dbx® 160 Compressor / Limiter
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Experience the quirky VCA compression of the vintage hardware.
The dbx 160 Compressor/Limiter plug-in is a fully licensed, faithful emulation of the legendary studio hardware, capturing the quirky sonics of its colorful VCA compression along with added controls for modern workflows.
Included Versions
UAD Native
Runs on your Mac or PC without UA hardware.Apollo Realtime & UAD‑2
Runs accelerated on Apollo interfaces and UAD‑2 hardware.UAD Native plug-ins run on both macOS 10.15 Catalina or newer and Windows 10 and 11. Go to our UA Support page for system requirements.
- Add a unique voice and flavor to your compressor toolkit with the first solid-state VCA compressor ever made
- Harness fat compression textures on bass guitar, drum buses, synths, and more
- Give acoustic guitars and snare drums in-your-face “thwack”
- Create with Dry/Wet mix control for quick parallel compression and Sidechain Filter for reduced low-frequency pumping
TAKE A LISTEN
Add Versatile VCA Compression to your Tracks
Whether you’re using it on synths, bass guitar, or a drum bus, the dbx 160 plug-in emulates the original hardware’s grabby, low-end glue and old-school character, full of the same unique nonlinearities that make it a must-have for any engineer’s compressor toolkit.
Simple to Use, Timeless Character
With the same simple control set and at-a-glance metering of the original, the dbx 160 plug-in makes it easy to crush a parallel drum bus, or inject subtle fatness. It can also add aggressiveness and impact to everything from guitar power chords to a hip-hop vocal.
Leveled Up for Modern Workflows
Along with graphic enhancements and improved VU metering, the dbx 160 plug‑in’s Dry/Wet Mix control lets you easily punch up a drum bus with parallel compression, while the added Sidechain Filter lets you keep the low end tight, enhancing the compressor's impact.
5-Minute UAD Tip
In this video, learn how to add parallel compression to drums, even out a bass performance, and bring presence to acoustic guitars with the dbx 160 Compressor/Limiter.
Customer Reviews
G. Panousopoulos
October 20, 2024
the ultimate kick punch
I mainly use the dbx160 on kick and toms!Love it!
Read MoreR. Butler
October 15, 2024
As fat as I remember...
I just got this last week so I've only used it on one sessions so far. But extremely pleased with my test drive so far. I used to use one of these on my mix bus in my little 8-Track studio...
Read MoreD. Jackson
July 18, 2024
Fantastic. Love it.
I bought this plug-in to use on kick drums mainly. I absolutely love it! Would recommend
Read MoreD. Gill
June 27, 2024
Learning to use this plugin
Getting used to this plugin. Seems to work well on bass tracks and drum bus. Quality of sound is phenomenal .
Read More -
Key Features
Add a unique voice and flavor to your compressor toolkit with the first solid-state VCA compressor ever made
Harness fat compression textures on bass guitar, drum buses, synths, and more
Give acoustic guitars and snare drums in-your-face “thwack”
Create with Dry/Wet mix control for quick parallel compression and Sidechain Filter for reduced low-frequency pumping
Use with any audio interface, no UA hardware required
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Customer Reviews
dbx® 160 Compressor / Limiter
G. Panousopoulos
the ultimate kick punch
I mainly use the dbx160 on kick and toms!Love it!
R. Butler
As fat as I remember...
I just got this last week so I've only used it on one sessions so far. But extremely pleased with my test drive so far. I used to use one of these on my mix bus in my little 8-Track studio and it always gave my mixes the beef they needed. Now I can use it across all my tracks, makes me feel like a millionaire.
M. Ramos Jiménez
Classic Compressor.
All Perfect.
D. Jackson
Fantastic. Love it.
I bought this plug-in to use on kick drums mainly. I absolutely love it! Would recommend
P. Jurek
A must-have.
Best emulation of Dbx 160.
D. Gill
Learning to use this plugin
Getting used to this plugin. Seems to work well on bass tracks and drum bus. Quality of sound is phenomenal .
N. Grant
A Smasher!
Easy to use and great sounding. Use it on bass and drums!
K. Filus
Nice kick
This compressor packs a nice punch in its simplicity.
P. Motyczak
On of my defaults
Always use it for parallel compression on kick and snare. Fat , round and powerful.
M. RAMSAY
A great addition to the compressor arsenal
This plugin does as youd expect, adding a fantastic thwack of compression. Excellent for kick, snare and een bass on a parallel bus, bus also versatile enough for other instruments. A little tickle of compression goes a long way....
C. Davis
Smack
Splat. Wham. Whack. Thuck. Thummm .
Boo-rah.J. Romero
A must-have in every mixing studio.
It gives a very special color to the attack of the transients.
f. amendola
Must have on drums
Blown away on parallels drums bus.
F. Nguyen
Versatile !!!
my go-to plugin !
K. Sluiter
Sold my original units
This sounded just like my original unit. So much so that I actually sold them!
L. Barbic
Excellent
Best emulation of Dbx 160 so far.
J. Kelly
Smack!
Kick and snare, parallel
A. Yeats
Great Compressor
My go to across my Drum Bus!!!
D. Benedettini
dbx 160 compressor
Nice compressor for parallel compression with all types of drums acustic and electronic!
L. Martella
Excellent plugin
Excellent Plug in, I use it on drum tracks and it gives surprising results.
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