DBX 286s Mic Preamp and Processor Walkthrough 

2:37 Preamp 4:34 Compressor 7:45 deesser 9:25 Enhancer 11:35 Expender 15:22 output Thanks for the video!

Am I the only one actually taking handwritten notes? Dear God! Thank you so much for these videos.

Wow this is one of the best sound recording tutorials ever on RU-vid! Thank you Booth Junkie!

I know this is an older post, BUT, I have been screwing around with my dbx286 FOREVER and have never been able to 1-understand it properly and 2-get it set up to work the way it should. I do live internet radio, and some VO work. I will now keep the dbx286 in the line. Thanks again. you have saved the life of a dbx286!!

I've just bought two of these units for a radio studio - we've never sounded so good ! Thanks for taking the time to demo this properly, letting us hear how it actually affects your voice

Ayy, I picked this up back in March after frustration at my self-pieced rack not being clean enough for my RE20. Was so blown away by how clean this handles the signal and easy to use.

A vivid description of the 286s functions, thank you!

thank you for your help

I literally just bought this thing tonight and can expect it in a few days. I’m happy this came into my suggestions ! Def will take notes tomorrow

Really great walkthrough and tutorial. Been looking for this kind of strip processor! Loved the fact that you overdid some of the effects to show how far they can push the signal!

Amazing video! Thanks so much

I have watched many videos about the DBX286s. For the first time , I understand how it works and adjusted it the way I always wanted.

This was an incredibly helpful tutorial for understanding my DBX -- I made some tweaks and it has reduced my room floor, cleared up my s-sounds, and by using the by-pass filter have no more annoying hum from the HVAC unit next door! Thanks so much...

Просто карасавец! Спасибо!

I've had the 286S for about 4 months now and as a streamer on Twitch I couldn't have chosen a better all in one box. Great alternative to having to buy a compressor, a Cloudlifter, etc etc. At $200 it's a steal. Glad to see you covered this awesome piece of gear and covered it very well at that. Great job! Love your videos.

I just have to thank you for all of your advise in your video's... I have taken many of you tips and applied them to my recording chain. Added the dpx 286s today and followed you all the way thru the video AND BOOM - It Magically cleared up my chain and the loud room I have to record in. I will be making a few changes to the room to deaden it some more - But WOW! What a difference it has made! I am using it with my new Digital Mixer - the Yamaha MG10XU & New CAD E100S - Love that mic! It reminds me of when I was the Production Director for Citidel in SLC and had a Neumann in my studio. THANK YOU! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!! I hope you are getting paid from these companies - I sure you sell more products than you know~!

I bought this after watching this video and I absolutely love it. If your starting out or don't want to spend to much time editing then this is perfect for you! Thanks Mike!

Thank you Mike. This explains in great depth what each knob does. It has helped me set my DBX to get a better quality voice.

Great demonstration of the expander/gate!

As an audiobook narrator who does his own editing and mastering I find this is a great timesaver, especially being able to gate out mouth noise, breaths, and outside noise.

Was thinking of buying one of these, this has made my mind up for me, thank you for a great and in-depth video. Much appreciated.

Hi, thank you for the great video! I would like to note that the "DRIVE" control is more like the "THRESHOLD" on other compressors. In fact, the 286s uses a fixed threshold but the DRIVE adjusts the level of the signal that enters the compressor. As the manual says, "The DRIVE control determines the overall amount of gain reduction by setting the signal level going into the gain control circuitry. Turning DRIVE clockwise will increase the input signal, and therefore increase the amount of applied gain reduction".

this is great - I know it's an older vid but I'm literally buying one of these units and this is a nice walkthrough of features. Appreciate it.

What I like about this guy is that he speaks slow enough (with dramatic pauses) that I can watch the videos at 2x speed and still understand, word for word, what he’s saying. Making his 20 minute videos only 10 minutes. Awesome!

I’ve used a 286 for 17 years, great piece

Best preamp processor explanation on the web! Thanks.

Great vid. I just bought the dbx 286s, the scarlet solo and the Shure sm7b. This tutorial is the best I've seen so far. really helped me with my setup. Thanks

Thanks for talking about the concepts and then treating them with the preamp instead of talking about the preamp features. This serves much more as an educative video instead of a review. Great job!

Best video I've seen explaining use one of these units . I wish I had this knowledge 10 years ago

I use the dbx 286s, a komplete audio6 and a sennheiser e935 I had laying around. Not only does the dbx save a lot of audio tinkering time in post processing. It's perfect for live-streaming stuff. It has just the right features for a live-stream setup. And this video made me get the 286s. Thanks Mike!

