art 254 or dbx 386?

[Jason M Hancock]

Art 254 or dbx 386? help!
Hi,

Just when I thought I was ready to buy the dbx 386, something made me balk at the price tag. (I'm looking at U.S. $479.) The Art 254 looks pretty nice at U.S. $299.

I believe the advice I've seen here that "buy cheap, buy twice," bu I don't know whether the Art is cheap. Or is comparing these two models like comparing apples and oranges?

Should I fork over the extra $180 for the dbx? I see it has a lot of digital capabilities. I'm using tape (a humble Tascam) right now but plan to move over to digital (probably the Korg D-1600) within the next six months.

Do I really need all those bells and whistles on the dbx 386? It sure looks awful purty but I'm not sure I need it. I'm mostly recording acoustic guitars, a few other acoustic instruments, vocals, and drum machine.

I'll certainly appreaciate any thoughts/opinions.

Jason

[Dog]

Jason

I'm not going to be much help as I haven't used the 254. I have the 386 and I run a Studio projects C1 and a Cad-E100 through it. I've been very pleased with the results. I also am recording acoustic guitars with it.

I would think the digital out would come in very handy when you switch over to a digital recorder. Just be sure it has a digital in on you recorder ...Duh? LOL!

Good luck with your purchase. I know these decisions can be frustrating. I have agonized over many of them. I feel your pain!

[Jason M Hancock]

Hi Dog,

You're right on time! I was just discussing this today with a former loudspeaker engineer. He questioned why in the world would it be necessary to convert the mic signal into digital at the preamp stage?! Come to think of it....why is it necessary or desirable? Why not just have analog going into a unit like the Korg D-1600 and let it do all the work?

After being posed with this question, I'm leaning toward the ART 254.

Any thoughts?

Thanks again.

Jason

[Fishkid]

Don't know the quality of the Korg A/D convertors but the quality of the convertors is one reason why one would go in digitally. Typically you would use the device with best A/D converison. The conversion on the 386 is one of it's strongest features. Just more variables to think about.

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Fishkid