Guitar Gear Forum

Just bought a DBX 286S. No idea why I just thought it could be a cool tool to record vocals, which is pretty much the only thing I do with a mic these days.

does anyone here have one? Any feedback, settings etc?

That is a really versatile piece of gear. Desser, compressor, expander, gate AND a preamp! Very nice!!!

ajaxlepinski wrote:That is a really versatile piece of gear. Desser, compressor, expander, gate AND a preamp! Very nice!!!

Yeah I'm excited about it. I have plugins for all these effects but I like the idea of treating the vocals before it hits the DAW.

i haven't actually used one, but from what i remember, it's a pretty basic duder that's functional, but nothin' super crazy colorful. those dbx units are just good workmanlike joints that do good work not totally dissimilar from something like a presonus or a focusrite-- but if you wanna hit it before going in-- it's just the ticket for a not super expensive and totally functional pre.

i think for what you're looking for, it's kinda just the ticket- keeping vocals in control with a solid clean gainstage!

yeah I really want some out of the box control for the vocals. Kimmi is a belter so dialing in the gain without an outboard compressor can be really tricky.

You'll be surprised how much non-computer compression can help tame a vocal.

If the compressor isn't too colored, it might help out when direct recording bass too.

I had been eyeballing that same unit for a second cheapo channel strip. Haven't decided yet if I'm going to or just wait until I can afford to add more inputs some other way. Should be a great addition for vocals at the least.

The Waves Vocal Rider is an excellent plugin that helps you use less compression.
It looks ahead, raising and lowering the volume to help keep the vocal uniform and it allows you to use less compression.

Waves vocal rider is pretty cool. Perhaps even more so is their Bass rider, for bass obviously. That can really help get that real solid modern style bass guitar. I don’t really love that style, but now doubt it adds some weight and definition to the mix.

As far as the 286. It’s cool. I mean this is a bit of their entry level products, but I’m a fan of almost all DBX. I’ve gelled with their compression over all the others over the years. And there was a period I was buying some Vintage comps costing well over a grand. I was maybe a little green still with my uses of them as I often was trying to compress TOO much probably. And sometimes, no matter what, that can yield less than desirable results. So I ended off’ing all those old units. Wished I still kept one around but oh well. I still have an 80’s dbx 160x and I really get good use for that. The dbx compression style works great for vocals when used used in over easy and at about 3:1 and averaging 2-4 dB reduction with maybe tickling 6db. It’ll be virtually transparent. Then comp further in the box if needed.

For my 500 series all my FX so far I went DBX, from the 560 comp, to their EQ and de-esser. That little de-easer is awesome if you have a mic that really accents the siblance.

I also even bought their preamp for the 500. Even tho it’s one of the cheapest you’ll find, I did an a/b with all my pre amps and their is a pretty big difference between them all. The other 3 500 pres I have are all more character pres, so that’s part of the reason. The dbx is very clean. They say it’s modeled after their high end pres of the 1086 and 676, I believe. And compared to my Apogee soundcard pres which are know to be very good, there is almost and indistinguishable difference. With the Apogee being just a tad smoother across the mids. But I prefer the dbx on guitars.

Anyway, I’ve good experience with most of their gear. I had the 166xl compressor which I would gather is in the same league as their 286 pre and it worked great for some things but still didn’t quite match the musicality of the 160x.

Ok I’m done rambling and blabbering

Well, I got it. Real test is tonight since Kimmi is at work now, but I like the build quality and overall feel of the unit. I tried it real quick with the bass and it actually sounded great, so at the very least I will use it for bass, but I think it will do well with vocals too at least for the initial processing. I do have a lot of nice plugins for compression etc so I will still do most of it in the box.
I need to look into the Vocal Rider too. I may already have it. I bought so many Waves plugins this year I haven't had the time to go through the whole list yet lol

WRT settings, i'd generally stay on the lower end of things for keeping mics under control- like 1.5-2 and graze off only whats necessary going in- but i really don't ever mash stuff. im with endtime- keep em clean and outa the way. if you need more- add it later in the mix incrementally- and if you can get some squish early- you can back your vocalist off the mic a bit and get some room ambience going too if you slow down your release a bit. kinda adds a little texture without needing verb later.

I had the first session with it last night and it went really well. I ended up just using a bit of the compressor and the enhancer. Very subtle. I tried the de-esser and gate but ended up keeping them off. But it worked really well and gave me a better vocal track to work with, which is what I wanted.