dbx 586 Dual Tube Preamp

Pretty straight forward. If you have any experience, no problems, but not for children.

This thing really beefs up the vocals and the limiter is a brick wall, so no clips, but it is so subtle, its like it is not even there.

dbx is made with love, and built like a tank.

n/a.

If you want to get that fat, creamy sound of other high end pre's, then try this one for half the price. It will really blow you away what it does to your vox. It makes you sound like you always wanted.

As stated earlier the best method to get "your sound" is to isolate the preamp, then set the EQ, which I found very musical even with its limitations, then go to the great DBX overeasy compressor and finish the sound. If I could find some replacement tubes and had some faith in my own electronic skills, it would be interesting to see the variation possible

Being in the business from all different positions for over 3 decades, I simply love this unit. I know have a home studio with vintage gear collected over the years for my own recordings. The DBX just happens to match my voice perfectly. Maybe it just a 1 in a 100 luck situation, considering the lukewarm reception this unit has gotten from the so-called experts. I am an analog guy and am not looking for clean. I dare say that most mikes unless you mortgage your house, don't have the fullness I look for in a vocal chain.
This is where I am going to hide under my desk!! I'm getting mail from AARP so go easy. Over the past three years, I have owned and sold a Avalon 737, an API 7600 channel strip, and many others. I found them all to be thin and lacking character when used on MY voice. These were all easy, easy decisions. It wasn't even close. In one day, and on EBAY by the end of the week. We spend all this time, air, and money on these great mikes that are full, fat, etc. and yet the preamp has to be crystal clean. In the old days, we would have wondered what the point was to patching in a wire to wire preamp when using NEVE,MCI, etc. desks. I've stopped looking.

So far so good. It really sounds even better after left to warm up for about an hour.

Needed a new manual and it was at my door within the week. Great service.

Anything else said here would be redundant. I have found MY preamp and I have heard them all. It just happens to match my voice and everything else sound thin and whimpy next to the DBX. In the digital age, have we clean up our sound enough yet? I really don't understand the point of perfect clarity in recording some things in a studio. Maybe a flute should be perfect or a million dollar violin but in the old days, we wanted musical character from our gear. Maybe it is time to go sit on the porch and learn the whittle.

With a simple understanding of gain structure (as noted in the previous review) it's easy to get a decent sound out of this unit in short order.

I use this unit live for Acoustic Guitar and vocals. I tend not to push the tubes too hard going in (I haven't replaced those chinese tubes yet either), but it gives great warmth for what it is, . . vocals tend to fatten up just a little, . . enough to boost confidence in the monitors. EQ is decent, . . even good for the money. The insert being pre-EQ is good, . . and bad. There are wonderfully logical reasons for putting it post-EQ too, but they didn't and that's OK. With this in mind, if you're putting a compressor on anything (in the insert path), . . you might want to choose a mic that you can roll off any proximity effect to keep from slamming your compressor with muddy stuff your just going to take out in the EQ anyway. This unit, when AB'd against true pro gear, doesn't stand a chance, . . BUT. . realize what it is, a low-end, better-than-your-average-mixer mic pre and EQ. If you keep that in mind, . . . and that's what you need. You'll be more than pleased.

The unit's been good, . . BUT I have had a problem with one channel dropping out at random times, . . . I suspect a flakey op-amp, . . but I'm hoping it's the tubes. Either way, it's a quik fix. This is not an often-occurring problem, BUT it did happen during recording for a demo. . . ! I was embarrassed, . . again, . . this is not PRO gear, . . . and even pro gear goes out more often than you'd think.
The unit gets ever so slight abuse from travelling around and seems to deal with it well.

I haven't had to deal with them. thankfully.

For acoustic, a vocals, . . this makes a decent live front end. Esp in altered tunings, . . . the little bit of warmth from the tube that was 'thrown' in the signal path actually does what it should, . . it gives some breadth to the sound. I get comments ALL THE TIME. I love that it's pretty cheap used, and can get the job done. Not only is it like a tube-ish DI for the guitar, but then you've got EQ thrown in for kicks! Vocals are better than average through this thing. The EQ helps out when a lot of places you play are lacking in the quality Dept. of their gear. Buy for your price range (which is decent since these have been discontinued), and accept what you payed for. It's good enough.

If you use this unit correctly, it is both easy to use as well as easy to get the best sound out of it. It is an EXCELLENT tool for mic preamplification with corresponding EQ...Recommendations: First set up your preamp level WITHOUT EQ AND WITHOUT OUTBOARD/INSERTED COMPRESSION...also set your Limiting threshold now...Then insert your compressor, push the Insert button on the faceplate, and tweak your tweaks....Then (and only then) use the inboard EQ section (pushing the button on the faceplate) to get the EQ that you want...For this is the way to Allah....(and Buddha and Jesus too...)...Lastly, set your output level...Piece of peach pie...Also...routing capabilities are EXCELLENT....everything under the sun...

I am using this unit for Kick and Bass guitar, believe it or not...many reviews have remarked at this piece as not being so good on transients or instruments requiring a fast, focused attack, saying that the unit is "airy" and "soft"....well...with proper use of a compressor, via the insert jack, you can not only get your speed and punch, you can then use this unit to truly acheive an excellent quality of warmth, sonic feel (and I mean like some glowing, rubbery, thick bottom end, in my application...say..similar to Ben Harper's kick and bass sound, which was what we wuz goin for...)...It's not noisy at all unless you really turn up the treble tone...The EQ is powerfull, with narrow band capabilites...And I would also especially recommend this puppy for any of the really breathey instruments, like acoustic guitar, synths, woodwinds, horns....even vox....

Only thing questionable are the Chinese tubes that come stock with the unit....Why DBX, why???? They are not the best, or even mid-best, either from a sonic standpoint or a reliability one....I called DBX, actually, and they told me, flat out...."Change the tubes...."...so I am looking for some Telefunkens, though Sovteks will definitely do..

Excellent...excellent...These guys work for their money, and they also pass on their info and Love....

Overall....I don't know if I would pay the $800 which this thing sells for...but then again, given the choices of the under $1000 range that are out there, for a true, 2 channel tube preamp, with excellent routing capabilites and excellent use as a tool....compared to a Presonus MP-20...which has the punch and kick-ass thing, but not quite a sonic spectrum, nor really organic, vibe...this may be a very good choice....