Review: Dangerous Music D-Box

May 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Mike Levine

           

COMBINING ANALOG SUMMING, MONITOR CONTROL, AND SUPERIOR SOUND QUALITY

BONUS MATERIAL
Check the specs: Download a PDF of the Dangerous Music D-Box's product specifications.

Sound of D-Box

Due to all the connecting of monitors and input sources that's necessary when setting up the D-Box (or any device that offers input switching and monitor control), there was no way to realistically A/B it against my previous monitor controller (a popular but considerably less expensive model). Despite that limitation, I remembered what my system sounded like through the other unit well enough to notice immediately that the D-Box was providing me with a whole new level of fidelity. The experience was somewhat akin to driving a sports car after driving an economy car. Everything sounded smoother and just better overall.

Mixing through the D-Box's summing inputs was a pleasure. I was able to really crank the levels of the tracks in my projects without clipping the D-Box, and the results sounded great. This was the case whether I was monitoring the analog or digital inputs.

Versatile D-Vice

Overall, the D-Box is a very impressive product. It handles all its roles — monitor controller, summing box, and D/A converter — with élan. The main drawback I found was its lack of I/O for a dedicated cue send. If you have a busy studio in which you're frequently recording ensemble-size projects, you might find that you need a dedicated monitor controller with a fuller feature set (you could then add the Dangerous 2-Bus LT for summing). But for most personal studios, the lack of a dedicated cue path won't be a deal breaker. In fact, the chance to add the D-Box to a studio's signal chain, with all its features, its impeccable sound quality, and its reasonable price, is going to be very hard for a lot of people to resist — myself included.

Mike Levine is EM's executive editor and senior media producer and hosts the twice-monthly Podcast “EM Cast” (emusician.com/podcasts).

PRODUCT SUMMARY

monitor controller/summing amplifier
$1,399

PROS: Excellent sound. Aggressively priced for a Dangerous unit. Solidly built with quality components. Handles multiple functions. Quality D/A converter on board. Two headphone amps. Pan controls for summing channels 7 and 8.

CONS: Headphone outputs monitor only input sources — no I/O for dedicated cue feed. You may need to purchase a number of additional cables, including an expensive DB-25 breakout cable.

Dangerous Music
dangerousmusic.com