More dbx Adventures

[Acoustic]

As you all have read... I've been very impressed with using dbx type II noise reduction on my Nak CR-5 recording jazz ensembles from KPR on FM. That was with a dbx 224x there type II NR. I live in a one bedroom apartment and usually have my AC on (a in the wall unit) and a few fans.... a nice cool front came through NE Kansas and I was able to shut off all those units last evening. What I am getting at is, tonight I measured my listening room and it was around 50-53db. As apposed to around 70db with the AC and fans on. And with that reduced noise floor I really was able to critically listen to some tapes I made with the 224x this evening. I was listening at around 90-93db and was very very impressed. What a sound stage coming from quiet! Again, this is dynamic 3-6 piece jazz ensembles taped from KANU-FM 91.5 Lawrence KS last evening with my Yamaha CT-800 tuner. Just wanted to share my taping and listening experience. And to say... I just won a dbx 228 (like yours Scorp) this evening for the bedroom and the buyer already emailed me that it will be shipped tomorrow morning!!*hope* *reelspin* *reelspin* *reelspin* *reelspin*

[Scorpion8]

That's good news on both fronts. I look forward to you using the 228 so I can decide if I need to break mine out. I should use my meter to measure my room and see what I'm dealing with here too.

[jbeckva]

Dbx is an absolute godsend for me. I've been (ok, now it comes out, heh) doing recording all-digital up until I got ahold of my 224X. The Yamaha's flat response is definitely a good match for it.

[braxus]

I should be getting my 224X sometime by months end. How I end up using it is another factor since many suggest using no NR at all.

[Acoustic]

Other than the last 17 days of my use of dbx. I was an advocate the past 30+ years of taping of no NR. Like I've stated before I rarely made it through an entire song I taped experimenting with the various dolby's.

Yesterday my experiment was using the Akai GX-90's with the dbx 224x. I taped some Chick Corea with and without the dbx. Very noticable reduction in tape hiss with the dbx. Sure it was impressive but my conclusion was to not order more of the Akai's but for 98¢ each shipped... order 100 more Fuji DR-II 90's from Total Media off eBay for $98.

Should have the 228 by Tuesday. Same type II dbx NR but with there dynamic range expander as a combo.*hope*

[jbeckva]

Man I'd love to hear dbx on a RTR going full speed. Anyone have any experience there?

My 3 header won over the weekend just shipped today... can't wait! Guess where it too is "going behind"?? (starts with "d", ends with "x", has "b" in the middle) *reelspin**reelspin*

[Acoustic]

Man I'd love to hear dbx on a RTR going full speed. Anyone have any experience there?

My 3 header won over the weekend just shipped today... can't wait! Guess where it too is "going behind"?? (starts with "d", ends with "x", has "b" in the middle) *reelspin**reelspin*
I saw you got that Onkyo for a good price. And it sounded like it came from a good home... well except for the remote.*hypnot*

I run my Teac 3300SR and always tape at 7 1/2 ips... and the dbx 224x just does it's thing excellently. The better your tape, quality of source signal and levels are.. the less the dbx has to do. I do tend to record my tapes now a little less 'hot' as before. Then on playback have the 3 gains (tape, dbx and amp) adjusted, by trial and error, for proper (for me taste) playback. I swear to god that last night I was listening to a solo piano number that was taped live.... and between the notes at loud levels the music was cleaned up by the dbx well.... and I could actually hear someone in the audience talking!

I did get my 228 today and have it already hooked up to my bedroom system... here she is:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3181/2842117938_db046ded48_o.jpg
When I read about the 228 when Scorp stated that was unit he had.. I read as much as I could find on it. It was said it has the type II NR like the 224x but without the led light show, plus it had the (I believe) early generation dynamic range expander... I knew that was the unit for the bedroom. I got it for $55 shipped... and got it today. I'm making a tape with it now but in my tests to get the levels right she sounded just fine.

I would just recommend to everyone who has a unit... hook it up to see if it's for you. Play with combination of levels on record and especially during playback. It just has impressed me that much.*check*

[jbeckva]

I'm in tape heaven man.. The TA-207 Onkyo really put it over the edge - I can NOT tell one bit of difference between source and recording. 3 heads make a difference = I like knowing what it will sound like as it's recording..

(excuse me while I jam a bit more here... heheh) *reelspin**reelspin*

[Acoustic]

I'm in tape heaven man.. The TA-207 Onkyo really put it over the edge - I can NOT tell one bit of difference between source and recording. 3 heads make a difference = I like knowing what it will sound like as it's recording..

(excuse me while I jam a bit more here... heheh) *reelspin**reelspin*

Glad you like the Onkyo. That's what it's all about.... enjoying the music!*reelspin*

[Emo-Fan]

I have a DBX RX-9 for use with my TEAC 3440. The DBX doesn't work. I replaced the fuses and set up my multimeter; poked around at it for a while. Suddenly, a lot of clacking came out of it and the thing lit up like a Christmas tree. Great! Then it died again and I never did get it running.

Using Quantegy 499 tape and by pushing the meters like I talked about earlier on this site improves the s/n ratio by 9 dB. The real advantage of the noise reduction unit is supposed to be a big improvement in the dynamic range. So the s/n improves because it's a function of the dynamic range. But the improvement comes at the expense of the frequency response. The details are what makes the music seem real and you-are-there and they live in the high frequencies. But the DBX shaves off the highs--that's the side effect.

For cassettes, it's probably okay; for R2R, well, I'd like to get it working for the sake of it, but I can't imagine ever using it. Properly recorded, reel tape is quiet enough. NR just causes equalization problems.