In 1976 David Blackmer built the first solid-state VCA compressor and changed recording forever. The 160 is brutally simple, three knobs and a big switchable VU, but it does one thing better than almost anything since: it grabs transients. Engineers reach for it on kick, snare and bass, where its program-dependent, slightly grabby compression adds punch, glue and that unmistakable thwack. It earned its place next to the 1176 and LA-3A and has stayed in front-line use for nearly fifty years.

This is a matched pair, two units side by side in a single 2U rack shelf. They were serviced and calibrated together before we bought them and are level-matched, so they work as a proper stereo pair rather than two units that happen to share a model number. Barrier-strip to XLR tails are fitted and included, all four of them.

Both are marked 240V 50/60Hz on the rear, so they run here without a step-down transformer. That is rarer than it sounds on American outboard of this age.

FEATURES & PROS:

• The Original VCA: the first solid-state VCA compressor ever made, designed by dbx founder David Blackmer.
• Transient Magic: famous for adding punch and thwack to kick, snare and bass.
• A Real Stereo Pair: serviced and calibrated together, level-matched, in one 2U shelf.
• Dead-Simple Controls: threshold, compression ratio (1:1 to infinity) and output gain, nothing to get lost in.
• Program-Dependent: attack and release follow the material for natural, musical compression.
• Big Switchable VU: input, output or gain reduction at a glance, with a rear meter-calibration trimmer.
• 240V Native: no transformer, no adapter, plug it in.

CONDITION, IN FULL

All four meters work. Beyond that there are three cosmetic faults and we would rather you read them here than find them:

• The meter backlight on one of the two units is out. It is a bulb, not a fault.
• A silver sticker is missing from one of the switches on one unit.
• There is a slight chip at the bottom of the front cover on one of the VU meters. Visible in the photographs.

Otherwise the pair is in good order for its age: some handling marks on the shelf and rack ears, faceplates clean, all knobs and switch caps present.

THE WORD: Attack Magazine, ranking the all-time great compressors, rates the dbx 160 among the finest VCA compressors ever built, prized for its warm, grainy punch and the unmistakable knock it lends kick, snare and bass. Read the Attack Magazine feature.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Model: dbx 160, the original VU-metered version, two units as a matched pair
• Year: introduced 1976
• Designer: David Blackmer
• Maker: dbx inc, Waltham, Massachusetts. Made in USA
• Patents: US 3,681,618 and 3,714,462
• Type: VCA compressor / limiter, transformerless solid-state, half-rack each
• Controls: threshold, compression ratio (1:1 to infinity:1), output gain (-20 to +20dB)
• Metering: large VU, switchable input / output / gain reduction, rear calibration trimmer
• Attack/release: program-dependent
• I/O: barrier strip in and out, XLR tails fitted and included
• Power: 240V 50/60Hz
• Format: both units mounted in one 2U rack shelf
• Condition: used, serviced and calibrated as a pair before purchase; see the condition notes above

Further reading: dbx 160, 160A, 160X, 160XT, 160VU, 160S: Which One Are You Actually Looking At?