dbx 85
Little is documented about the dbx 85. So little, in fact, that the period record doesn't confirm what the model was. The best matches for "85" in dbx's orbit in the available archives are advertisements for the TASCAM 85-16, a sixteen-track recorder that ran one-inch tape with integral dbx noise reduction. DB-Magazine (September 1979, p.60) and Recording-Engineer (April 1980, p.37) both ran that ad, citing a signal-to-noise figure better than 87 dB (WTD, with dbx). Those are TEAC/TASCAM dealer ads, though. They document a tape machine that used dbx circuitry, not a standalone dbx product called the 85. A separate Audio (November 1973, p.99) item on the dbx 150 series notes 10 dB headroom improvement and 30 dB noise reduction, but it makes no mention of an 85.
A dbx 85 may have existed as an OEM module, a prototype, or a short-lived catalog number. The available documentation doesn't say. If you own one or have a manual, the Archive would welcome the details.
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