Drawmer DF 320 DUAL NOISE FILTER

The Drawmer DF-320 is a dual channel noise filter and expander. It is an analog piece of equipment that is deal for use in the studio. There are connections in the form of balanced XLR jacks for inputs and outputs as well as unbalanced 1/4" for the same function. It is a rackable piece of gear and will only take up a single rack space.


UTILIZATION

The make up of the Drawmer DF-320 isn't too hard to follow, but for me it did take a little bit of fiddling to get a good feel for it. Each of the two channels is split up into sections for both the noise filter and the expander. The expander has parameters for threshold, release, and switches for ratio and attenuation. The filter has a knob for threshold and a switch to set it to either manual (for use with the threshold parameter) or auto. Each also has a bypass switch and there is a general switch for stereo linking. It's easy enough to use where I don't think a manual is possible, but it all depends on how comfortable you feel with it.

SOUND QUALITY

The Drawmer DF-320 definitely does a good job of eliminating unwanted noise, especially on an electric guitar amp. It's suitable for use with anything where you want to filter out noise. It really seems to just filter out the low frequencies of a sound, but of course this is to make sure that the original signal is kept in tact. It's usually a fine line, but this does the job well for the most part. I've only used this on one session where a freelance engineer brought it in, so I've yet to have the opportunity to try it out for use beyond electric guitar.

OVERALL OPINION

While seemingly not very well known, the Drawmer DF-320 is one of the best noise reduction units that I've used out there. Generally I'll try to eliminate noise after the fact using Waves plug-ins, but for getting it at the source, this is one of the best hardware devices for the job. I don't know much about the price of this unit, but unless you're a professional it's probably not something you need to invest in. If you are a professional looking for a noise reduction unit, the Drawmer DF-320 is absolutely worth knowing about.