Drawmer DS201B
Two channels of frequency-sensitive gating, and a favorite long after the copies arrived.
Overview
The DS201B is a two-channel, stereo-linkable noise gate with frequency-sensitive triggering. It earns its keep the moment a single microphone has to do the work of many. Each channel has a pair of sweepable filters: a low-pass spanning 25 Hz to 4 kHz and a high-pass spanning 250 Hz to 35 kHz. Tune those and the gate opens only for the part of the spectrum you care about. Hang one mic over a kit and dial the filters until the channel fires on the snare and nothing else. EQ (November 1995, p.110) described the original 1981 DS201's frequency sensitivity and envelope control as the feature that lifted noise gating above the mundane business of cutting off unwanted noise and injected a creative element into the process.
The envelope is what separates this from a plain gate. Threshold runs from -54 dB to infinity, attack from 10 microseconds to one second, hold from 2 ms to 2 seconds, decay from 2 ms to 4 seconds, and range from 0 dB to -80 dB. The hold control is the one people miss when they move to lesser boxes. It keeps the gate open for a preset time before the decay cycle begins, which is why the DS201 family worked so well on gated reverb sounds. The attack, hold and decay pots are the reason the unit behaves like a musical device rather than a switch.
Each channel has switches for bypass, gate, and key listening. Key listening lets you audition the filtered signal at the output, so you can hear exactly what the detector is hearing. There's also a ducking mode, where the DS201B pulls its own processed signal down by an amount set on the Range pot in response to an incoming key signal. Radio DJs use ducking to talk over music, and it also works for automatically blending two signals during a mix. Detection can follow the internal signal or an external source via the rear-panel key input jack.
Status is shown per channel by three LEDs: red for closed, green and amber for open. Green goes out when the signal falls below threshold, and amber stays lit through the envelope decay time. In stereo mode, Channel 1 sets the master threshold that triggers both channels' envelopes simultaneously. That helps tighten a sloppy track against a tightly timed one, such as using a kick drum to firm up a bass. EQ (November 1995, p.120) found it surprising how much difference that trick can make, even on complementary tracks that already sit well.
This is the "B" revision. Balanced connectors came as standard, noise figures improved through better components and double-sided boards, the Range was tweaked, and the attack time is now a touch faster. EQ (November 1995, p.120) was careful to distinguish it from Drawmer's newer DS301 and DS404 gates, which added hard- and soft-gating functions. It concluded that the DS201B remains a very able box by any standards and still takes a beating for pure variability. The same review, fourteen years after the original's introduction, called it still one of the best noise gates you can buy: fancier and technically more elaborate options exist, but nothing deals with the fundamental business of gating any better.
Pricing wandered over the years. Electronic Musician listed the DS201B at $849 in a new-gear roundup, while EQ (November 1995, p.110) gave a price of $749. It was never the cheap option, and the review's only listed weakness was a wry one - you'll probably need more than one. Studios evidently agreed: a published gear list for Talking House Studios in San Francisco shows a pair of DS201b units alongside its compressors.
Collectors and working engineers note that the DS201B rewards patience. The filters take fiddling to dial in, and the payoff is a gate that tracks the source rather than the room. Period reviews kept pointing out that the copies never quite matched the original's feel.
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