words: THERMALBEAR pics: DAN PORTER TECH Allen & Heath DB4 & DB2
TEMPERATURE RISING
Will the new V2 upgrades to Allen & Heath’s DB4 and DB2 mixers warm up the fi ngers of our guest reviewer, or will they leave him with a severe case of frostbite?
D
ennis White, aka ThermalBear, is a rare breed of talented producer who not only knows how to make a good record, but also knows how to use the tools of the trade to
complete the task. He’s one of a select few who can actually take apart mixing desks and put them back together again in perfect working order. His skills behind the desk haven’t gone unnoticed, and he has recently been sharing lots of studio-time with Sasha on his ‘Involver 3’ album, whilst his recent single ‘Love U’ on Last Night On Earth was received with rapturous applause. It thus made perfect sense for DJ Mag to approach Thermal Bear to conduct our guest review of the new V2 upgrades to Allen & Heath’s DB4 and DB2. Here’s how he got on…
“A few years ago I had the misfortune of having to sell my Allen & Heath Xone 62 so that I could afford some IKEA furniture and car tax. I loved that mixer so much; it was sturdy, reliable, sounded fantastic and had this ergonomic and logical layout. Every time I came across a 62/92, I knew I was in safe hands... “Imagine my delight, then, when I opened the box to
080
fi nd not one but two Xone mixers for me to play with in the form of the DB2 and DB4 — all complete with the new V2 upgrades. The DB2/4 are so much more than traditional DJ mixers. All the build quality and sturdiness you’d expect from Allen & Heath is on display here, with the key features being instantly recognisable to anyone who’s used prior incarnations of a Xone mixer.
GETTING STARTED “The DB4 and DB2 are the new breed of digital mixers from Allen & Heath. Their previous Xone mixers have all been analogue and have had a beautiful warm sound as a result, so how were these two units going to match up? The sound out of these two mixers is utterly outstanding; all the A/D D/A converters sound great. I mean really, really good, which is entirely what I’d expect from a company like Allen & Heath. Clear and punchy transients really come across with crisp detail. Just treating the mixer purely as a stand-alone soundcard, it’s exactly what artists would want for their gigs. It’s even outperforming my current studio soundcard!
SOUND FORMATION “Traditional EQs are only part of the arsenal of sound mangling that’s available to you on the DB2/4. On the DB4 there’s a three-pole toggle switch in the EQ section of each channel that lets DJs select either Isolator mode, normal EQ or HP/LP fi lters with resonance control. The knobs change colour when you select different modes, which is a great way of indicating their functions without eating up precious space on the main screen. The same function is available on the DB2, but is only accessible via the main screen menu rather than a dedicated switch. “The DB2 doesn’t offer the same visual feedback as the DB4. When this mode is activated, however, whatever selection you make is applied to all four channels, so it’s not really required. A&H have gone to extra lengths to create a fl exible and powerful mixer, and this attention to detail in the EQ department is only scratching the surface of what each mixer is capable of. There are some new functions that come with the V2 upgrades which greatly impressed me. DJs now have the ability to set stereo width above and below a crossover point, which can be very useful in controlling how to spread your sonic detail over a venue. For me personally, one of the best functions on these new mixers is being able to phase invert the signal that feeds the ‘Booth’ output. This is to counteract the cancellation that can happen in venues when acoustic refl ections from the ‘front of house mix’ fi nd their way into the booth. Delay and phasing options have been in play on big digital desks for a while now, and it’s great to see it introduced into mixers of this size.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88