DBX 286s Microphone Preamp/Processor Review

In which I review the DBX 286s Microphone Preamp/Processor. For recording purposes, it's an okay unit--a little more good than meh.

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Feel free to skip to your desired chapter:
00:00 - Intro
00:35 - About DBX & The 286s
02:24 - A Closer Look
05:59 - Testing It Out
12:23 - Noise Test
14:22 - Analysis!
17:20 - Final Word

#DBX #286s #DBX286s #MicProcessor #ChannelStrip #Podcasts #Voiceover #MicProcessor #RackUnit #RackMount #Compressor #OutboardGear #LiveSound #MicPreamp #microphone

Gear Used in this video:
-DBX 286s Mic Preamp/Processor
-Sennheiser MKH-416 Shotgun Mic
-Shure SM7B Microphone
-Universal Audio Apollo Twin X Audio Interface
-Sound Devices MixPre 3 II Recorder
-Mogami Quad-Balanced Cables
-Canon M50
-Sigma 30mm 1.4 EF-M Lens
-Sennheiser HD25 Headphones
-Manfrotto BeFree Tripod
-Manfrotto Mini Tripod (MixPre Mount)
-Godox ML60 Continuous Light
-Godox 32" Softbox with Grid
-GVM LED light panel (backlight)
-Pixel GS1 RGB Light
-Godox VL49 RGB Light
-Canadian Studio 5-in-1 Reflector

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My Tip Jar!

[KennethTownsell]

Your camera quality is insane!! 🔥🔥🔥 Great review!!

[Flippy]

Fantastic video! That was a great analysis, and probably saved me some money! I mainly want to buy one so I can avoid touching things up in post, but I should probably just suck it up and save up for something more special like the ART Voice Channel

[torbenhellborn]

Just into the begining your narration wanted me to stay on . . thank for your humor

[isaaclaughter]

I'm not sure why my brother sent me this vid, but I made as far as the opening music. Thumbs up just for that! 80's baby! Let's Now I'll watch the whole thing.

[HRPL-ejzo]

Density is the attack and release speed.

[AironExTv]

Thanks for the detailed look at the unit. Great little piece of kit and just about flexible enough for live voice IMHO. Some streaming folks I know use it to great effect. I'd only used one of DBX's compressors (166 or 266, don't remember) mostly on bass guitars 20 years ago, back when I was recording music. 3:1 med to slow. I'm in post production now. The 286 S costs less than 200 Euros here in Germany, which is why I've always considered it for simple communication duties, Discord and the likes. But it's overkill, and I can loopback my RME through my DAW to get what I need. I don't even use my KMR81 in a Rycote grip, but a Lewitt 140 Air on a mic arm in a cheap shock mount.

Overkill is not worth the trouble :) . Yet it's good to know this is a fine unit if need be.

[johnlance]

😀I have that 3 prong collection happening here as well. Great job

[KingRey.]

Youre right, I didn't search for it. Yet, here I am.
Subbed.

[peshrawable]

Thank you so much for all your videos, and I appreciate your time that you dedicated to make video for us .

[OscarMarreroPR]

Thank you very much for the video tutorial. The configuration sounds excellent with my voice on my Shure SM7B microphone. What LF and HF settings do you recommend for an RE27? I would like it to sound as close as possible to the Shure, although I know it's impossible. I mean, so it doesn't sound as bright as the RE27 can be.

[baroquer]

That's *THE* Holy Grail for any microphone (IMO)

Thanks, Sir Jason Bourne, you son of a -gun- mic!

[LauwieTech]

Thank you for making this, I bought it and very happy with it

[NTATchannelNickTaylor]

Been using this (paired with a DBX 131s EQ) for about 5 years now. Wouldn't change them out for nothing. Been on Team DBX since the 80's when I was known to duplicate a C-60 or C-90 from time to time... you know... for medicinal purposes. EDIT - no cloudlifter needed to push my Electrovoice RE20.

[mingusx]

Great video! Thank you for the review.

[butch]

Thank you for your nice and clear video. I like this unit, although there is no seperate limiter available in the processing. Do you think (with similar adjustments as you have shown in your video) the compressor is fast enough to get rit of very steepy / maximum peaks, so the output won't exceed my head room of 12 dBU ? What will happen (in terms of the output signal) if you drop the microphone on the floor? Thanks again and best of whishes.

[dukoo]

I think it's a very good addition for voiceover work, but you would like to hook some other extra stuff to it. I also use it for my SM7B and for my TLM103. Although i am looking for a higher budget preamp for the TLM103, yeah nothing can really beat Neumann if it comes to recording sessions of voiceovers ( my opinion ) anyways, good video, and I am subbing.

[MrSeeker]

Thank you Jason! Very informative.
Good video! I may need your advice. I already have a 286s that I use for vocals. Lo-fi heaven. In a singer-songwriter scenario where I also want to play a mic'd up acoustic guitar as I'm singing, but also want to have the acoustic guitar mic to have a seperate compression with its own tweaked levels, do I get another 286s for this purpose or a dbx 266/166xl? Which dbx unit would you get for just the mic'd up guitar on which you wanted compression? (I want my strumming and finger-picking to sound even). I can only spend under $200 and i cannot record the guitar and vocal tracks seperately because then the guitar-vocal synergy loses some of its magic. So i have to record tbe vox and vocals simultaneously. It also seems that the 286s works fine but would the 266/166xl work better for acoustic guitar? Pretend that I'm recording into a 4-track cassette TEAC 144 (from 1979) recorder. So no DAW, no effects, dry everything except for compression. Just raw but happily lo-fi and even-sounding due to the compression. Which would you choose? I heard the de-esser on the 286s can also work to tame the brightness of brighter acoustic guitars. What do you think?

[torbenhellborn]

. . oh and the Love end . . nice attitude . . thanks a lot from DK

[ralmslb]

I'm been considering buying a used unit to pair with my Motu M4, as I miss the lack of mic processing.
Currently using Reaper and VCable tricks to process the mic before reaching the apps, but I would rather have something more seamless.

[FlikPaintsStuff]

I'm in a unique situation where I have been using the DBX 286s for years on my Twitch stream.. but it recently broke.. simply stopped doing anything beyond a passthrough.. If i don't bypass I get no sound :( So with no personal skills to fix it and an audio repair shop not being close, I'm looking to see if there are newer/better alternatives to it before I simply go and buy another one.

My application of it is pretty basic. I twitch stream / voice work.. so I just wanted to tune my sound beyond what I can already do with my MG10XU mixer. so it is AT2020 XLR > BDX 286s > MG10XU mixer > PC via USB. This while I'm aware is overkill produced the sound I loved..

but if there is a 286s replacement.. or even a replacement for the mixer too (i need two xlr channel minimum due to stream guests/dual setup) available in the UK, I would love to hear it.

many thanks for this vid and your time.