Love it Mike. The double intro made me, as the kids say, LOL. Been following you and your channel for ages and found it super useful! Thanks so much.

Now I want the 286s even more. This is the best and most thorough walkthrough I have seen. Thanks Mike

Thank you kindly for this!

I've been looking for this video for years and I didn't even know it. Thanks for the detailed heads up!

Thank you Mike. This was the clearest explanation i have heard, and was very helpful. I use the Shure microphone and a Scarlett 2i2 so this was very relevant to my experience!

Good Video! I got the dbx286s and the SM7B and I love it, I've had it for about 1.5 year now and I'm so pleased with it! I also got a mixer in my chain just for some fun effects.

Great video Mike. Fantastic piece of kit. I've been using this for a while now and love it for the same reasons you so eloquently explained.

I think this is just the thing I've been looking for, working with VSTs on the backend is a huge pain. Thanks Mike!

Thank you a lot, mike, for sharing this video with us! This was the video that made me aware of this piece of tech, and since having a signal as processed, like what im getting after post in OBS right now for every application, it was simply gold to me! Compressor, Expander/Gate, a dynamic equalizer and a de-esser before the signal even gets to my audio interface? I'm in love! I'm sure this will be the pre-amp i'll end up buying. Great stuff...

Mike, I've watched dozens of your videos and you NEVER disappoint. Fantastic explanation of compression, etc. I stream on Twitch, and currently I pass everything through Adobe Audition using a virtual cable to pass the audio on to the streaming software. This solution works (my PC can handle it no problem), and its "adaptive noise reduction" works quite well. But, it always feels like a janky solution. So many moving parts in software, and having to compensate for the added audio delay, it makes getting started with the stream feel so... tenuous. That's not a good feeling to have before streaming. Thanks for your explanation, I will probably get this product (or after some research perhaps something else like it).

I got this thing about 2 months ago, I was shocked today when I saw you had a vid on it!

Excellent Video Mike. Well explained and demonstrated. The box can be confusing because it does not use the normal terminology like gate and "attack and release"

The Best DBX Settings Video yet.

Im getting this pre amp along with Lexicon MX400 in a week,not for voice over ,but for singing.Thanks great review!

I finally "get" this stuff! Thank you. Your explanations are so helpful.

Funny. When i bought my dbx compressor back in october 2016, i found your channel while looking up tutorials and here you are now doing a walkthrough. Great video. I've been subbed since then and i really enjoy your content

Wow, a video walkthrough which explains EVERYTHING I've been wanting to know! Thank you very much!

The way you have your mic setup is extremely soothing. Thanks for not adding a bunch of annoying processing that mutates your voice into something it's not. Sounds great, keep up the great work! 10:41 "Don't overdue it though otherwise..." you'll sound like Leo Laporte!

Just stop by to say thanks for all of your great informative podcasts, your videos on the DBX 286 and the Stellar X2 were great helps. Like the deep knowledge base you share

Man that was great. I didn't even know what this was until a few days ago and you really explained it all. Really helpful video! Thanks!!! -Duane

Fantastic video. I have a Steinberg UR242, the sm7b and a cloudlifter. On my way to getting the dbx 286s next month. Thanks for the great information on it.

Hey Mike, I just wanted to thank you for this video. Today I received my DBX 286A and I can't wait to use it during my live-streaming sessions. The 286A is the same piece of equipment with basically just an older looking front-plate. The A costs a bit less, and I picked it up thanks to your persuasion. I'm constantly looking for ways to improve the quality of my content, and I think the advice I've been gleaning from your channel over the last few weeks has really inspired me to get out there and record something amazing. :)

Great video!!! Your advice, helped me successfully set up my DBX 286s Mic Preamp..

Wow. I know nothing about mics let alone preamps and all the fancy sound devices. I understood everything you explained and was able to digest it. I just bought a Shure MV7 and was thinking about boosting the potential of the mic. Thank you for such a helpful explanation!

Finally a proper explanation of compression! So many people - even those claiming to be audio experts - incorrectly state that compression lowers the loud and increases the soft. No, it simply reduces the decibels of the loud signals by some ratio, thereby compressing the signal. Because that signal is now compressed, you have more overhead, which you can utilize by turning the gain up.

I actually have both the mic and the amp and this video helped me dial things in! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I owe ya!

Fantastic product. I use it on all of my livestreams on my gaming channel, and although it has a bit of a learning curve to tune it to your voice and setup, it works great with the SM7B as Mike showed. Just make sure you use high quality and low-noise XLR cables from your mic to the DBX 286s, and from the DBX 286s to your other preamp or whatever you're plugging it into.

Been using this for a couple months now, very handy indeed.

