dbx 1231 Graphic EQ Review

[RETSELDRIB]

no idea, and the design is loooong after my time, but certainly not noisy my (limited) experience

I have used and still use one (well before '22) and have heard another one or two in use in the past, and zero noise,

or at least if you put ear to tweeter and switched it in and out the v faint hiss from the amp/preamp stayed pretty much the same

otoh, where's there's smoke ...

otoh2, audiophiles both pro or lay regularly misunderstand / misinterpret what they hear ....

Thankyou for your reply.

I’m surmising all of this through reading customer reviews - some say loads of hiss and other customer reviews post 2022 say totally silent.

 

[david moran]

no idea, but user reviews in aggregate have got to count for something

the 2022 thing is clearly off just from the existence of my currently deployed unit

it is always possible to have a bad run, but in modern electronics and certainly audio and even moreso pro audio it is close to unheard of, so far as I know

someone in manufacturing could probably cite contradictions to what I say here though

 

[KEM]

I understand that the earlier DBX 1231 units suffered from large amounts of hiss but the newer units post 2022 are hiss free. Is this true? Do the latest units use quieter components ?
Thanks.

Got mine in 2023, it is very, very quiet. On phono input, I have to put my ears within 3 inches of the speaker cones to hear anything - for my whole system, including this EQ, preamp, amp. For Line Level inputs I can't hear anything except near full system gain.

 

[Angel II]

Got mine in 2023, it is very, very quiet. On phono input, I have to put my ears within 3 inches of the speaker cones to hear anything - for my whole system, including this EQ, preamp, amp. For Line Level inputs I can't hear anything except near full system gain.

The noise mentioned is the one coming from the equalizer chassis (where the transformer is located). When you put your ear close to the speakers, with or without equalizer, the dbx1231 is absolutely silent.

 

[RETSELDRIB]

I ended up buying a new one from Thomman 6 weeks ago.

There is no hum emitting from the chassis/ transformer that can heard unless your ear is physically touching the unit and then its extremely quiet. There appears to be no hiss caused by the unit.

I am using the DBX 1231 in my home hifi system to make some very small tweaks on specific frequencies. Its a superb bit of kit.