actually, since this is an old thread that I already re-awakened once (is that a word??), I might as well actually put in some useful feedback to the original poster and to anyone interested in this comparison.
I have used dbx 286 or 386 or whatever their cheap dual is, I hated it.
I own a dbx dual lunchbox 900 series with two 903 over easy compressors in it, pretty much one of their greatest achievements in compression technology (the 160 design) stuck into convenient modules, a great pair of mono compressors with simple controls, but not much variation - one great sound though!
I still use
my drawmer dl221 regularly though, it slightly colors the sound in a very very good way and being hard knee and pretty much capable of peak limiting it is one heck of a fun tool on individual drums, on drum buss, on bass guitar (very good on slap bass and bassists that change styles frequently during a performance), and it's just a really solid piece of gear. Bought mine for something crazy like $80 from a guy that didn't know how to change the fuse on the back and thought it was a dead unit. Gotta love those situations...
I also have a dod sr866 - useful and sometimes fun sounding unit, a little noisy though (and not the most musical sounding gates either), and absolutely terrible controls and terrible metering. However still useful, and I always like to keep it around, sometimes believe it or not I prefer it to my other units on drum buss... but the sr866 is kind of my little secret since most people don't bother with it since it only has a few very particular settings that sound great and the rest of the control ranges sound terrible...
Then there's my 3630, which I modded myself from the black lion audio instructions (I bought their kit instructions from them direct back when it was available). Modded it's an absolutely amazing sounding dual compressor, my most used vca-based unit (Even more than my drawmer or dbx 903).
I also have a focusrite optical single channel unit, I love having a very musical optical compressor around, it works well on vocals and great on bass, but has a very different sound from the drawmer or dbx units. Hard to explain, but just different. I admit to sometimes over using it when I get indulgent in the psychedelic rock vocal sound that I love so much...
Prices? all cheap except the focusrite. well ok, the dbx 900 series I got a deal on from a famous musician friend of mine who sold it to me at a bargain price, but still it can be found for not too much if you wait and watch the ads. 3630? don't pay more than $100 US (less preferably, mine was $80 CDN), then another $50 to $80 for kit parts and instructions to mod it, sounds like a $2000 unit (sort of like the units I use professionally but don't own myself, I can give examples when I'm not rushing so much!). DOD unit should be dirt cheap, dod themselves don't even support the unit any longer. drawmer, well, maybe $200 or less, depends on how lucky you are. All useful, although stock 3630's aren't terribly studio friendly due to several known bugs in their circuit design, easily fixed with a couple of days of soldering and a few parts from mail order electronic supply stores (talk to black lion audio to see if they still offer that though first, I love those guys but they may not sell the kit or instructions any longer).
Long answer, hopefully useful to someone out there. I'm fairly experienced, but I'm not a high end gear collector really (aside from some mics). I use all levels of gear in pro studios regularly as a producer and sometimes as engineer, so I hope that I can help someone new to this with a bit of decision making. There are lots of people on this board who know tons more than I do though, so I defer to the true experts who post after me. Also, tastes differ....
Cheers,
Don Kelley
