To solder you put the mettle rod over the solder area and tap the heated tip against the solder rod and allow the solder to melt onto the location. To remove solder you place a metal fabric over the location while melting solder with the heated tip. Buy some cheap battery operated toys and practice solder and unsoler on those to get good at it, before doing it on anything valuable.
Go for it dude. Jaycar is the best place for soldering equipment and if you need any advice hit me up. You can make some very cool gear once you get into it. Another previous tafe student, Matt just built his first mic. He’s stoked.
Got mine about 4 years ago and never looked back. Use it all the time. However, to me it sounds smoother/less snappy than the 160. Perhaps because of the overeasy/soft knee. Cheers from Brazil!
@@diyrecordingstudio A mod? I'm pretty sure that in the manual, there's a rather clever trick mentioned where you split the incoming, run one side dry into the input, then take the signal and EQ/filter it then run it into the sidechain input to tune the input sensitivity to a particular frequency range. Does cool things for bass. ;) Looking forward to seeing this mod.
Find a working DBX 900 rack and snap up all the silver-side 903 compressors you can find. One of the best specimens of the Blackmer-era designs. The silver-edge ones have the discrete 202C VCA vs the THAT 21XX integrated circuit that replaced them. Way more 'bark' and 'bite' when pushed.
@@diyrecordingstudio yes I realized some frequencies are displaced in the eq but I haven't stuck my nose it the circuit yet. Did you mod anything in there already?
one thing about the DBX-166's that makes a small issue for operation In stereo mode, it basically couples all the controls from Ch:A to Ch:B, which is great, they both work at the same response .... BUT In stereo mode, they only sense from the left channel, so if, for example, you are using it on a stereo Drum bus, with toms panned L to R , whichever Toms are panned to the left (I'm not going to get into the 'as you see it from the audience' vs 'as you see it as a drummer' panning argument) will trigger the compression a lot more than whichever Toms you have panned to the right. There are ways around this, but they require a little more fiddling (either running as dual mono, or using 2 x DBX 166's)
I have one and it is banned to the loft. Too noisy and although not bad sounding the unit never exited me regarding the sound. But its taller brother the 160XT of which I have 2 is a very versatile mojo-sounding unit I totally recommend. That's the one sitting higher up in the rack in the video.
Yeah I have 3 of the 160X units, which are similar/almost the same to the XT. I dont have any noise issues with the 163, but that can be fixed with simple power supply mods. I;'m going to mod the crap out of this unit sometime soon to make it more useful!
I use it on separate toms, shells bus or drum bus duties. It does the punchy dbx thing. The limiter can work good on close mic cymbals to bring out detail too.
Love your content dude, we align on a lot of stuff and that makes it fun to watch. So while your iron is still hot, search for those mods you can do and make this comp into a real vca beast. It’s cheap, great vids and you’ll be pleased with the result. Guilty myself. Just a bunch of caps and vca’s. Sets you back around $80,- but well well worth it without much searching. Greetings from a Dutch town.
Dude thanks so much. I’m researching these mods right now. You’ve done them? How do they sound? The vca mod sounds interesting. I’ll probably do one of my 160x units as well. Could be cool. What sort of setup are you running?
Definitely like the diy stuff, I do all repairs myself. I used to make my own circuit boards when I was young, only problem now is my eyes getting bad and it’s hard to see sometimes. Maybe I should invest in a magnifying glass 😂
The never ending debate about Analogue vs Software goes on but no mater how advanced software might become, there will alwaays be people like You who are willing and dedicated to fixing hardware. I respect that, and if it was Me I would probably just use the unit without the stereo button, $35 is a great depite that.
Yeah man, as I always say, they're just tools. I like plugins too. They have their place. Hardware just does the thing i need sometimes, so i keep it until it doesnt!
Hey, can I ask you something. I have a de soldering gun, exactly like yours, and somehow some solder dried up right at the back end of the metal tube, like just before it reaches the tank. When I have it heated up, it's not hot enough there to melt whats stuck, but I can just see it blocking the hole. Any ideas?
