dbx 266 Compressor/Limiter/Gate

i'm not the king of the compression effect but I'll reach my sound in 10 minutes

great,I use it in my guitar rack, I put after my preamp wich has a incredible noise a too light distorsion and a orrible compression, I have disabled compression and noisegate from pre and in 10 minutes i have a fatter distorsion without disturbing noise
without hum problem (I belive that is better than rocktron hush)

no problem in years

I haven't find the manual on the dbx site for the project1 266 but only for the new 266XL

in the dbx project 1 266 compressor gate I find an optimal compressor but an incredible noise gate for my pre, a must have in every rock/metal guitar rack

It's easy... what can I say.. if you know what attack, release, gain and ratio mean you will have no problem. :) maybe it would be nice to have some more leds for signal input/output not just for reduction, so you can realy see what you get in/out of the compressor.

Had no problems with it... just once I noticed a slight change in sound on extremely low frequencies, but I'm not sure what it was, cables, jacks or compressor. Would give it a 10 otherwise.

It works... and it doesn't break down :)

Never needed it...

It's great... it works fine, it is very reliable. Most certenly one of the best compressors I've used. Would give it a 10 but then I would have to rate DBX 160 as 11 ;)

It's not the easiest compressor on the planet to set, but it's decent. It's a 2 channel device. The compressor has adjustments for threshold, ratio, attack, release, and output gain as well as buttons over-easy compression and a bypass. The expander/gate settings are meager at best... threshold and ratio. There's also a button that can be used to stereo couple both sides with one set of controls.

There are little threshold lights (red, yellow, green) over each of the four threshold knobs. Additionally, there is a 10 LED Gain Reduction bar for each compressor. This is helpful in setting, but not the best that I've seen.

Once you start messing around with it, you realize what does what, how and how much it affects the sound, and where your limits are for the effect you want (safety, stability, correction, what have you...)

The manual is somewhat helpful, but the best tutorial I had for setting any compressor was looking at an x-y graph in a book on sound explaining visually how a compressor affected the sound levels. If dbx included a short tutorial on use, it would have made much more sense. Instead, they explain everything in not-the-most user friendly terms.

This is in the effects loop of my bass rig (GK-800rb pre --> dbx 266 --> BBE 402 --> GK-800rb power --> Bag End S-15D) I run the signal through both channels of the compressor, setting the first side for a 3:1 medium threshold compression for general stability of the signal and sound shaping. The second side is set with ~10:1 high threshold compression for peak reduction and speaker protection.

The expander/gates are set... somehow. They sound all right where they are, but I have little idea what's going on apart from it doesn't hiss when I'm not playing and it doesn't clamp down when I'm playing quieter. I prefer to have more controls for a gate, but as an added bonus, they do their job passably.

I've heard better compressors. I've definitely heard quieter compressors. For the price, this isn't bad. It's fairly color-less compression, but some hiss is added to the signal. The gates reduce the apparent noise, but some creeps through the active signal. It's better than the Alesis, though.

I've never had any problems with it working as it has been. I keep it in my rack at all times, so I do keep it safe from most direct damage (it has taken some shots to the front,) but the rack gets knocked around sometimes. It seems very durable and I don't worry with a backup.

Haven't needed to deal with them, but I'd thought about yelling at them for their manual.

I think it's a decent compressor for the money. It does its job, but I don't think it colors the sound in the way that many people claim many dbx compressors do so well. I believe this model is aimed at the project studio owner rather than the seasoned pro... for that market, it's just fine.

Easy... if you know what you're doing. I've used compressors before but not expanders, so I'm having a little trouble getting results from that section of the box. But I will learn...

Great - I'm using it to keep my collection of vintage effects from blowing my speakers, but I also use it to compress the hell out of my TR-909.

It seems to be very well built - I've only had mine for a few weeks though.

Never dealt with dbx - very reputable company though.

If it were lost, I'd definately replace it - I'm thinking of buying another because I really like using it. It's pleasant to look at, and sounds good. It's a hundred and fifty bucks, which is brilliant value for what it does!

Be aware that it does alter the tone of your signal in a subtle way; dbx compressors have a distinct "sound". I happen to like this, but test it before you buy it in case you do not.

yawn. very easy. though, i wish the attack and release knobs had actual time values in milliseconds.

i mic amps out and insert the compressor in the mixer. i like to get that "santana" magic-woman sound. not bad. gate features are fantastic. threshold is great. LED lights are cool too (can utilize "overeasy" or "hard" (above) settings to tweak sound.
noise? <- with a gate?

very reliable. i plan on giving it to my great-great grandson. so far so good. 5+ years and going strong! if it went down i would definitely buy another.

never talked with them. the owner's manual is kind of lame (if you have never compressed before it will depress you.)

i play "un-pop". i have a digital set-up on my computer. did i mention there are no time values in ms for the release and attack knobs? alesis and joe meek seem to have reputable stuff ( had experience with alesis 1st hand). helps greatly. does 1.3:1 ratio really do a damn thing? get one used or buy one new - you will not be disappointed. great features: bypass and stereo couple. i personally havent't used the side-chain insert feature for ducker applications (for those of you that are doing "voice-over" stuff) - i am sure it works just keen. did i mention Batman?

Easy as pie! No problems here unless your a goof...I mean, threshold, ratio, attack, release, output on the compressor side...A gate is a gate....

Hers my problem...when you have a weak signal(and I have many on 4 track reel from the seventies) and you get past 12 o'clock on the output,it's "make a white noise here"...Also the gate is ok but you must be very carefull and tweak it cuz it breathes pretty bad with heavy gating...outboard noise reduction helps with both of these...

ok, but I inherited a bad 1/4 inch input in the back...

Never dealt with these guys much...I mean, it's a compressor for crissakes!

I like it, it serves it's purpose but the noise factor surprised me...I had always heard DBX was a bad bunch of boys, but it is considered low end...I use a Ibanez CP9 and get slightly better timbre on guitar and piano but the noise is greater on the CP9 than the DBX...noise is apparently inherent in most compressors anyway...worth the money because of two seperate channels

It's not the easiest to use compressor/gate I've ever used, but darn near it. It has 7 knobs and a bypass switch for each of two channels plus a stereo-couple switch. If you know how a compressor works, you can figure this box out quick. (The gate takes a little experimentation because it is an expander as well.)

The sound quality is excellent. dbx makes the nicest compressors in this price range or anywhere near it in my opinion (a well qualified opinion...). It is very transparent and doesn't darken the signal the way Symmetrix boxes do (though that can be useful as well...I like their boxes, too...but not as much as dbx). It sounds great in my guitar rig and I also use it when recording on just about everything.
BTW- The 266 has the same compression/gate circuitry as the 166 but it doesn't have a limiter. So anything you read about the 166 applies equally to the compressor/gate on this box.

I have absolutely no worries that this box will die on me when I need it. I have worked in studios that had dbx compressors that had been in use for about 20 years with no repairs.

I would buy this box again in a heartbeat. In fact, I probably will buy a second on specifically for my recording rig. Other than a 166 there is no compressor I would rather have (in this price range). I'm sure there are some esoteric tube compressors that sound better than this and maybe some solid state stuff from Focusrite or something, but I can't afford any of that stuff right now.