dbx RM-157
Little is documented about the dbx RM-157 beyond the company's own launch announcements. Nearly everything we know comes from them. dbx introduced it as "professional noise reduction for the small recording studio" - a four-channel tape noise reduction system with simultaneous record and playback on all four channels. In DB Magazine (November 1973, p.7), dbx claimed 30 dB more noise reduction than competitive professional systems, in excess of 30 dB of overall noise reduction that would eliminate audible tape hiss, and a 10 dB headroom improvement that reduced tape saturation and made level setting less critical. The same copy ran again in Recording Engineer (February 1974, p.38), each time adding that the RM-157 was priced only slightly above the better consumer noise reduction systems.
The later record is thinner still. A classified ad in DB Magazine (July 1978, p.54) confirms the RM-157 saw real studio use - a seller was unloading 24 channels' worth, offered in groups of eight. No list price, full specification sheet, service manual, or production dates have surfaced in the available archives. The announcement does make clear what it was: a four-channel, professional-oriented tape noise reduction system for small studios. How long it stayed in production, and how it sold, the surviving record doesn't say.
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