24
resolution March 2008
review
D
angerous Music of Edmeston, upstate New
York, is best known for its summing boxes
— it was onto the concept early on and
offers a range of high-end solutions that
are widely regarded for their sonic integrity. It also
makes quality monitor controllers — essential for
those determined to dodge using a traditional console.
The D-Box brings both these concepts together in one
handy 1U, with the aim of providing the best bits from
its high-end solutions into a cheaper (despite using
the same components) product for the professional or
project studio working to a budget, or even for mobile
situations. It has been dubbed the DAW user’s Swiss
Army Knife.
The brushed aluminium front panel is littered
with knobs that have a quality feel to their damping,
with dual rubber grips around them — they feel
very smooth. Pushbuttons illuminate with integrated
LEDs, switching smoothly, with the only audible
clicks emanating physically as (silver contact) relay
switches latch reassuringly. Function buttons feature
a novel ‘Momentoggle’ operation: a brief touch
latches the button On or Off, while a longer press is
momentary. Most other functions are obvious, but for
Setup mode you will need to refer to the manual (or
read on!)
The rear of the box is crammed with connectors
and they’re quality components and clearly labelled.
Power enters from a proprietary in-line transformer
via a 5-pin DIN. There is no Power button and the
possibility exists of a loud blatt on the monitors if this
plug is pulled out or power is killed — I know because
I tried it. A number of XLRs provide analogue and
digital audio connections, along with a multipin D
connector for summing input.
For basic monitor control, you will obviously need
to position the D-Box within easy reach, which is not
always straightforward with a rackmount unit. But
when reachable, the large Volume knob is a joy to
use. It is exceptionally smooth, and tracks perfectly
down to very low levels with no hint of the image
shifting sideways or dropping off suddenly.
On the left of the front panel are two headphone
jack outputs that mirror the Input Select and Speaker
Outputs. There is, unfortunately, no way of deriving
a different cue mix but each has its own independent
level control, and a healthy volume is available from
the clean and powerful amplifi cation — you should
easily be able to run several sets from one output. It’s
a small point, but it might have been better for one of
these to appear on the rear panel for neater integration
into a studio system, especially as the provision of an
in-built Talkback mic implies that the talent is likely to
be in another room. But Talkback level is independent
of headphone level — a nice touch — so that when
the talent wants the mix louder, your next comment
shouldn’t hurt!
The summing section of the D-Box comprises eight
mono inputs that connect using a Tascam-wired D-
type 25-pin connector on the rear, so a custom cable
will need to be sourced (George’s cable was specially
prepared for him by Sommer Cable. Ed). The fi rst six
of these inputs are arranged as three hard panned
stereo pairs, with inputs seven and eight coming
via front panel pan pots with (subtle) centre détente
positions. There are eight Signal LEDs that indicate
music fl owing into each input. There are no level
trims, but there is one overall Sum Output Trim
knob, which is set so that full tilt equates to unity.
However, this is not the recommended position of
the knob. Ingeniously, the D-Box allows you to, er,
gain some extra headroom, by running your eight
DAW outputs into the D-Box’s summing input stage
which is at -6dBu.
This results in the possibility of running the DAW’s
faders higher — closer to unity — and also effectively
lowers the noise fl oor of the DAW’s outputs by 6dB.
Dangerous Music D-Box
Combining summing and monitoring control in one unit sounds like a good idea providing
neither aspect is compromised by the other. GEORGE SHILLING reminds us that this is a
Dangerous box…
(2 pages)
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