• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

dbx 1231 Graphic EQ Review

Rja4000

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
May 31, 2019
Messages
2,681
Likes
4,218
Location
Liège, Belgium
For that you need something with a tad more capability, such as... which also accepts analog inputs. Expect to pay accordingly! :)

View attachment 219704

Or you may find yourself a used Alesis DEQ830.
1U, 30 bands 8 channels digital graphic EQ, Analog and ADAT I/Os...
'got mine for 240€, if I remember correctly... (Was >10 years ago)

DEQ830.PNG
 
Last edited:

peniku8

Senior Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 9, 2020
Messages
358
Likes
715
That looks very similar to the Rane GE60 I measured:
Just the better channel of the dbx was a tad better than the Rane, but the bypass performance of the Rane doesn't degrade the signal.
You can get the Rane used for very cheap
 

DonH56

Master Contributor
Technical Expert
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 15, 2016
Messages
7,834
Likes
16,496
Location
Monument, CO
Nice to see some old analog stuff getting reviewed even if for nostalgia's sake.

I am pretty sure every graphic EQ I have ever seen uses constant-Q filters so you get equal overlap in an octave/log sense. We have one of these at church (may be an earlier model) so I had to set it up. It has selectable +/-6 dB or +/-15 dB boost/cut range though as Amir said the little sliders are difficult to fine-tune. Not really a big deal for general pro use when you are not an anal audiophile correcting every 0.1 dB (like me at home ;) ). Now we have a digital board with built-in EQ (and much more) so I am not sure the old analog EQ is still in use.

I had a Soundscraftsmen (?) equalizer that used passive stages, Ls and Cs... Less hiss, but had to be very careful about hum and noise pick up, and the gain stages were not as silent as today's IIRC. I also had a few consumer units way back when and as Amir said they were usually very noisy. I even built the one that was in Popular Electronics or one of the other magazines back then. Still noisy.
 

anmpr1

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 11, 2018
Messages
3,721
Likes
6,405
That looks very similar to the Rane GE60 I measured:
A lot of entry level pro-oriented gear looks similar. Probably the same factory making 'on demand' products for companies who then slap their name on the front. I don't know that for a fact, but it would surprise me if it wasn't the case.

At these prices no one is complaining. Here's the thing: $225.00 gets you a single channel dbx 131 EQ. For $275.00 you can order the 231 dual band EQ. It's almost like a grocery store BOGO. Can't swing dbx money? ART offers similar appearance and functionality, but also features adjustable low and high pass filters with unbalanced RCA input/outputs, for even less money. And if ART is breaking the bank, Behringer will almost pay you to take home their EQ.
 

PeteL

Major Contributor
Joined
Jun 1, 2020
Messages
3,303
Likes
3,838
A lot of entry level pro-oriented gear looks similar. Probably the same factory making 'on demand' products for companies who then slap their name on the front. I don't know that for a fact, but it would surprise me if it wasn't the case.
I would doubt that. DBX is a 50 years old company, stuff like that has been around forever, of course the manufacturing might be outsourced to save cost. But I'd be surprised there is any benefit for them to use an OEM design. The development cost for this is zero it's been paid for decades ago, they sold hundreds of thousands of similar units where the only changes in design is probably about cost optimisation and some performance small tweaks. When you own all this intelligence in house I don't see why you would go and ask a third party to create one for you. Again manufacturing is an other story but I'm 98% sure this design is theirs. Now... I couldn't say the same of Behringer.
 
Last edited:

anmpr1

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 11, 2018
Messages
3,721
Likes
6,405
I would doubt that. DBX is a 50 years old company, stuff like that has been around forever, of course the manufacturing might be outsourced to save cost. But I'd be surprised there is any benefit for them to use an OEM design.
My dbx EQ is made in China. Don't know where this one is made. But I think we can expect that Samsung is going to make their gear wherever it's cheapest to make it. Everywhere but where you'd expect it to be made, historically. Let's face it, it's not like JBL is churning out studio monitors in their LA woodworking shop, anymore! :)

I'd guess Harman chooses whatever the OEM factory can supply, at whatever price point they are willing to pay. "You want this feature, and not that feature? Then we can make it for you for X dollars (or however payment is made)." There's no reason the same factory can't make similar gear for different brands, and all the reasons in the world they will.

It's that way for guitars. Most of Asian sourced guitars are made by a small number of factories, to each brand's specifications. There are some exceptions: Gibson/Epiphone have their own factory in Qingdao. But lower end PRS, Ibanez, Fender and many others, just outsource to Cor Tec, Samik et al. I have a Schecter that is made in China, somewhere, which BTW is one of my favorite playing guitars.