I’ve always just kept a paper clip close by. I’m not totally sure, but I think this is just a thing that happens with all of them. Another idea might be getting some flux in there, but I haven’t tried that, just the paper clip.
I agree. I have one sitting in the loft because it is too noisy and does not really generate any mojo. I have also 2 DBX 160XT and if I can get hold of more for a good price I would buy them. If I would have the money I would buy then anyway. They are very good for everything and really add a bonus to the sound.
I think you are mistaking the dbx 166 in this video for a 166xl or 166xs or other cheaper variant. These are not the same. The 166 in this video is essentially the same compressor as a 160x, a completely different price point and overall sound. These are a studio compressor, found in many studios in fact.
@@diyrecordingstudio A review on GearSpace: The dbx 166/166A/166xl is a single rack space stereo dynamics control device featuring separate gate, compressor, and limiter sections. The sections can be linked for stereo operation off one channel's controls. Each channel feature a Gate Threshold, Compressor Threshold and ratio, and limiter threshold. The current "xl" version adds release for the gate and attack and release for the compressor. There are sidechain inputs for each channel. Lotsa features. You'd think the bang for the buck would be a bit better than a 5. But its not and here's why. First off, none of the versions sound very good. The old ones might sound a little better than the newer, fuller featured ones, but none of the 166s are that hot. They're definitely not in the league of the original 160, 162, or 165. And the features...... Ah, the features....... The gate section is utterly useless, with or without the release control. The attack is too slow for any reasonable use unless you want the beginning of your sound lopped off with a dull knife. The limiter section is likewise useless, primarily because it sounds horrible and the lack of anything other than a threshold control make it unsuitable for anything but the most crude sort of limiting. When they call it a "peak stop limiter" that's exactly what they mean. This might be useful for speaker protection in a live situation if you don't have anything better but for recoding it doesn't cut it. The compressor section works as advertised. It has a switch for hard knee/over easy and a switch for auto mode. Unfortunately the actual sound of the compressor section is mediocre. This unit appears to be intended for live sound applications in nightclubs that don't have the budget for anything of better quality. As so, it does fill a niche. But for any sort of more demanding application or for recording I'd steer clear. For recording especially there are units available that may not have as many "features" but are miles ahead in audio quality in the same price bracket.
Gearspace....man, I'm sorry but that is not a very reliable source...Once again you are conflating the 166 and the 166 xl as the same thing. They are not. The 166XL is for live. Definitely. The straight 166 is a stereo version of the 160X/160A/160XT. Totally different compressor. It isn't the 160VU, the gates are mostly useless, but the comp itself sounds excellent and much different to the 166XL/XS models. I use it on toms and drum buss or shells bus all the time. It sounds great. Your loss, more for us.
Fantastic, I really need to learn how to solder
To solder you put the mettle rod over the solder area and tap the heated tip against the solder rod and allow the solder to melt onto the location. To remove solder you place a metal fabric over the location while melting solder with the heated tip. Buy some cheap battery operated toys and practice solder and unsoler on those to get good at it, before doing it on anything valuable.
Go for it dude. Jaycar is the best place for soldering equipment and if you need any advice hit me up. You can make some very cool gear once you get into it. Another previous tafe student, Matt just built his first mic. He’s stoked.
@@HOLLASOUNDS Well that's a good start
Hell yeah for sure and wow really? Thats amazing@@diyrecordingstudio
get a good soldering station and practice with cables!!then guitar wiring then circuit boards!!
There are quite a few good overlooked DBXs, the 163X is good for guitars
Totally! I have a pair of the older 163s. They’re excellent. Love em on guitars and bass for sure. Thanks for the comment
I had 2 of them yonks ago.. formidable for drums!
Yeah they’re sure great for that. My main go to.
Got mine about 4 years ago and never looked back. Use it all the time. However, to me it sounds smoother/less snappy than the 160. Perhaps because of the overeasy/soft knee.
Cheers from Brazil!
