While the overall design is a bit dull, that is far from a deal-breaker. The functionality and the overall features definitely make up for it. And the low price helps too. This is one of the best values on the market. Period. The sonically pristine dbx 286s Mic Preamp has all the features you need, including wide-ranging input gain control, switchable +48V phantom power, and an 80Hz high-pass filter to remove low frequency hum, rumble or wind. Generally speaking, microphone processors like the DBX 286S enhance your voice and give you a bit more punch on air. How Do I Get Setup?

For self-recording for VO and narration, it really does save time. I really wouldn't be doing it this way if it didn't. Well, if it works it works - as I said, I don't really see how but I can certainly see it might not cost you any in that circumstance! Individual LED displays for compression threshold, gain threshold, and gain reduction. This allows for speedy, easy set up.

The mic preamp gain is the overall volume and application of your microphone. When the level is set correctly when you speak you're not going to clip the red light, but the 2 green lights should be on when talking.

If the green lights aren't being hit then you're talking too quietly, so try and find that perfect balance. Phantom Power The dbx 286s microphone processor is a direct replacement for the renowned dbx 286A, offering the same exceptional sound quality, rugged reliability and great value, but updated with a new sleek, silver face plate and the latest electronic components for even better performance. When I'm done, I put the end covers on the Gator case, and put it away, out of sight until I need it again. If don't see any levels it is probably because you're using a condenser mic that needs phantom power, so turn it this on. For my dynamic mic, I don't need this, so I have it set to off.If an item can not be repaired, a similar alternative product or cash discount (as defined in this policy) will be offered If you're using a bunch of plugins to improve your mic for live situations, such as live streaming and meetings, it's time to ditch plugins that emulate De-esser, noise gate, compression, light EQ. It's adding latency/delay in your vocals, and you're having to account for that. This is where the 286s comes in, by offloading audio processing to hardware. You'll account for the core portion of your audio processing through the 286s, and will pretty much ditch all plugins for live use cases. On the front, you'll want to move from left to right as you set this up, so let's start with the mic preamp section. The 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 Going further, there are also a de-esser, an enhancer, and the noise gate (or expander) effects. At the very right end, is the main output gain knob with its clipping indicator.

The sonically pristine dbx 286s Mic Preamp has all the features you need, including wide-ranging input gain control, switchable +48V phantom power, and an 80Hz high-pass filter to remove low frequency hum, rumble or wind. Use the patented dbx OverEasy compressor to transparently smooth out uneven dynamics. Eliminate vocal sibilance and high frequency distortion with the frequency tunable De-Esser. Fine-tune the Enhancer HF Detail control to add sparkle and crispness, and make adjustments to the LF Detail control to add fullness and depth. And, the separate threshold and ratio controls on the Expander/Gate allow you to subtly reduce headphone leakage or radically gate noisy sound sources. That said, this is not the model you’d want if you’re building a state-of-the-art fully professional studio. It just won’t bring out the full potential of your other gear, and you might want to go with something more advanced in this case, like Avalon’s VT-737SP. My chain is the following: RE20 > dbx 286s > cloudlifter > SSL2 > PC. While the cloudlifter is overkill, I don't like pushing gain on the 286s or SSL2. The cloudlifter has let me keep my gain settings at +30 on the 286s and 4/10 on the SSL2. This helps avoid concerns with noise in the chain around the 286s, by adjusting gain settings to ideal configurations. We'll show you exactly what each bit of the DBX 286S, what it does, and how to set it up. Mic Preamp Gain

DBX 286S Vs Coudlifter

As it stands this product is not suited for musical applications and is best for live radio broadcast/streaming or podcasting. I have this thing paired up with a shure sm7b mic going staright into the dbx286s and then finally ending with my UA apollo twin. After. The 286s is a full-featured Channel Strip Processor that delivers a studio quality microphone/instrument preamplifier and four processors that can be used independently or in any combination.

The high frequency enhancer works to add definition and crispness to vocals, guitars and other instruments. It's basically magic. Expander/Gate The Compressor module sounds fine and provides enough control to tame the dynamics of various sound sources. Now that I own other hardware compressors, it's not my first choice, but it was my only choice for a long time, and I've used it to produce a lot of music. Enhancer LF Detail Characteristic: Bell-shaped boost @ 80Hz, bell-shaped cut @250Hz, ratio is approximately 2:1 I leave this off because it gives you less dynamic range, but if you're in a room with a hum below that frequency, experiment with turning it on.The process bypass disables all other settings mentioned below. It's recommend you disable this setting when you don't want to highly process your audio. Compressor On the other hand, the Behringer MIC2200 is totally comparable to DBX’s 286S. What’s more, we would argue that it’s a worthy opponent.