Aftermarket touch-based remote for dbx 4BX

[DanielF]

I've developed an aftermarket touch-based remote for the dbx 4BX expanders.

After a very long development period, I have finally reached a stage where I'm happy with its operation and battery life (>1 yr), so am now preparing to gear up for quantity manufacture. But so I have an idea of how many to make in the first batch, I'm conducting a 'market survey' via eBay:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/-/201613356119

In that listing you'll find links to a demonstration video and a draft user manual.

So if you own (or are planning to buy) a 4BX (or two), please respond to my eBay survey.

Thanks,
Daniel

 

[jdurbin1]

Pretty sure eBay is not going to leave that up for long enough to get any meaningful data, but linking to it from here is not allowed regardless. Why not just create a poll here on AK?

John

 

[w1jim]

While I think that is a wonderfully ingenious device I wonder how big the market is for it.

I live in a hotbed of dbx units - their main office was 3 miles from my home (in Newton, MA) and their USA manufacturing was also nearby in Watertown.
I've even bought an engineering prototype from an ex dbx engineer.
Yet - despite all of the dbx units I've come across I've never seen a 4bx and only once seen a 5bx.
With the rarity and expense of the 4bx I fear that your market will be very small and this is basically the solution to a non-existent problem.

None-the-less, good luck with your endeavor.

Here's a link to your youtube demo for future reference:

 

[DanielF]

John,

Thanks for the warnings. I understand a lot of groups don't like sales links on discussion forums, but mine is not actually a sales link but rather a survey link. I'm not sure if eBay likes it either, but it's in their interest to leave it up, since it could lead to multiple sales through their site. So far, both eBay and here haven't touched my listing/post.

Jim,

Thanks for putting up the video link. I'm quite surprised that you've seen a 5BX but not a 4BX - usually the opposite is the case! I believe only a few thousand 5BX units were made (and primarily sold only in Japan), but I think the 4BX was made in the tens of thousands, and sold in the US. In any event, you rarely see a 5BX on eBay, but several 4BX units appear each year, many without remotes. (Of the three I bought via eBay, only one came with a remote.) That's what prompted me to design this aftermarket remote.

But I fear you might be right about the small market, as so far I have only six people crying out for one. Probably not enough to manufacture in quantity, though I might hand-assemble them if I can work out how to make a durable overlay (the professionally-made PET overlays are only economical in the hundreds).

Daniel

 

[Interface-Rick]

John,

Thanks for the warnings. I understand a lot of groups don't like sales links on discussion forums, but mine is not actually a sales link but rather a survey link. I'm not sure if eBay likes it either, but it's in their interest to leave it up, since it could lead to multiple sales through their site. So far, both eBay and here haven't touched my listing/post.

Jim,

Thanks for putting up the video link. I'm quite surprised that you've seen a 5BX but not a 4BX - usually the opposite is the case! I believe only a few thousand 5BX units were made (and primarily sold only in Japan), but I think the 4BX was made in the tens of thousands, and sold in the US. In any event, you rarely see a 5BX on eBay, but several 4BX units appear each year, many without remotes. (Of the three I bought via eBay, only one came with a remote.) That's what prompted me to design this aftermarket remote.

But I fear you might be right about the small market, as so far I have only six people crying out for one. Probably not enough to manufacture in quantity, though I might hand-assemble them if I can work out how to make a durable overlay (the professionally-made PET overlays are only economical in the hundreds).

Daniel

I'm wondering if you ever made any of these. I see one that looks like one in the video listed for over $100 on eBay. Is that your product? I own several dbx products including one late edition 4bx that works fine now that I've gone through it but lacks a remote control. I actually use a 3bx Series III in my high end home system and don't intend to go to a digital device unless I happen to bump into an under-priced 5bx. I'm not sure why most folks who consider themselves audiophiles avoid dbx expanders like the plague but I guess they don't understand than nearly all LP's and CDs are compressed by the record producers and can really be improved with careful expansion. I regularly rip LPs to CD after expansion and do the same for any CD's that sound improved by the process.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

This idea I really like a lot. It adds great functionality to a classic unit, and makes adjusting it easy from the listener's position.

 

[PHOLAN]

Did you make them? If so, I would like to get one