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dbx 386 - page 1
® 386 Dual V acuum T ube Preamp w/Digital Out User Manual ...
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dbx 386 - page 2
W ARNING FOR Y OUR PRO TECTION PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING: KEEP THESE INSTRUCTIONS HEED ALL WARNINGS FOLLOW ALL INSTRUCTIONS CLEAN ONL Y WITH A DAMP CLO TH. DO NOT BLOCK ANY OF THE VENTILA TION OPENINGS. INST ALL IN ACCORD ANCE WITH THE MANUF ACTURERS INSTRUCTIONS. DO NOT INST ALL NEAR ANY HEA T SOURCES SUCH AS RADIA TORS, HEA T REGISTERS, STOVES; O ...
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dbx 386 - page 3
U.K. MAINS PLUG W ARNING A molded mains plug that has been cut off from the cord is unsafe. Discard the mains plug at a suitable disposal facility . NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMST ANCES SHOULD YOU INSERT A D AMAGED OR CUT MAINS PLUG INTO A 13 AMP POWER SOCKET . Do not use the mains plug without the fuse cover in place. Replacement fuse covers can be obta ...
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dbx 386 - page 4
T able of Contents 386 Intr oduction 0.1 Defining the 386................................................i 0.2 Service Contact Info .........................................ii 0.3 W arranty ............................................................ii 0.4 Installation Recommendations........................iii Section 1 - Getting Started 1.1 Rear ...
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dbx 386 - page 5
INTRO CUSTOMER SER VICE INFO 386 DEFINED W ARRANTY INFO ® INTRODUCTION 386 ...
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dbx 386 - page 6
Intr oduction ® 386 User Manual i 386 Congratulations on your pur chase of the dbx 386 Dual V acuum Tube Preamp with digital out - put capabilities. For over 25 years, dbx has been the industry leader in dynamics processing. With the intr oduction of the 386, we offer the classic smooth and warmth qualities of tube microphone pre-amplification, co ...
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dbx 386 - page 7
® Intr oduction 386 386 User Manual If you r equire technical support, contact dbx Customer Service. Be prepared to accurately describe the problem. Know the serial number of your unit - this is printed on a sticker attached to the rear panel. If you have not already taken the time to fill out your warranty r egistration card and send it in, pleas ...
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dbx 386 - page 8
Intr oduction ® 386 User Manual iii 386 Install the 386 in your rack with the provided rack scr ews. I t is essential that when the 386 is being mounted in a rack mounting enclosure, the unit should be positioned with enough ro om (at least one centimeter at the top and one centimeter at the bottom of the unit) to allow prop - er ventilation. The ...
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dbx 386 - page 9
Getting Started ® Getting Started Section 1 386 ...
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dbx 386 - page 10
Getting Star ted ® 386 User Manual 2 Section 1 386 Power Switch Tu rns the 386 on and off . IEC Power Cord Receptacle This is the power cord receptacle of the 386. An IEC cord is included with the shipped prod - uct. AES/EBU Digital Connector The 386 provides AES/EBU digital output formating through the XLR connector . Be sure to use short lengths ...
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dbx 386 - page 11
® Instrument Input This unbalanced high-impedance input connection is used to insert an instrument signal direct- ly into the preamp. Use the LINE switch to make instrument input or the rear panel line input active. Plugging into the instrument jack will override the rear panel 1/4” input jack (line input must be selected). Line Select Switch Th ...
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dbx 386 - page 12
Getting Star ted ® 386 User Manual 4 Section 1 386 Meter Select Switch This switch allows you to select display metering of either the digital or analog output signal. The analog level is scaled in dBu, while the digital level is scaled in dBFS. LightPipe™ Meter This meter displays either the analog or digital output signal. Digital Output This ...
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dbx 386 - page 13
ANALOG APPLICA TIONS ® ANALOG APPLICA TIONS Section 2 386 ...
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dbx 386 - page 14
Analog Applications ® 3 386 User Manual 6 Section 2 386 • Turn of f all equipment before making any connections. • Install the 386 in your rack with the provided rack scr ews. It i s essential that when the 386 is being mounted in a rack mounting enclosure, the unit should be positioned with enough room (at least one centimeter at the top and ...
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dbx 386 - page 15
® 1). Make microphone connections, being careful to keep the DRIVE control in the minimum (+30 dB) position. 2). Connect the 386’s Line outputs directly to the audio inputs of your r ecorder . 3). Enable the r ecord function of the specific track of the r ecorder and open the specific tape track return in the console which corresponds to the tra ...
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dbx 386 - page 16
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dbx 386 - page 17
DIGIT AL APPLICA TIONS ® DIGIT AL APPLICA TIONS Section 3 386 ...
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dbx 386 - page 18
Digital Applications ® 10 Section 3 386 Dither Switch This switch is used to select the dither type algorithms including: TPDF , SNR 2 , or None. Dither is random noise that is added to the audio signal which effectively eliminates the harmonic distor- tion created by truncation. See the“T runcation” graph in section D.2 of the Appendix. The L ...
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dbx 386 - page 19
® AES/EBU Digital Connector The 386 provides AES/EBU digital output formating through the XLR connector . Be sure to use short lengths of 110 Ω digital cables rather than standard XLR to XLR cables. Using the correct cables will pre- vent digital dropouts and other interconnection problems. S/PDIF Digital Connector The 386 provides S/PDIF digita ...
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dbx 386 - page 20
Digital Applications ® 12 Section 3 386 Rear P anel Connections • Connect the source to the desir ed 1/4” TRS or XLR input. • Connect the AES/EBU or S/PDIF output of the 386 and run into the AES/EBU or S/PDIF input inter face of the DA W (CPU). Fr ont Panel Digital Output F eatures 1). Use the METER switch to select digital output metering. ...
