DBX 286S Mic Preamp/Compressor

Product Information

That's why I wanted to share what each of the knobs, buttons, and LEDs all meant so you could tweak the device to your own needs. To wrap up, I'm happy with the results I'm getting from this to boost the gain of my microphone plus add a simple compressor, gate, and de-esser. Next up, is the +48-volt phantom power, as well as the high-pass filter that gets rid of the lowest part of the spectrum—everything below 80 Hz. This comes in handy for those great condenser microphones that don’t have an additional high-pass filter on them.

It is a completely tube-driven microphone preamp, featuring two channels with their individual inputs and outputs. Both channels are controlled individually. The threshold sets the sensitivity of the De-Esser as a percentage of the average input level. The LEDs light up for 1 dB and 6 dB when active. Enhancer The compressor section is rather simple. To be frank, we would prefer to have more versatility in a compressor. Still, it gets the job done and has drive and intensity (which is essentially compression ratio) controls. There’s also an LED strip indicator that gives some rough info on how much compression is being applied at any given moment. At MusicRadar, we have a team of experienced musicians who have tested various bits of recording gear, including many mic preamps. As passionate music lovers, we understand the importance of achieving the right sound and tone in your recordings, and we leverage our expertise gained from using these products in various recording settings to identify the best budget mic preamps for our readers.HF Detail: Characteristic Program-controlled shelving equalizer, approximately 15dB maximum HF boost After your recording space, the microphone, and of course the performance itself, the mic preamp is one of the most important aspects of any recording signal chain. Although dependent on the mic pre in question, in most cases, a mic preamp will improve the sound quality of your recordings. The Output should be set to 0. Adjust this if need be to fit the equipment you're using like a mixing desk or a USB soundcard like the Scarlett 2i2. The high frequency enhancer works to add definition and crispness to vocals, guitars and other instruments. It's basically magic. Expander/Gate

The low frequency enhancer control applies a boost to 80 and 250 hertz without making the bass sound too muddy or boomy. The biggest strengths of the DBX’s 286S are all of its features and controls. Together, they’re able to create a pretty impressive sound. Which is really surprising, considering this model’s price range. The enhancer is what give you that " radio sound" that broadcasters look for. It enhances the highs and lows of your voice by taking audio and enhancing the levels. LF Detail: Characteristic Bell-shaped boost at 80Hz, bell-shaped cut at 250Hz, ratio is approximately 2:1The DBX 286S has a 48v phantom power switch which is used to power most condenser microphones like the Behringer B-1, Blue Spark, and Neumann TLM 103 as mentioned in How to Get a Radio Voice post and a few others in Best Microphones for Online Radio post. High-Pass In terms of mic preamps when we say ‘budget’, it’s a relative term. Top-quality mic preamps in pro studios cost well into the thousands, but you don’t need to spend quite so much to see a drastic difference in your recording quality. Here, we’ve rounded up a selection of the best budget mic preamps, whether you’re recording from home or looking for a new bit of gear for your full-fledged studio space. Noise: <-80dBu unweighted (20Hz-20kHz); Both Gain Controls set for 0dB, all processing controls OFF I would never recommend gating on the way in. Why would you? Just delete extraneous noise in the DAW. There’s no compression or de-essing or noise gates. It is just a simple preamp with some EQ controls on it. The advantages it has are the two channels, an extremely wide frequency range that gives openness to the tone (10 Hz to 200 kHz), and the more affordable price. The downside is that Behringer equipment at this price level might not always be that reliable.