Works great 
by MBH from Boyne City, MI USA, September 2008
Music Background:  20 years of giggin'

I've used some other non-dbx gear, and this unit sounds far better. I used to run through a pre-amp, compressor, and EQ before going into the board; I can do it all with this one unit, and it sounds better and takes up less space in my rack. I liked the first one so much I got two more. The pre-amp adds gain that's nice and clean, the compressor works well, and the enhancers actually do enhance (when used in moderation) rather than just making one's voice sound boomy or tinny. The de-esser works well, too. My only critique is that it would be nice if the compressor had the standard controls. Instead, you get "drive" (which equates to raising gain--in effect, lowering the compression threshold, as near as I can figure) and "density" (which seems to be the same thing as release on a normal compressor). These are OK, but I feel a bit hampered. Then again, maybe the good folks at dbx are making a good call to take most of the controls away from average Joes like me who would probably set them all wrong. Anyway, it provides nicely transparent shaping and has a helpful manual.

  A Nice Surprise 
by Jeff from Lexington, KY., October 2006
Music Background:  Musician and Recording Engineer for over 20 years

I just got the Dbx286a and I was suprised how good it sounded. At this price I was not expecting that. I was expecting it to be used on some guitar tracks and as an extra mic pre when needed. So far I have used it to record some acoustic guitar tracks and a male vocal and it has performed great on both.

  awesome 
by Sci-fi from fort wayne, August 2006

i would have payed twice as much for this channel strip. Does everthing it says it will and does it well. If you got a limited budget and need a high quality reliable channel strip this is it.

dbx 286A is worth every cent you put out!!! 
by N Lavers from Ontario Canada, February 2005

I have owned the dbx 286A for about 5 years now and after using the Focusrite ISA 110, ART stuff, various mixing boards, pre amps from M-audio (about 5 units), Roland mixers, Presonus, and a few more, I have come to this conclusion…

The dbx 286A is one of the best sounding Units I have had use in my recordings, be it vocals to drums for the MONEY! The noise level output…what noise? I can’t hear any…and it add lots of punch and bottom end to your tracks. I can’t believe they can make a unit like this, with all its great features for this kind of money….really?

I truly believe you would be hard pressed to find such a great combination of features and over all sound quality for this price tag. Give it a go…and return it if you not in. Mine is staying with me as it has given me true high quality sound with my recordings…but I was a little skeptical when I drove it home for the price.

Ya…I am very happy camper for this kind of money and over all quality and functionality!

N Lavers
Lavers Productions

My setup….

-Motu Traveler
-1.7 Pentium Centrino Laptop 1 gig Ram /800mhz front bus…XP Pro SP2
- dbx 286A
- Cakewalk Home Studio 2004…I love it…as I don’t need all the Sonar
functions.
- Powered Samson Resolv 80a….I like em!?! ….coming from NS 10’s
- Neumann TLM 103
- Studio Projects C1
- Audio Technica Pro 37
- Audix OM5

Cheer… and happy recording!

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