Drawmer and Dbx gate questions. Which to buy?

A

Alan Sledzieski

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Sep 11, 2011
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Hamburg, NY.
Need a gate, so,,

Is there a big difference between how the gate itself works, sounds, on the Drawmer Mx 40 punch gate vs the Ds 404? Whats the big difference between the two to justify the big price difference?

How about the dbx 1074, how does it stack up against the drawmer?

Thanks for any thoughts

Al.
 
Re: Drawmer and Dbx gate questions. Which to buy?

Do not overlook the Aphex 622. Some would say it's better than the Drawmer DS201. Since the model recognition isn't as good as the Drawmer, you can get even better deals on them. When they were new, they were in the $1000+ price range. Aphex claims they don't click even when set to fastest attack. But they do if you have the range cranked up. I paid in the $300 range for mine 6 years ago. They're down in the $200 range these days. If you can find the 612 in good shape (previous model), you might look into those for even less $. They're basically the same gate but use a high pass/low pass side chain filter setup for trigger instead of a parametric filter. I own a couple of each and they're excellent gates.

Greg
 
Re: Drawmer and Dbx gate questions. Which to buy?

What are the issues with the dbx 1074?
I need a 4 channel gate, i forgot to add that, in 1 rack space.
I'm also not crazy about buying stuff that is 20 years old.
 
Re: Drawmer and Dbx gate questions. Which to buy?

20 year old gear is probably repairable when it breaks. Things newer? Crap shoot.

I've used all the products mentioned except the Drawmer Punch Gate. Of them, I like the Drawmer 201 and the Rane G4 the best, but you won't get 4 channels of them in 1 space, ditto for the Aphex (which also sounds very good).

Your rack is making the determination, not the sonics of the unit. You're buying a new APB ProDesk; buy a second rack for FOH. Put the insert dynamics in one and system drive & utility in the other. Then buy the gates & comps that you really like, not just what you have rack space for.
 
Re: Drawmer and Dbx gate questions. Which to buy?

Tim McCulloch said:
20 year old gear is probably repairable when it breaks. Things newer? Crap shoot.

I've used all the products mentioned except the Drawmer Punch Gate. Of them, I like the Drawmer 201 and the Rane G4 the best, but you won't get 4 channels of them in 1 space, ditto for the Aphex (which also sounds very good).

Your rack is making the determination, not the sonics of the unit. You're buying a new APB ProDesk; buy a second rack for FOH. Put the insert dynamics in one and system drive & utility in the other. Then buy the gates & comps that you really like, not just what you have rack space for.
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Tim, its kinda dis-heartning though when this happens, did you read my other topic on Drawmer and RF noise? These are what, over $1000 each new.

http://www.soundforums.net/live/threads/3143-RF-noise-on-drawmer-dl-441-Whats-going-on
 
Re: Drawmer and Dbx gate questions. Which to buy?

Alan Sledzieski said:
Tim, its kinda dis-heartning though when this happens, did you read my other topic on Drawmer and RF noise? These are what, over $1000 each new.

http://www.soundforums.net/live/threads/3143-RF-noise-on-drawmer-dl-441-Whats-going-on
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Yes, I read that post. The RF is demodulating somewhere, and you'll spend a lot of time figuring it out and fixing it. How many of your gigs are in this RF environment? If this is just at home I'd say "get over it", but that doesn't do anything to help when an eventual gig finds you in a similar circumstance.

What does Drawmer (or US Distributor TransAmerican Audio) have to say about it?
 
Re: Drawmer and Dbx gate questions. Which to buy?

Tim McCulloch said:
Yes, I read that post. The RF is demodulating somewhere, and you'll spend a lot of time figuring it out and fixing it. How many of your gigs are in this RF environment? If this is just at home I'd say "get over it", but that doesn't do anything to help when an eventual gig finds you in a similar circumstance.

What does Drawmer (or US Distributor TransAmerican Audio) have to say about it?
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Tim, what do you mean by the demodulating? Is this a age issue and some componants breaking down in the Drawmer, or will even new Drawmer have this issue do to design?

There are a few places that a band I just picked up for doing sound for this summer will be right in downtown Buffalo, so I am rather concerned. I have a Behringer xr 1400 gate that is worth $30 and is dead quiet, the other one is going south and I'm getting a hum through it, this is the reason for the need for new gates.

As far as getting over a $1200 compressor being more noisy then a $30 door stop ( lol ) thats hard to do. Because now I never now if I'll have issues. Its not good when I can here the Buffalo Sabers playing through the Foh or a talk show going on.

I will have to contact Drawmer and see what they say, this issue just reared its head in the last few days.
 
Re: Drawmer and Dbx gate questions. Which to buy?

Alan Sledzieski said:
Tim, what do you mean by the demodulating? Is this a age issue and some componants breaking down in the Drawmer, or will even new Drawmer have this issue do to design?

There are a few places that a band I just picked up for doing sound for this summer will be right in downtown Buffalo, so I am rather concerned. I have a Behringer xr 1400 gate that is worth $30 and is dead quiet, the other one is going south and I'm getting a hum through it, this is the reason for the need for new gates.

As far as getting over a $1200 compressor being more noisy then a $30 door stop ( lol ) thats hard to do. Because now I never now if I'll have issues. Its not good when I can here the Buffalo Sabers playing through the Foh or a talk show going on.

I will have to contact Drawmer and see what they say, this issue just reared its head in the last few days.
Click to expand...

One fact, the Drawmer is worth getting fixed, the B----er not so much
 
Re: Drawmer and Dbx gate questions. Which to buy?

Unspectacular. If you're stuck on the 1 rack space thing, THE answer is BSS DPR504. I think Harman has end-of-lifed the BSS analog dynamics but there are plenty of them around on the used market.
 
Re: Drawmer and Dbx gate questions. Which to buy?

KT also has a currently shipping quad comp with side chain filter, the DN530. Haven't heard it myself, but it's probably more than decent. It isn't cheap though.
 
Re: Drawmer and Dbx gate questions. Which to buy?

Alan Sledzieski said:
Just wondering, what is not so usefull on the 1074, lack of a hold?
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The 1074 tends to chatter a lot, especially on louder acts. The Drawmer not as much. I just found the way it operated annoying once I'd been on a DS201. Drive a Vette, then drive a Hyundai. Which one will you want to drive again?
 
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