dbx 266XL Compressor/Gate VS PreSonus Blue Max Compressor

E

ericlingus

New member
I'm thinking about buying one of these two. They are in my price range and after a little research I have narrowed it down to these two. The blue max has presets though which will make it easier to use i'm sure since i'm new at all of this. What would you recommend for a newbie?
 
The dbx 266 is horrible. I haven't tried the BlueMax, but the fact that it has "presets" leads me to think that it must be a joke.
 
haha it's funny to hear everyone's varrying opinions on gear. One person will say it's great and another will say it's horrible. Thanks for the resonposes, I think i'll go with the blue max. Anyone have any other recommendations in the 100-200 dollar price range?
 
the bluemax is great for beginners because the presets sound pretty good. the dbx 266xl I've had wonderful results with as well. Either one should be really good. I find the bluemax works well on vocals and bass whereas the 266xl sounds great on drums.
 
nkjanssen said:
The dbx 266 is horrible. I haven't tried the BlueMax, but the fact that it has "presets" leads me to think that it must be a joke.
Click to expand...
But it can also be used manually!.... :)
 
I have had several "cheap" compressor. 2 of them where the 266xls. I hated them.
Why dont you consider the FMR Audio RNC (really nice compressor).About $125-150
It is a compressor you'll keep. The only down side is , it is a stereo compressor, But you cant use the 2 channels totally independant of each other. What ever triggers the compression on one channel also effects the other channels compression.

Tom
 
I have the Bluemax and use it quite a bit in both preset and manual modes. Works great and does the job. I haven't worked with the RNC, but it's on my list...nothing but raves about that unit.

I also have two Alesis 3630's. Even though you can buy these cheap now...don't - unless you're willing to do mod work.
 
thank you for the replies but now im seriously considering getting a Behringer MDX2600 Composer Pro-XL Compressor. It has an expander,de esser on it as well. I guess it's this one versus the blue max. The behringer is cheaper and has an expander and de esser as well.
 
I have used the Blue Max, and it wasn't bad, and I own the 266xl and love it on drums and bass. It has been the same price now for about 5 years, which says something about it's use and longevity at least on the market end of things.

But seriously, get the FMR RNC. Do a search here. It is the cheapest piece of gear Mercenary Audio sells, and they rave about it in between other multi-thousand dollar items. You won't be sorry.

Pete
 
I've got the Bluemax and the Berry 2600. Neither one gets much use anymore but I've used the bluemax on kick and some bass guitar with decent results. The 2600 does pretty good too except when trying to use the makeup gain after compression. It's just too noisy. Someone else posted, and I tried, to NOT use the mu gain on the 2600 and just use the input trim on my board. Sounds much better.
my 2c and imho.......
 
I have a DBX 266. Don't bother if you intend to record with it. I use it solely in my electric guitar rack (which is about all it is good for). If you are looking for a useful inexpensive comp, consider the FMR Audio RNC or a used Symetrix 501 or 525. The Symetrix SX206 and SX208 aren't bad either (discontinued and only available used). Any of them would be better than the DBX.
 
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