Yeah i think you're right. I'm going to mod mine very soon should be interesting!
I love my 166. Cool vid!
Cheers man. Definitely a cool bit of gear. Stay tuned I’m going to do a modification video on this one soon!
@@diyrecordingstudio A mod? I'm pretty sure that in the manual, there's a rather clever trick mentioned where you split the incoming, run one side dry into the input, then take the signal and EQ/filter it then run it into the sidechain input to tune the input sensitivity to a particular frequency range. Does cool things for bass. ;)
Looking forward to seeing this mod.
Find a working DBX 900 rack and snap up all the silver-side 903 compressors you can find. One of the best specimens of the Blackmer-era designs. The silver-edge ones have the discrete 202C VCA vs the THAT 21XX integrated circuit that replaced them. Way more 'bark' and 'bite' when pushed.
I bought one last week!. Definitely interested in mods
Subscribed!
Thank you. Yeah a couple of the mods aren’t too difficult. I’ll have it coming soon!
I also have a 166 and that alctron pre, they're amazing for the low price
Nice, yeah i bought the alctron pe to mod and play around with. The preamp is great, the EQ needs some work.
@@diyrecordingstudio yes I realized some frequencies are displaced in the eq but I haven't stuck my nose it the circuit yet. Did you mod anything in there already?
one thing about the DBX-166's that makes a small issue for operation
In stereo mode, it basically couples all the controls from Ch:A to Ch:B, which is great, they both work at the same response ....
BUT
In stereo mode, they only sense from the left channel, so if, for example, you are using it on a stereo Drum bus, with toms panned L to R , whichever Toms are panned to the left (I'm not going to get into the 'as you see it from the audience' vs 'as you see it as a drummer' panning argument) will trigger the compression a lot more than whichever Toms you have panned to the right.
There are ways around this, but they require a little more fiddling (either running as dual mono, or using 2 x DBX 166's)
I have one and it is banned to the loft. Too noisy and although not bad sounding the unit never exited me regarding the sound.
But its taller brother the 160XT of which I have 2 is a very versatile mojo-sounding unit I totally recommend.
That's the one sitting higher up in the rack in the video.
Yeah I have 3 of the 160X units, which are similar/almost the same to the XT. I dont have any noise issues with the 163, but that can be fixed with simple power supply mods. I;'m going to mod the crap out of this unit sometime soon to make it more useful!
Great vid as always, how do you use the dbx?
I use it on separate toms, shells bus or drum bus duties. It does the punchy dbx thing. The limiter can work good on close mic cymbals to bring out detail too.
I paid about the same for mine. I find it too noisy to use. Looks cool in the rack though.
That’s a bummer. There may be a problem with its power supply? There’s some mods you can do to really clean that up.
Love your content dude, we align on a lot of stuff and that makes it fun to watch.
So while your iron is still hot, search for those mods you can do and make this comp into a real vca beast. It’s cheap, great vids and you’ll be pleased with the result. Guilty myself.
Just a bunch of caps and vca’s. Sets you back around $80,- but well well worth it without much searching.
Greetings from a Dutch town.
Dude thanks so much. I’m researching these mods right now. You’ve done them? How do they sound? The vca mod sounds interesting. I’ll probably do one of my 160x units as well. Could be cool.
What sort of setup are you running?
@@diyrecordingstudio sound skulptor and dbx 166 live just for kick. I’ll email you when interested.
Definitely like the diy stuff, I do all repairs myself. I used to make my own circuit boards when I was young, only problem now is my eyes getting bad and it’s hard to see sometimes. Maybe I should invest in a magnifying glass 😂
Some of the kits make it a bit easier these days, I WISH i could do my own circuit boards. I'll get there one day!
Awesome
The never ending debate about Analogue vs Software goes on but no mater how advanced software might become, there will alwaays be people like You who are willing and dedicated to fixing hardware. I respect that, and if it was Me I would probably just use the unit without the stereo button, $35 is a great depite that.
