DBX Expander

Opalchip,

Nice read about the dbx gear. Thanks.

The compression on the 5bx sounds useful for apartment dwellers or others that must listen to wide range recordings at lower volumes.

I have a 3bx and used to have a 118 single band expander/compressor. 1 band was rough, but 5band expansion and compression sounds like dynamite if adjusted correctly.

What a great thread!

I have a perfect 3BX-DS sitting in my closet I have not thought about in many years.

I had bought it new when CD first came out and I used to like to fall asleep listening to music, and found CD's (and later movies) to be too dynamic.
So I was mostly using it for compression, however I did like the effect of expansion for full scale listening sessions.

I am getting ready to move soon and would honestly probably have just left it on our trash floor with all the other gear I won't have space for (of course with a note indicating the stuff works)

So now I'll definitely not throw out the DBX. I'm curious to now try it - however it will be a challenge to try out since my system is currently balanced. I'll probably end up selling it however, now that I know what it's worth.

If you dial it in properly, I doubt you will want to sell it.
Looking at your system, you may not be into compression*** anymore - but the Impact Restoration on any analog recordings, when not overdone, is addictive. I have my 3BX-DS in the closet, just as a backup in case God Forbid, my 5bx ever has a problem.

***One really valuable use for compression is if you make CD's for listening in your car. By compressing, you can actually hear the quieter sections over road noise, without the louder passage blowing you away. I often wondered why I like the FM radio for car listening better than the built in CD player - that's why.

wOULD YOU BE WILLING TO SELL YOUR UNIT???? i'M CURIOUS TO EXPERIMENT WITH MY NEWLY RENOVATED REEL TO REEL AND A GOOD DBX

I certainly don't want to sell mine, but the 3bx-ds is very easy to find on Ebay. Seems there's at least one a week. And there IS another 5bx on Ebay right now, which is very unusual - they only show up about once or twice a year, and now there have been 2 in 2 weeks. With the economy and market diving, stuff may be coming out of closets...
The current one is missing it's remote control (which is nice, but not at all necessary), so it should go for a bit less than the last one.