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dbx 386 - page 21
® Rear P anel Connections • Connect the source to the desir ed 1/4” TRS or XLR input jack. • Connect the AES/EBU or S/PDIF output of the 386 and run into the AES/EBU or S/PDIF input of the digital mixer . Fr ont Panel Digital Output F eatures 1). Use the METER switch to select digital output metering. 2). Use the DITHER switch to select the ...
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dbx 386 - page 22
Digital Applications ® 14 Section 3 386 Rear P anel Connections • Connect the source to the desir ed 1/4” TRS or XLR input. • Connect the AES/EBU or S/PDIF output of the 386 and run into the AES/EBU or S/PDIF input interface of the DA W (CPU). Fr ont Panel Digital Output F eatures 1). Use the METER switch to select digital output metering. 2 ...
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dbx 386 - page 23
® Rear P anel Connections • Connect the source to the desir ed 1/4” TRS or XLR input jack. • Connect the AES/EBU or S/PDIF output of the 386 and run into the AES/EBU or S/PDIF input of the digital mixer . Fr ont Panel Digital Output F eatures 1). Use the METER switch to select digital output metering. 2). Use the DITHER switch to select the ...
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dbx 386 - page 24
Digital Applications ® 16 Section 3 386 The 386 gives you the unique option of utilizing the analog and digital outputs simultaneously. This option is ideal for using the analog output section as a r eference monitoring signal of the dig- ital signal. Both analog and digital outputs offer independent output control, which allows you to send a digi ...
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dbx 386 - page 25
APPENDIX Sync Input Info Block Diagram dbx T ype IV™ White Paper Noise-Shaping Algorithms T runcation Specifications ® APPENDIX Appendix 386 ...
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dbx 386 - page 26
Sync Input Info ® 18 Appendix A 386 The dbx 386 comes with the word input 75 Ω te rminated. For certain configurations, you may wish to have the sync input be unterminated. Certain "house sync" configurations will r equire you to change the default position of the termination jumper on the main circuit board. For example, if you run yo ...
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dbx 386 - page 27
® Microphone Input +48V Low 20dB Pad Phase In vert Low Cut dbx TYPE IV Conversion System DSP Dither Sample Rate Wo r d Length Output Format Shape Peak LED Line/Mic 12AU7 T ube Drive Analog Output Level Analog Outputs Digital Output Level Rear Panel Line Input Front Panel Instrument Input Bargraph Meter Analog Digital + - Insert dbx Pulsar Chip W o ...
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dbx 386 - page 28
T ype IV™ White P aper ® 20 Appendix C 386 dbx T ype IV™ Con version System White P aper b y Roger Johnson The dbx Type IV™ Conversion System is a proprietary analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion process that combines the best attributes of digital conversion and analog recording processes to preserve the essence of the analog signal when it i ...
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dbx 386 - page 29
® to-noise performance since the signal is now closer to the noise floor . Because users of digital equipment have to be extremely car eful not to exceed 0 dB FS (full-scale), they must use peak-reading headroom meters. On the other hand, the for giving nature of analog tape allows users of analog r ecording equipment the luxury of only needing to ...
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dbx 386 - page 30
T ype IV™ White P aper ® 22 Appendix C 386 Fig. 2 illustrates the mapping function in a differ ent way. Input levels are shown on the left of the graph, while con- verted levels are shown on the right. Notice the mapping of lar ge signal excursions to the 4 dB “Type IV™ Over Region.” One might question the validity of such an approach—tr ...
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dbx 386 - page 31
® Figure 3b - Signal of Fig. 3a Going Bey ond the A/D Clip Lev el Amplitude Time A/D Clip Lev el A/D Clip Lev el Figure 3a - Signal Having Low and High F requency Content Amplitude Time T ype IV™ White P aper Appendix C 386 23 386 User Manual ...
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dbx 386 - page 32
T ype IV™ White P aper ® 24 Appendix C 386 Now you’re p robably wondering, “What’s the catch? I can’t get something for nothing so what did I give up?” Y ou may be worried that your A/D noise floor got 4 dB worse because we borrowed the top 4 dB of your converter . This is certainly a valid concern. Fortunately, we have the answer! Wit ...
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dbx 386 - page 33
® 16-Bit TPDF dither . (a) Shape “off”, (b) with shape set to “S1”, (c) with shape set to “S2.” Parameters: Input -60dBFS, 1 kHz; FFT Length= 2048, Sample Rate= 48 Khz, A verages= 32; Graph Steps= 1024. (a) 24-Bit word, (b) 16-Bit truncated output, no dither . Parameters: Input -60dBFS, 1 kHz; FFT Length= 2048, Sample Rate= 48 Khz, A v ...
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dbx 386 - page 34
Appendix ® 26 Appendix D 386 Microphone Input Connector: Female XLR Pin 2 Hot Type: Electronically balanced/unbalanced Impedance: 330 Ω Maximum Input Level: -9 dBu or +11 dBu with 20 dB pad engaged CMRR: >40dB, Typically 55dB Equivalent Input Noise: Typically -120 dBu with a 150 Ω source l oad, 20Hz to 20kHz BW Line Input (Rear Panel) Conne ...
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dbx 386 - page 35
® ® 8760 South Sandy Pkwy . Sandy , Utah 84070 Phone: (801) 568-7660 F ax: (801) 568-7662 Int’l F ax: (603) 672-4246 Questions or comments? E•mail us at: customer@dbxpr o .com or visit our W orld Wide W eb home pag e at: www .dbxpro .com A Harman International Company 18-0098-A ...
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