Any gain reduction due to the expander shows up on the main compressor gain‑reduction meter which, quite frankly, I found confusing and rather unsatisfactory. A red LED comes on when the signal is below threshold and a green LED lights when the signal exceeds it. At high ratios (4:1 is the maximum) the expander behaves much like a conventional gate, whereas at lower ratios the gain control is much more progressive, making it more useful for dealing with non‑percussive sounds. Two controls, Threshold and Ratio, are used for the Expander section. On vocals it's good for creating an overtly compressed sound, and it also works very well on acoustic guitar. RF filtering is provided on the main input and the insert send and return points. Side‑chain insert points for the compressors are also present, in this case on TRS jacks. Unbalanced jack connections may also be made using regular single‑pole jack leads. The unit is mains powered, though there's no mains switch, and the audio ins and outs are on both balanced XLRs and balanced jacks for convenience. OverEasy is, of course, dbx's own interpretation of soft‑knee compression. Much of the compression stage is based on that of the popular dbx 160, and to provide the greatest flexibility there's an OverEasy/Hard‑knee switch and the option of manual or auto Attack and Release settings. The dbx 266XL is a fairly standard looking 1U rackmounting 2‑channel compressor/gate, though the gate is actually a variable‑ratio expander, making it rather more flexible. Nevertheless, dbx have a long‑held reputation for building VCA compressors that have a specific sound (as opposed to being transparent), so they've been careful not to change things too much when designing the new 266XL.
With the signal processor market so crowded it must be very difficult for a manufacturer to come up with a new product that will fire the imagination of the end user - which is probably why so many resort instead to building 'me too' products and trading blows on prices.
Does the new 266 compressor from dbx really excel?
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