Thanks Mike You have a gift of explaining how these gadgets work Thank you thank you thank you

I use this for my voice over work, it's excellent! nice informative video. Thanks

Thanks for your help dude! I'm going to be buying ALOT of stuff soon, including a preamp!

Former DBX286s user here. I've had 2 of them: the first died after 2 years, the second one after a year and a half, so I gave up. I switched to using a Cloudlifter with the same Shure SM7B, and I am much happier. Any tweaks I might want to the sound, I do with plugins afterward. I definitely liked the concept of the 286s, and enjoyed them while they lasted. Anyway, great video as always.

Super clear explanation! Thank you so much!

Dude, you explained that soooo well, all my questions are answered! Greetings from Germany. Next time, i will pay you for doing such a great and informatic Video :P

Thank you so much!

Extremely helpful video. Thanks!

Very educational video, just amazing! and just remeber another important thing, all these is happening BEFORE the A/D conversion.

I will surely purchase this one

I have the older A version and I love it :P.

This is a must have

Great video. This has really helped me understand & set up my 286s to my liking. Thank you.

você foi incrível!! Parabéns

All of your videos are super helpful, this one in particular. Thank you very much!

Thanks mate! I dropped the fithead and I will go for this one.

The Fethead doesn't require an extra XLR and plugs directly into the mic versus the Cloudlifter that is $50 more and does. Fethead does actually sell a version designed for permanent installations that looks and functions like the Cloudlifter but they also have other single channel models. Cloudlifter offers a single, double and quad channel unit while Fethead offers a model for dynamic mics, one for lesser sensitive condenser mics and even offers the Airhead which is 15 db of reduction that I personally use when recording gunfire for motion picture and TV.

The dbx 286s is amazing! After recording our first two albums without one, we bought a 286s to see if we could improve the vocal recording process on our newest album we are currently recording. The 1st album was almost all SM58 direct into a Tascam DP-32, or through a vocal effects pedal 1st. For the 2nd album we dug out an old AKG C 3000B and also used a new Neumann TLM 102, they added diversity and options for the vocals. Now we're using the dbx 286s with the AKG, Neumann and a new Shure SM7B and the 286s made all 3 microphones come alive! A little compression when recording makes the mixing process so much easier!

This is the definition of a perfect guide/walkthrough! Thank you for this. I'm just ordered this!

thank you for all your brilliant videos you explain everything perfect

Thanks. I learned something, and I'm already a user of the 286s. A tip when you go shopping for your own, Mike: The dbx 286a is essentially identical in function, and can often be purchase a bit cheaper; under $100 sometimes. The older dbx 286 [no letter, sometimes labelled "Project 1"] is SLIGHTLY different: It doesn't allow you to adjust the frequency of the de-esser. But guess what? It still works great. It can sometimes be had for about $60. WITH OLDER GEAR, the knobs and buttons can get scratchy or glitchy, but fear not; many times they can be rehabilitated. I'll have to make a video about that someday, but the key is DeoxIT F5 Fader Cleaner.

I got one two weeks ago, Its brilliant

Great video.. Well explained... A thought to keep in mind when adjusting processing is that "less is often more."

Excellent review, thanks!

I posted 2 years ago about an auction for one of these - it fell through. I got the OG 286A from the US, recapped it and I absolutely love it. This is the fourth or fifth time I have watched this. It's a bible. Welcome to Sept 2022.

Very enjoyable video thanks for your clear explanation! great concent!

Where were you with this great tutorial when my career began back in 2000 man? 😁 Compression explained finally! 👍

Your videos are all amazing! Thank you so muuuuuch!! Keep'em coming!!!!

Thank you for this video!!! I had no idea on how to set up my DBX until I saw this! Thank you again!

Thank you. Great review

Very informative video! Thanks so much for the demonstration.

Great Video! Gonna purchase and then rewatch.

Wow what a great video Booth Junkie! Very detailed and you seem to have a knack with explaining things in a easy to understand way.. Peace brother

Very pleased with mine, the only difference that I have with my set up is that I use a Valve Pre-amp before hand. Very happy with the results using a Heil PR40 and PR781 , I use this set up for Ham Radio. Great Video!

I broadcast with this and it is amazing

I'm getting that!

I am very impressed to this video because this is so easy to understand explanation. And I have almost understood How to use this machine.

Thank you so much for these videos.

Hi there. Im learnig about DBX 286S and you teach me a lot! Sorry about my english. Im a brazilian old man making my audiobooks. Working in that and wanted to improve it. Thanks a lot.

bro,darling. that's your best sounding mic i dig that set up.

best video so far I found, I'm buying one for my son, thanks for the video

Thank you for this video!!!