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Section 1 - Introduction
Congratulations on choosing the dbx 266xs Compressor/Gate. The 266xs provides traditional
dbx sonic quality and performance for the working musician, DJ, studio operator or anyone who
needs a friendly compressor/gate to achieve quality compression, gating and downward
expansion quickly and easily. We recommend that you take a moment and read through the
manual as it provides information that will assist you in using your unit to its fullest potential.
1.1 Common Compressor Applications
• Fattening a Kick Drum or Snare Drum
• Adding Sustain to Guitar or Synthesizer String Sounds
• Smoothing Out a Vocal Performance
• Raising a Signal Out of a Mix
• Preventing Sound System Overload
• Digital to Analog Transfers
The 266xs compressor is packed with just the right features to effectively reduce and control
the dynamic range of your audio, add punch to flabby, loose sounds, or add sustain to
instruments. The 266xs begins with the classic dbx compression made famous by our 160 line
of compressors. Just set the 266xs Attack and Release controls to 12:00 to get the same
response as those units. But there’s more. We scaled the program-dependent Attack and
Release controls with dbx’s AutoDynamic™ circuitry, so that the 266xs full range of controls
produce voicings that extend from slow leveling to aggressive peak limiting.
1.2 Common Gating Applications
• Gating Dry Percussive Sounds (e.g., Snare Drum, Kick Drum)
• Gating Sounds That Have Longer Decay (e.g., Cymbal, Piano)
• Gating Hum or Buzz From Live Instruments or Recorded Tracks
• Downward Expansion to Reduce Noise Under Smooth Sounds (e.g., Vocals, Woodwinds)
The 266xs gate is ready to tackle all your gating needs, whether you need to remove
unwanted noise or other background sounds, tighten drum sounds, or change the
characteristic envelope of an instrument. The 266xs gate provides more flexibility than
traditional switch gates because it actually functions as a combination gate/expander. Where
switch gates are generally only suitable for a limited number of uses (e.g., gating percussion),
the gate on the 266xs acts as a gentle downward expander at low Ratio settings (suitable for
vocals, guitar, mixed program, etc.), and can effectively work as a switch gate when used at
high Ratio settings.
Refer to the following pages for suggested initial settings. These settings should suffice for
traditional compressing and gating requirements. However, the 266xs can accomplish many
more changes to sound quality. We recommend that you experiment with the 266xs controls;
take our suggested settings and run with them, try totally different settings, and try
unorthodox combinations of compressor and gating controls. You might be surprised at what
you hear. Best of all, you may create the perfect sound quality for your needs.
dbx 266xs
Section 1
Introduction
1
Section 1- Introduction .......................... 1
1.1 Commom Compressor Applications .... 1
1.2 Common Gating Applications ........... 1
1.3 Service Contact Info ....................... 2
1.4 Warranty ....................................... 3
Section 2- Getting Started ...................... 4
2.1 Rear Panel Connections .................. 4
2.2 Front Panel Connections ................. 5
Section 3 - Making Connections .............. 8
Section 4 - Technical Support and Facts .... 9
4.1 Technical Support .......................... 9
4.2 Registration Card and User Feedback ... 9
Section A - Appendix ............................... 10
A.1 Technical Specifications .................. 10
A.2 Block Diagram ............................... 11