Product: dbx 117 Compressor/Expander
Price Paid: 70 (GBP Pounds) used
Submitted
12/17/2004
at
06:01am
by
J Higgins
Ease of Use
:
10
Very easy to set up, just one dial that when turned all the way clockwise produces maximum expansion, and when turned to max in the opposite direction produces maximum compression.
Also a simple 2 way switch that selects between a short or long release processing characteristic.
Sound Quality
:
9
I bought this unit to add a bit of punch to my MAM ADX-1 analogue drum module, and it does that just nicely being that it's a stereo unit, although you could use it as two seperate mono processors but they would both share the same processing characteristics.
The unit is limited however in it's maximum compression ratio setting of just 1.4/1, and personally i like to take compression a little more extreme for a bit more of that "limited" sound, but overall it does sound very warm and punchy when set to max compression and minimum release setting.
It also seems to apply it's own charater, and i presume this is the well known "dbx" sound people talk of, although with not having any other previous dbx gear i was not aware of this sound, but it is a very pleasing sound that seems to process in a way that gives drums a more vintage dirty feel.
In that sense it's perfect for warming digital signals up, and adding a charater to them which i believe is missing in a lot of music today.
Reliability
:
9
No probs yet, although this unit is getting on now!!
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
N/A
Overall Rating
:
9
Overall i'm satisfied with this unit, as it does what i intended and expected from it, but i would just like it to be able to push the compression slightly harder.
It's probably a good thing that it is limited in this way as i do have a tendancy to push things way too hard, and it does a nice job of adding punch to overall drum mixes and is great for processing individual drum sounds seperately.
I have not really gotten into the expansion side as personally i have no use for this - i need to keep my levels down as apposed to expand them out but i suppose it's handy to have if you need it.
For the price i would reccommend this unit for the above duties and anywhere you would need to tame a signal, also works fantastic on bass.
And also as an fx tool for warming up those digital signals of which this is absolutely great at, as it really does inject a warm character that stands alone, i suppose that'll be the "dbx
sound"!!
