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Hi all

I considder buying the mentioned dual preamp with built in 96/24 AD converters. Do you know it? Any opinions on it?
What I like about it is:

1) no "unneeded" extras like i.e. eq/comp
2) having only one unit before my Pulsar
3) unclipable ADs - I know it is an "unneeded" "limpressor"

http://www.dbxpro.com/386.htm

Immanuel

I have a dbx 386. Generally speaking, I like it. It has more of what I would call a modern tube sound - but it is clean and quiet. Great metering on the front panel. The 20db pad switch was a nice touch also.

I have three complaints:

1) the unit runs hot - very hot. If you mount this thing in a rack, leave an open space above the unit or you will bake whatever is on top of it.

2) The samplerate and output select buttons in the middle of the unit do not remember the last settings when power is turned off. Not a show stopper, but it would have been nice if dbx had added a bit of memory to these circuits. The unit always defaults to a specific setting which may or may not be what you normally use.

3) I don't understand why manufacturers of rack-mount equipment put the on/off switch on the rear panel. Kinda dumb if you ask me.

Now, that ws a lot of talk about the features.

How do you like the sound. I am not realy into, what a modern tube sound means. I will mainly record male vocals, acustic guitars and percussive instruments. Most compositions will be simple with not a lot of tracks.
Do you find the DBX 386 suited for those purposses?

I am looking for a clear, not dull, not borring, not moddy sound.

Immanuel

Hi,
I own a 386 and I like it but:
SPL Goldmike is the best choice for me.
I´m thinking about selling DBX and getting SPL....
In my opinion, the DBX type4 conversation system is a great thing but it cannont top SPLs "Flair" funktion if we talk about sound...

Greetz

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: blacksun on 2002-09-10 11:05 ]</font>

Why do you prefer the Goldmike?
At what price would you considder selling your DBX?

Immanuel

Regarding my comment about the tube sound...

I have quite a few tube based preamps in my possession. Some of them tend to sound retro - what I mean is that they definitely color the sound - can I call it a "brown" sound? A good example of a "brown" sound are the ART Tube MP units. Brown is not a bad thing. Throw a couple of those puppies on the output of your CD player and you will see what I mean. You can definitely hear the tubes at work. Really nice and toasty is how I would describe the sound.

The dbx unit doesn't toast the sound as much. It's warm, but not what I would classify as "brown" sounding. So I call it more of a modern tube sound meaning that it warms up the sound a bit, but not too much - even at radical settings. I guess I would call it glassy, yet still clean. It's a really nice middle ground. You can't go wrong using it for the purposes you stated.

I'm not sure how else to describe it. Maybe someone else can explain it better