Yeah man, as I always say, they're just tools. I like plugins too. They have their place. Hardware just does the thing i need sometimes, so i keep it until it doesnt!
It's more for a bar room pa or something.
Hey, can I ask you something. I have a de soldering gun, exactly like yours, and somehow some solder dried up right at the back end of the metal tube, like just before it reaches the tank. When I have it heated up, it's not hot enough there to melt whats stuck, but I can just see it blocking the hole. Any ideas?
I’ve always just kept a paper clip close by. I’m not totally sure, but I think this is just a thing that happens with all of them. Another idea might be getting some flux in there, but I haven’t tried that, just the paper clip.
You should use a candle to heat a paper clip or steal wire and force that through the hole.
The above are good suggestions. usually you can scrape the solder off other surfaces by picking at it. It should come off kind of easily enough!
@@HOLLASOUNDS Hmmmm ok, good suggestion.
@@stevedoesnt Good suggestion man. Thanks.
I made the mistake of buying three 166s. I gave them away and still feel guilty.
They werent much more as new. This id not studio quality. They were often used live or as the PA limiter in a pub
I agree. I have one sitting in the loft because it is too noisy and does not really generate any mojo.
I have also 2 DBX 160XT and if I can get hold of more for a good price I would buy them. If I would have the money I would buy then anyway.
They are very good for everything and really add a bonus to the sound.
$ 35 is not cheap at all! It was sold for $ 167 brand new, terrible quality and harsh sounding.😂 Absolutely no "Studio Quality"!
Because it’s the hammer, not the arm swinging it! Am I right?
I think you are mistaking the dbx 166 in this video for a 166xl or 166xs or other cheaper variant. These are not the same.
The 166 in this video is essentially the same compressor as a 160x, a completely different price point and overall sound. These are a studio compressor, found in many studios in fact.
@@diyrecordingstudio A review on GearSpace: The dbx 166/166A/166xl is a single rack space stereo dynamics control device featuring separate gate, compressor, and limiter sections. The sections can be linked for stereo operation off one channel's controls. Each channel feature a Gate Threshold, Compressor Threshold and ratio, and limiter threshold. The current "xl" version adds release for the gate and attack and release for the compressor. There are sidechain inputs for each channel.
Lotsa features. You'd think the bang for the buck would be a bit better than a 5. But its not and here's why.
First off, none of the versions sound very good. The old ones might sound a little better than the newer, fuller featured ones, but none of the 166s are that hot. They're definitely not in the league of the original 160, 162, or 165.
And the features...... Ah, the features.......
The gate section is utterly useless, with or without the release control. The attack is too slow for any reasonable use unless you want the beginning of your sound lopped off with a dull knife.
The limiter section is likewise useless, primarily because it sounds horrible and the lack of anything other than a threshold control make it unsuitable for anything but the most crude sort of limiting. When they call it a "peak stop limiter" that's exactly what they mean. This might be useful for speaker protection in a live situation if you don't have anything better but for recoding it doesn't cut it.
The compressor section works as advertised. It has a switch for hard knee/over easy and a switch for auto mode. Unfortunately the actual sound of the compressor section is mediocre.
This unit appears to be intended for live sound applications in nightclubs that don't have the budget for anything of better quality. As so, it does fill a niche. But for any sort of more demanding application or for recording I'd steer clear. For recording especially there are units available that may not have as many "features" but are miles ahead in audio quality in the same price bracket.
Gearspace....man, I'm sorry but that is not a very reliable source...Once again you are conflating the 166 and the 166 xl as the same thing. They are not. The 166XL is for live. Definitely. The straight 166 is a stereo version of the 160X/160A/160XT. Totally different compressor. It isn't the 160VU, the gates are mostly useless, but the comp itself sounds excellent and much different to the 166XL/XS models. I use it on toms and drum buss or shells bus all the time. It sounds great. Your loss, more for us.
@@AllmedialabNlWhy are you all bent about it? Don't buy it.
It’s only worth $35
😂😂😂😂😂😂