dbx 231s

Purchased this unit after being frustrated with a buzz sound from my sound system, when music was paused.Disconnected my "other brand" eq and the hum went away.Purchased this DBX unit after reading many reviews. VERY HAPPY.WHen i pause the music, the system is QUIET!, the EQ allows me to adjust the sound for each environment I am in.I have now purchased 2 more DBX 15 band units to replace the "rock" EQs you see in this picture. I the HUM that I thought was a ground loop IS GONE! I spent HOURS isolating the noise. Swapping cables, running ground wires to each unit etc. All along it was the CHEAP ROCK EQs causing the issue!i have 3sets of amps and speakers depending on the environment i am in. One day i could be in a small room for a 50 person wedding. the next be playing music in a parade needing people 1 city block behind me to hear the music. ............. these DBx units are GREATBuilt SOLID, you can feel the quality! The unit has some weight, the sliders require force to move them. No more do i have to reset every time i pull the cover off my road case.FINAL FINDINGS* -- BEST EQ I HAVE USEd (over 5 different brands i have tried)* --- WOrth thE MONEY* --- SUPER QUIET (very important when you hit pause on music during an event due to an injury and the whole gymnasium is silent waiting for the performer to get up)* -- MY only regret is waiting to buy a quality item like this!

This wonderful EQ is worth far more than it costs. The system: Levinson #39 transport/pre-amp, Levinson #31 amp, NHT 3.3 speakers, Transparent Reference XL cabling throughout. This setup has first class imaging, and it's now in the the best acoustic setting so far. Even so, it is a suburban house with furniture, rugs and display cases. Tested with Stereophile CD 1, there were several peaks and valleys, rather large in the <60Hz range. To the ear, the soundstage would shift a lot with just a little head movement. I've run the stereo in its new home long enough to know its imaging characteristics well for a number of favorites.The dbx 215s is between the pre-amp and amp. All connections are balanced. Before turning it on, the EQ was flattened so I could compare the soundstage before and after. What I hear is remarkable. Consider: audio imaging comes from waveforms whose phase is carefully preserved end-to-end. Any signal processing must, by its nature, delay the signal to do its magic. The 215s keeps wave phase perfectly aligned at all frequencies, at least as far as I could discern by ear or on the screen. There was no difference between the imaging with the EQ in or out. This clearly has sophisticated software on a fast DSP.Back to Stereophile CD 1. I agree with another review here: 15 bands is sufficient for tuning to an acoustic environment. The pass-band transitions are completely clean and phase-pure everywhere that's been tested. I've had two hours of tuning so far and know it can be improved even more. Heck, I'm in my office typing this and <30Hz freqs are propagating into the office as clearly as in the sound room. The reflections in the sound room are asymmetrical; I suppose that's true for everyone. This was managed nicely with left / right tuning, again using Stereophile #1. As the test tones move left and right, the reflective component of each side can be heard. As you adjust the 215s you can hear the changes tune out the reflections. With not much work the system now produces a luscious, tangible, smooth sound that pulls me out of the office to hear a song I know well - in a new way.The stereo is first-tier audio equipment, surprisingly brought to a higher level of performance by this remarkable little EQ at a price point unimaginable 5 years ago. Well done, dbx.

I have a FBQ1502 in my stereo. Its a nice EQ but did not have the resolution needed to correct my room response. I replaced the FBQ1502 with the dbx 231s. The dbx is a fraction of a percent nosier than the FBQ. When I first connected the dbx I could hear 60Hz noise. I fixed this by using a ground isolating plug. There is still a little high frequency noise, you can hear it with the volume turned up. I EQ'd my system using an M-Audio USB-Pre I/F and Arta software. I placed the stereo mic near my listening position, set the Arta generator to pink noise, and used the Tool that shows level of 2 channels. I set the weighting to Z. First pass just make cuts to compensate for room effects. If needed add a little boost on frequencies where there are nulls. Finally use the level control to bring the sound level back to the pre-eq value.AMP : STR-D911, PL-540 TT, HRT music streamer DAC, Usher speakersLike : nice smooth sliders, build quality, solid feelDis-like : noise, hissThe hiss might be coming from the regulator.

This was an update for a 215 that had capacitors go bad. It was shipped fast and arrived in good condition. The EQ worked as described and is a nice update.

I bought the dbx231s through Amazon resale used "Very Good." I must say there wasn't a blemish on it, and all controls work perfectly. I connected it to my pricey stereo amp with XLR to 3.5mm adapters and the sound is thrilling! Pricewise and qualitywise, the dbx231s is the way to go.