Product: dbx Quantum II
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted
06/27/2003
at
10:08pm
by
Anonymous
Ease of Use
:
1
They really do need a major overhaul on the graphics in the GUI.
When I called DBX and told them their menus were so small I couldnt
read them on my 21" trinitron, they told me to use my computers
magnifier! (No fix I guess) I tried it and all it magnified was
more blur. (By the way, my monitor is the best you can buy and is
working perfectly)
Sound Quality
:
10
Reliability
:
10
Customer Support
:
5
Overall Rating
:
8
They really do need a major overhaul on the graphics in the GUI.
When I called DBX and told them their menus were so small I couldnt
read them on my 21" trinitron, they told me to use my computers
magnifier! (No fix I guess) I tried it and all it magnified was
more blur. (By the way, my monitor is the best you can buy and is
working perfectly)
Product: dbx Quantum II
Price Paid: #12450 (pounds sterling)
Submitted
05/05/2003
at
11:28am
by
mark
Ease of Use
:
7
I bought the Quantum II. This is a fairly straightforward bit of kit to use IF you are familiar with going through various menus. The manual is OK, but for such a complex bit of kit I would have expected a bit more explanation and examples of how to use the different parameters.
Sound Quality
:
10
I bought this unit for a variety of reasons. I have an Akai DPS 16, some decent mics, one or two decent preamps, but I wanted this to add some final polish to my mixes. It has done just that, so I am very happy with this unit. Like most people I'm chasing the elusive 'pro' sound, but if you expect this machine to do it for you, you are sadly mistaken. The wizard is fine, but all presets need to be taken with a large dose of salt & some serious correction - you can save your own settings which is useful. The previous reviewer who complained about the limiter is right up to a point. In multi-band mode the limiter is RMS, not Peak. This is frustrating of you want to slam your mixes to LOUD, but then that defeats the point of using the multiband in the first place! Multiband compressors are supposed to be subtle tools. However in default stereo mode you can have a a Peak limiter if you want to slam your mix. I've done both - used the multiband to get the right sound then put it back through the peak limiter to bring the peaks down. Sounds great. I love being able to stay in the digital domain. There's even Type IV saturation which starts to work on your signals from -4 upwards wityh different settings like 'bright' 'warm' etc.. the differences are subtle, but can be heard. There are a lot of other things that I haven't got time to go into -plenty of dithering options, I can go from 24 to 16 and not hear the difference which is great (i never record above 44.1, but there are also sample rate conversions, down & up). Although I bought this unit for the compression options, I am blown away by the EQ. It sounds very musical (if that's the right word to use)and very clean without being harsh like most digi EQs. Makes me realise what I've been missing.
Reliability
:
10
Hasn't broken oe frozen yet! Have bought other stuff from Dbx and all has been reliable.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Not needed to contact anyone as yet.
Overall Rating
:
10
Overall, the Quantum is a winner. It gives my mixes the warmth and clarity I've needed.(I hate using those words, but you know what I mean). It is not easy to get into - it does take time and practice to use effectively so not too good for 'instant fixes'. But what did you expect for such a pricey bit of gear?! This gear gets a top rating for the great EQ, an added bonus for me.
