to offer a higher level of protection than many 'free' warranties offered by some retailers and manufacturers.This cookie stores user-like settings for the chat system provider, which are required for our online chat service. Trusted Shops Going further, there are also a de-esser, an enhancer, and the noise gate (or expander) effects. At the very right end, is the main output gain knob with its clipping indicator. Collection and delivery costs are included for the first 2 years in the event of an item becoming faulty The mic preamp gain is the overall volume and application of your microphone. When the level is set correctly when you speak you're not going to clip the red light, but the 2 green lights should be on when talking. However, when using the mono cable, you’re not supposed to plug it all the way in. Otherwise, you’ll just stop the signal from going to the main output. It’s a bit of a hassle, but you can still use this output for this purpose as well.

The frequency control sets the highpass frequency of the filter used in the de-esser to help remove the sssss sound when talking. 4 to 8 kilohertz is best for vocal processing. If an item can not be repaired, a similar alternative product or cash discount (as defined in this policy) will be offered The process bypass disables all other settings mentioned below. It's recommend you disable this setting when you don't want to highly process your audio. Compressor The ratio controls the expansion and attenuation applied to the input signal once it is below the threshold we just set. Lower thresholds like 1:1 or 2:1 are better for slower material like vocals. The higher thresholds up to 10:1 are for very fast inputs, like percussion. Outputthe de-easer doesn't work. I couldn't get it to work unless I turned it all the way up. After opening up the unit I can see there are calibration screws on the board. Maybe this would be useful if it was properly calibrated at the factory… but it isn't. The expander, or gate, allows some rudimentary excessive noise removal. Aside from the threshold and ratio controls, there are also a couple of LED indicators in this section. Nothing too fancy, but, again, it’s nice to have and gets the job done. Enhancer LF Detail Characteristic: Bell-shaped boost @ 80Hz, bell-shaped cut @250Hz, ratio is approximately 2:1