What matters is not where it's made, but how it is made.

dbx.jpg
 

PeteL

Major Contributor
Joined
Jun 1, 2020
Messages
3,303
Likes
3,838
My dbx EQ is made in China. Don't know where this one is made. But I think we can expect that Samsung is going to make their gear wherever it's cheapest to make it. Everywhere but where you'd expect it to be made, historically. Let's face it, it's not like JBL is churning out studio monitors in their LA woodworking shop, anymore! :)

I'd guess Harman chooses whatever the OEM factory can supply, at whatever price point they are willing to pay. "You want this feature, and not that feature? Then we can make it for you for X dollars (or however payment is made)." There's no reason the same factory can't make similar gear for different brands, and all the reasons in the world they will.

It's that way for guitars. Most of Asian sourced guitars are made by a small number of factories, to each brand's specifications. There are some exceptions: Gibson/Epiphone have their own factory in Qingdao. But lower end PRS, Ibanez, Fender and many others, just outsource to Cor Tec, Samik et al. I have a Schecter that is made in China, somewhere, which BTW is one of my favorite playing guitars.

What matters is not where it's made, but how it is made.

View attachment 219790
I have no doubt it's made in China and I have no doubt some factories do similar products for many brands. But it's manufacturing, as you said, it's made according to each brands specifications. It's not has you said just slapping a Logo on something created by someone else. what is "specifications"? It's a BOM, gerbers and Industrial Drawings. My point is why have someone else decide for those when you have them already. The factory will not say "Those files you sent us we won't make them, we want to use our own files" Why would that be? OEM is a different thing, you actually have to pay extra because it would cost you more to develop the product yourself you use someone design, there's a premium for this, but that premium is worth it because the royalties you pay are much cheaper than creating a product from scratch.
 
Last edited:

krabapple

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Apr 15, 2016
Messages
3,168
Likes
3,712
Make a smiley face with those sliders! :) (That would be old school!)
 

Lambda

Major Contributor
Joined
Mar 22, 2020
Messages
1,785
Likes
1,519
So if it's doing nothing, its dooing it ok.
But how is the performance if its of the actually function?

Would be nice to see the bandwidth from the bands band and how they overlap and influence the bands next to them.

btw. love the "pro gear" tests.
thanks!
 

Jimi Floyd

Active Member
Joined
May 5, 2022
Messages
143
Likes
584
Location
Pisa, Italy
Call me old, call me stupid. Call me dated, call me overly-romantic but I still use a KlarkTeknik DN370 for bass management in my room

IMG_4292.jpg


It's not just the sliders, As a main feature, I am using a built-in narrow notch filter tuned at 32.7 Hz to get rid of the worst resonance peak in my room. Over 200 Hz I let my speakers and my room do the job. I have it hooked in the tape monitor loop of my preamp (I told you I am old style), so that I can switch in a fraction of a second between EQ in and EQ out. Sliders set after many, many REW measurements. I enjoy music 100 times more when it is engaged, Now it's summer, hot weather. Two or three months and I will try a miniDsp SHD to take his place. I don't doubt the new digital boy can outperform my vintage-style analog baby, but it will be obliged to shine before taking that place in my rack.
 

Doodski

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 9, 2019
Messages
20,745
Likes
20,756
Location
Canada
Why would there be any hiss or hum from this device.? Power supply?
Hiss is a broadband noise that spans the entire audible spectrum but with more intensity in the high frequencies. The cause of hiss noise is the electronic components themselves, referred to as inherent or self noise. There are different noises induced by different components.
 

DualTriode

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Oct 24, 2019
Messages
893
Likes
593
But how do you do when you fix FR with your EQ? It's fixed frequencies you change with a physical EQ, I mean ...hm are you lucky that where you need to change/ fix FR right there you have an EQ band/slider or....well how do you actually do it?

Edit:
Q values are also fixed, right?By the way, I see that Rja4000 in #8 brings up the same things.:)

These things get complicated quickly. I use my equalizer along with a electronic crossover with 3 amplifiers (tri-amping).
Set these things up where each woofer, mid and tweeter has its own amplifier.

To see the Klark setup procedure this is a link to the user manual.

 
Joined
May 7, 2022
Messages
51
Likes
137
Nice "legacy" product. But, in the digital domain, one can have better "equalizers" for 0.00 $, and without sacrificing space.
Unfortunately only if you’re using a computer as a source. If you’re not your options are more limited. I use an RME ADI-2 DAC for headphone EQ since I don’t have a computer in my headphone chain, but I’d love it if someone made a dedicated digital-in/digital-out parametric EQ box with a lot of memory slots and more PEQ bands than the RME has.
 

respice finem

Major Contributor
Joined
Feb 1, 2021
Messages
1,867
Likes
3,774
Unfortunately only if you’re using a computer as a source. If you’re not your options are more limited. I use an RME ADI-2 DAC for headphone EQ since I don’t have a computer in my headphone chain, but I’d love it if someone made a dedicated digital-in/digital-out parametric EQ box with a lot of memory slots and more PEQ bands than the RME has.
While this exists, it will need a computer to operate...
 
Top Bottom