Recording Fri, September 05, 2008

Sound Reinforcement/Live Sound | Product News |

New Direct Boxes From dbx

Anaheim, CA (January 2008): dbx Professional Products introduced two new direct injection boxes into the product line at the Winter NAMM show. Representing a new category of product offering for dbx, the dB10 Passive Direct Box and dB12 Active Direct Box build on the dbx heritage, offering customers professional signal processing solutions. The aggressive styling of their cast-metal chassis is a departure from the usual utilitarian look of most direct boxes.

The dB10 Passive Direct Box includes all the basic features you would expect from a work horse direct box – 1⁄4” input and parallel “thru” jacks, transformer isolation, balanced XLR output, and ground lift switch. Its 3-position pad switch accommodates instrument, line level and speaker level signals, while further versatility is added with its selectable polarity invert and high-cut filtering functions. Chrome toggle switches and a gold-plated Neutrik XLR output jack, as well as a custom dbx mu-metal-shielded isolation transformer, ensure quality signal path. All switches are recessed to provide protection from accidental operation or damage.

The dB12 Active Direct Box includes all the features of the dB10, but in an active version. Driven by phantom power supplied by a mixing console’s mic input, the dB12’s active circuitry operates from 20V to 48V. A green power LED is included to show status of the phantom power source. The dB12’s high input impedance and low-noise buffered active circuitry are designed to preserve the tone and signal characteristics of the instrument source. It also includes a custom dbx mu-metal-shielded isolation transformer, tailored to complement the active circuitry and provide a balanced output signal.

In addition to their rugged design, a unique feature of these direct boxes is the heavy-duty molded rubber skid pad which not only provides a solid, non-skid surface, but is contoured to mate with the tiered surface of the chassis top, making stable stacking of multiple boxes possible for a cleaner, compact arrangement.

The dbx dB10 Passive and dB12 Active Direct Boxes are available in March at an estimated street price of $99.95 and $129.95 respectively.