Latest User Reviews

These units have become as rare as hens teeth over the years, and for good reason. Many of this short run of 224X were converted to XL models so the owners were able to use the new and improved LARC found on the 480L. This involved changing out the 25 pin port and EPROMs. Unfortunately, while many considered this an upgrade, that wasn’t really an improvement in sound quality.

If you are looking for the Vengelis Blade Runner/Antartica sound, the original 224 and 224X are what you are looking for. To my ears, the algos changed enough with the XL such that it doesn’t quite have the depth or width of the two earlier models. The 224X shines on ambient music and more classic tracks. It doesn’t have the flexibility of the 480 and 300 series, but those are very different machines.

I am fortunate to own all three versions (224,224X, and 224XL) as well as all of the other big Lexies and delays from that era, and I will most of the time be reaching the the X anytime the piece calls for the reverb character to be a featured part of the music.

I had the priveledge of using one of these for a short while, and I loved it. Sounded great, with that rich, fat analog sound. It is built like a tank too.

The DBX 786 is one of the best sounding mic pres for ever. We have here in the studio Millennias HV3r and M2B (also beautiful), Forssell SMP2, AMS Neve 1073, DAV BG8 and some more. The DBX sits right next to the Millennia STT1, which is a little more versatile; but the DBX has a bigger and deeper soundstage. I absolutely love it. The spectrum EQ is aurally nice, but I like a good quality EQ like in the Millennia STT1 a bit better. Although If you know how to set the spectrum EQ it is amazing. Sometimes I even use it for mastering. I just gave the 50% for Mojo because even though it is a an older design from the 90-s it is ultra clean and transparent, yer musical. But it doesn‘t color the sound like a Neve. I just gave 95% on reliability because in this 13 years ofusing it I had two broken LEDs. Bit absolutely no real issue. Lately I bought a AD converter card. I can remember that this was very expensive. Today it really surprised ne, that it is on ar with our Prisms, RME ADI 2 pr fs and others. Pretty cool when considering that we are talking about an at least 25 years old design…

Very rare gear! The sound is unique.

I have two of these, worth every dime…

I bought one of these when they first came out and loved it. As a song writing tool I found it incredibly useful. For its time it sounded great, the effects were brilliant, and the ability to use it as a recorder, although limited was useful for getting ideas down etc.  I also used it for sequencing the keyboards for my band live and it never let me down on stage either.

This was released in the early days of digital delays and it was a dream come true at that time. It may not stand up to some later models but if you are looking for a delay with Mojo, then look no further.

These things are rare as these days, but if you get the opportunity to try one, or even better buy one, do so. It sounds amazing, even today.

When this thing first hit the market, it was like something out of Star Wars and it got a lot of attention for its looks alone, but it is the sound quality of this reverb that cemented it in the recording world. It may have been the first digital reverb to hit the market, but they got it right on first attempt, beautiful reverb.

So, this was a bit of an impulsive/curiosity purchase for me, as I’d heard quite a bit about this unit, and low and behold, one was offered to me at a silly price, along with the remote. The word on the street, is the DN780 was designed to be a ‘poor man’s AMS’? Now whether that’s true or not, I’m not sure, but there are plenty of ‘similarities’ when you instantly take a glance!

I’m not exactly sure when the 780 came out, but I’m guessing around 1984-86? but that’s the general time that the digital reverb market became affordable and other companies could Compete with the big players that had already got well established but cost a small fortune back then! The design of the 780 is pretty straightforward and I would be amazed if whoever designed it didn’t look at how the front panel of the RMX 16 was set out?

Operationally, it is very similar in someways to the AMS and differs in others… The front panel is very intuitive and nicely laid out (although I’m not a great fan of the multicoloured LED numerals) But I understand why they did it. The build quality of the 780 is pretty good and although it was built to a lesser budget, I would have to say, for the most part, it has stood up well to the test of time. I bought mine about five years ago and it had been sat around for quite some years before I got hold of it, and a few of the buttons needed cleaning (as did all the remote-control sliders). On the subject of the remote control, it is A nice addition and is very simple to use. Like a lot of reverbs that were supplied with remotes, sadly, quite a few have been lost over time and they are extremely difficult to find on their own…Now onto the sound.

The DN780 Is a great sounding reverb. It has all the usual variations of hall, plate, vocal and nonlinear algorithms and is fully Programmable with plenty of user memory locations (which the AMS sadly lacks) As you’d expect, it is not an AMS (In terms of its sound quality) but being fair, a few of the algorithms are not that far off!

My honest opinion is that if you are comparing the two (as I am) Then you would automatically gravitate towards the AMS, but let’s also be fair and reflect on the fact that the AMS was over three time the price when it came out! As a general reverb around a budget, it really isn’t that far behind! And here in the U.K, a good DM780 will cost you about a grand, and an AMS £3.5-£4k! so value for money is open to personal opinion and preference? Considering how much they were when they were new, and how much they go for now on the second-hand market, I have to say that the DN 780 is excellent value for money and easily stand up to being a useful main (or secondary) studio reverb.

To sum up, I was very impressed when I got mine and I have used it on various things such as keyboards and drums, where I have actually preferred some of its algorithms compared to some of the bigger Lexicon and AMS rivals. If you can find one in good condition along with the remote, I would strongly advise buying one and adding it as a useful addition. They’re not that common here and seem to be getting more on people’s ‘radar list’ as something to try and buy.

Possible immediate attention may be needed to replace the ventilation fans inside, as they weren’t the best quality ones used, and they may all have noisy bearings. I replaced mine very easily and fairly inexpensively. Generally they are fairly stable and a lot less Intricate inside (compared to things such as the AMS) parts are fairly easy to obtain too, such as remote sliders, replacement fans and volume pots..

I bought one of these when they first came out in the early 80s and loved it. You have to remember the time this was, and in respect to that time, it was cutting-edge technology and total freedom for songwriters like me to start cutting demos at home. I thought the sound quality was excellent given the format being used, and sure a reel to reel sounded better, but the 244 was so portable and an all-in-one solution compared to the very heavy reel to reel options.

Ever wonder why these are still in use in most studios, or why they are being remade by other companies? They feature on thousands of records from the seventies onwards because they are great at what they are designed to do, and no plugin gets it right in my opinion.