alternative for DBX 166a ? just curious

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earworm

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i got two DBX 166a compressors/gates and i'm very pleased with them,
maybe not top of the notch but hell, lots better than any behringer stuff i used ;) :D

i wanna buy me another DUAL channel compressor-gate, for my drumkit of course, and well, would be great if i could buy something from another brand, so i can compare DBX with sumthin else, makes sense , no?

but i just don't know, what should i look after for?

something that kinda has the same controls, maybe about the same sound quality .... something in that price range;;;;

dual channel, and stereo links would be great,
softknee compression..;can i find that in other brands than DBX ? :o

thanx alot,
earworm
 
mhhh,
the rnc is not dual channel and doesn't have a gate built in

and i heard lots of good stuff about it... but does it compete with dbx,
guess it might
 
The RNC is a stereo unit (NOT dual mono though). True, it has no gate. But in my opnion, this is the best all around compressor under $1000.
 
Here are a list of budget compressors I've compiled.

Art Pro VLA - New or used

Ashly SC50 or CL50 - used

DBX166 - used

Symmetrix 501 - used

Aphex compellors - new or used

JBL/Urei 7110 used

Joe Meek SC2.2 used

ALTEC used

SoMm - used
 
Track Rat said:
The RNC is a stereo unit (NOT dual mono though). True, it has no gate. But in my opnion, this is the best all around compressor under $1000.
Click to expand...


Because of the above opinion (which has been said many many times here at HR.com before), I bought one. So far: no complaints.
 
oh, the art pro vla does look nice,
tubes..dual channel with stereo link, and lovely Vu meters :)
but it only has XLR ins and outs? that a minus for me//
would be great if i could attach it to my trs snake to connect to my inserts

but i'm more looking out for something with a built in gate... :rolleyes:
 
Pick up a DBX 274 quad gate. I scored one for 75 bucks on ebay about a year ago. It worrks really well for drums, it has settings for expansion which sound much more natural than regular old gating.
With the left over cash pick up another 2 channel Comp. The ashley sc-50s are really cool but the prices have been going up lately. They are only one channel by the way.
If your really in a pinch and need one now, grab a used Behringer Composer (older model). You can probably score one for 50 bucks. Not the greatest thing in the world but it has dual channel gating and compression. I've used one plenty of times on my drum tracks and no one has ever said "damn thats some shitty gating/compression you have going on".
 
i don't wanna use any behringer equipment anymore,
in my opinion its junk,
i used a B quadgate, damn, it downgraded my entire signal path

i've been looking at the DBX 4 channel gate,
what do you think about its quality? and the controls?
any clicks when the gate works? does it sound "'muffled" and unclean? like the behringer?
 
I have a few of the DBX 1074 quad gates. They are decent, but they can be hard to really tune in. Aphex actually makes some really nice sounding easy to use gates, as does Drawmer. As far as the compressors go, the Aphex compellors are actually really cool. The old Ashly comps are fun as well, as are the Symetrix ones.
 
aphex started to scare me after i used an aural exciter,
and i heard all these terrible things on the 3660,
so they also make decent stuff?
 
does anyone use those art pro units? how do they sound? good for drums?
 
Aphex 3660? Not sure what that is. Aphex makes good gates, decent comps, and the Compellors and dominators are pretty cool. They even have some decent high end preamps.
 
mlhhh, i used a little art tube preamp for a while,
but in my opinion it was NOTHING special,
didn't impress me at all,
but don't think thats the art PRO stuff.....
 
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