Extensive compressor reviews and FAQ

dbx 1066: I spent a couple of hours directly A/B'ing the 1066 and the 166A. They have the same basic features, but the 1066 is the next tier up from the 166A, and costs twice as much. However the reality is they sound almost identical. The 1066 has attack and release controls (as opposed to the "slow/fast" switch on the 166A), as well as much more LED metering and light-up switches, so it looks both fancier and more intimidating. All that is good for dialing in the exact setting you want, but I actually found myself picking settings that sounded identical to the default attack/release settings of the 166A (in "slow" mode). So for bass, the extra controls may not be necessary.
 
As far as the sound quality, they seem identical in the lows and mids, but the 1066 has better (brighter, clearer) highs. However both models have the same behavior as most other dbx units, where high frequencies get damped a bit under high-ratio compression. Also the "PeakStopPlus" limiter again doesn't seem to do anything useful--did I just have bad luck and got two dbx units with broken limiters on both channels? They have identical low noise levels. The gate function is a bit better with the 1066 because you can select the gating ratio, but it's still more obtrusive than I'd like. They both have the "contour" function, which you can read about here.
 
So the 1066 is certainly quite good, but for many people (like an on-stage rocker) there would not be much point to spending the extra money, compared to a 166A. Note however that the 166A doesn't necessarily sound identical to the 166XL, which I have not reviewed yet. For the price of a new 1066, there are other comps I'd probably choose instead.
 
The construction quality is pretty decent, and dbx products are generally rugged and reliable. It's powered with a detachable IEC cord. Note that the 1066 runs a bit hot, so you don't want to rack any temperature-sensitive items right on top of it. See this article for an explanation of dbx's product-numbering system.
 

 
 
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