Opinions on the dbx 266XL compressor?

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stopstartstall

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Hey all,

Just wondering what people thought of the dbx 266xl as a first compressor for a home studio. I only record myself (acoustic gtrs and vox) and my band (again mostly gtrs, bass and vox but possibly drums in the future).

I've been using compressor plugins up to now (mostly blockfish and a couple of the ones bundles with Sonar) but I thought I might investigate hardware based compressors.

If you have a good alternative up to around £200 then feel free to recommend me something else instead.

Thanks!
 
stopstartstall said:
Hey all,

Just wondering what people thought of the dbx 266xl as a first compressor for a home studio. I only record myself (acoustic gtrs and vox) and my band (again mostly gtrs, bass and vox but possibly drums in the future).

I've been using compressor plugins up to now (mostly blockfish and a couple of the ones bundles with Sonar) but I thought I might investigate hardware based compressors.

If you have a good alternative up to around £200 then feel free to recommend me something else instead.

Thanks!
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Not a particularly good compressor. I have one and it's only acceptable use is in my guitar rack. I wouldn't suggest buying one for recording.

Get an FMR RNC instead for vocals, drums and guitars (if you actually need one for guitars). They are stereo units, but are not dual mono. Used, they are about $125US.

Alternatives include the DBX 160 (x, xt or a models - your choice). Not as good on vocals as the RNC, but better IMHO on drums and bass than the RNC (about $225US used).

The Symetrix 501 is also a very good compressor that can be found cheaply used. I use one solely for bass, but you can use it on most anything. Only available used for about $125US. They are linkable for stereo use. if you buy two with the intention of linking them check the models carefully, there were at least three versions of this unit. Arguably, the one with the metal toggle power switch is reputed to be the best of the lot.
 
I've just found the FMR RNC for around £150 (new) so that's definitely become a possibility. Thanks for the input!
 
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