dbx

DBX was an American company founded by David Blackmer in 1972. DBX will be forever remembered as a company that made audio compressors and noise reduction systems. They both things very well.

In 1976 DBX introduced their first compressor, the DBX 160. The most important inventions of David Blackmer and dbx are the Blackmer gain cell (a voltage controlled amplifier for professional audio) and the dbx RMS detector. The DBX 160 used both of these technologies to produce a compressor/limiter that outperformed other units of the time.

Other technologies DBX introduced over the years with follow up models, was overeasy compression which introduced a soft-knee when compression first starts. Models like the DBX 165 and DBX 165A used the overeasy technique.

The company has been bought and sold over the years and is currently in the hands of Harman.