dbx vs vst

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wannabecomedeat

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hi,

I have found a dbx 1066 for 300$ Can and I wonder if it is a good buy. I own a delta 1010lt soundcard and would use the dbx at mixing, rerooted.

My first question is:Would it still sound better than vst compressors, after the a/d d/a conversion stuff, considering the soundcard I own.

what I realised with vsts is,on fast kick drum parts, it kinda starts to do random clicky sounds. Another trouble I had is, using let's say waves L2 limiter, everytime it cuts a little of the kick hit, it adds some "pop" sound after the attack (not clipping). Is this a general plugin trouble that a hardware compressor like the dbx wouldn't do?

I also think I could use the dbx between my mic pre (dmp3) and my soundcard while recording. Right now I can't put any gain on the dmp3 and my 1010lt input level is set as low as possible. The dbx could be used to lower the volume before the soundard input, so I could get maximum gain out of the dmp3.

1-Would it work?
2-Would it add a bit of bite to the sound to have more gain on the dmp3, or is this just a matter of volume rather then getting a fuller sound?

I also wonder if the sidechaining fonction is good on the dbx. (I would use it to duck the bass track when the kick "kicks in" :D and to tame the snare and toms from the overhead)

I would use it on drum, guitars, vocals, bass.

If you think of a vst that can do a better job than this kind of hardware, please let me know
 
Your PC/DAW software is not configured right. You shouldn't be getting any pops or clicks when using VST effects...
 
It's not a pop or click like when it pops or clips because of the hardware or volume, I hear it when gain reduction happens, not on the full mix, but when you solo the track. It doesn't happen on let's say guitar, where the limiter fairly always active, it's on instruments with big attack
 
my understanding is that dbx 160's (the a's, x's, xt's and the real expensive vintage vu's) are generally better for stuff like kick or bass than the 1066's. full disclosure: i am a little biased because i have two x's, but tons of people with way more credibility than me have made that same assertion on other message boards, magazines, and check the equipment lists of commercial studios-- you'll often see one or more of those units in their racks. the upside is that you can generally get a used x, xt or a from around $175-250. they are one channel compressor/limiters w/o gate. the 1066's are often said to be better for live applications. hope that helps.
 
The L2 is a limiter, not a compressor. The two are not interchangable. You need to compare a 1066 to a C1 compressor.

BTW, a hardware compressor will do the same thing to a kick that the L2 does. The 1066 isn't fast enough to do the same thing as an L2.
 
The 1066 is said to be a compressor/limiter/gate, isn'T it supposed to have the same fonction as the L2?
 
wannabecomedeat said:
The 1066 is said to be a compressor/limiter/gate, isn'T it supposed to have the same fonction as the L2?
Click to expand...
No. The L2 is a mastering limiter.
The peakstop limiter is just something they put on the 1066 to catch random transients, it was never meant to be a squashing device, more of a saftey device.

They are not the same at all.
 
So Jay, what if anything would you say the 1066 does a good job on?
 
I've used it on vocals, bass, drum buss, snare, kick, main buss in a PA, etc...
Stuff that you would use a compressor for.

The L2 is a mastering limiter, I hardly ever use it for anything other than strapping across the mix buss to make something louder. That is what it's designed for and that's what it does best.
 
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