FA:rackmounted pair of vintage dbx compressors

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.d [...] 3771854373

This auction is for a dbx 118 and 128 - 70's stereo compressors neatly racked
together.

I tried posting this earlier today and it didn't seem to show up in the
newsgroup.
I apologize if this is a duplicate post.





Kevin M. Kelly
"There needs to be a 12-step program for us gearheads"

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

<< The items for auction are not compressors and have unbalanced consumer I/O.
>>

They certainly are compressors. dbx called these "Dynamic Range Enhancers"
since they provide both compression and expantion ratios. They each have an
above threshold mode, variable threshold and ratios that are continuously
adjustable from soft compression to hard limiting. The 128 also has gain
make-up.
You are correct that they have unbalanced consumer I/O - I trumpet that fact in
bold type in the auction description. That actually may make them MORE useful
to those who want to wire them up as inserts on Mackie, Allen & Heath etc.
semi-pro mixers.
During this era dbx made dedicated tape noise reduction devices (companders)
like the 152, 155, 157 that provided 2:1 compression on encode and 1:2
expansion on decode.
If a dbx 128 user wanted to, they could record through the 128 in linear
mode set to 2:1 compression and playback through this thing, again in linear
mode set at 1:2 to achieve similar noise reduction. Not dedicated noise
reduction, but almost the same thing. As a result the 128 has the second line
"and noise reduction system" under the Dynamic Range Enhancer graphic.
Bottom line: These (dbx 118, 119 and 128 etc.) have been widely used as
compressors in multitrack recording rigs for the last thirty years. My ebay
auction description describes them accurately and fully.
From the ebay description: "...unbalanced and without VU meters.." and
"Is this auction the same as a pair of dbx 162s? Hardly. ...but they DO sound
darn good and are extremely useful. "






Kevin M. Kelly
"There needs to be a 12-step program for us gearheads"