586
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Rear Panel
WIRING SCHEME
All of the input and output connectors are “pin 2 hot” meaning that pin number 2 on the XLR connecting
cables carries the positive side of the balanced signal. Pin number 3 is “cold”, carrying the negative polar-
ity and pin 1 is the shield.The 1/4”TRS jacks are wired so that when you use 3 conductor cables and bal-
anced signals, the tip is hot, the ring is cold and the sleeve is the shield. The 1/4” jacks can also be used
with 2 conductor unbalanced cables. In this case, the tip is hot and the ring and sleeve are grounded.
MIC INPUT
Connect the cable from your microphone here. If your mic requires phantom power, ensure that the phan-
tom power switch on the front panel is turned off before connecting your mic.
LINE INPUTS
Both XLR and TRS 1/4” connectors are provided and either balanced or unbalanced line-level devices may
be connected to the 586. These inputs can also be used for instrument-level devices, depending on the
status of the LINE/INST. switch (described below).
LINE/INST. switch
To connect instrument-level devices to the 586, use either the 1/4” or XLR Line Input connector and
depress the LINE/INST. switch. Doing so will increase the input impedance and the gain applied to these
inputs to make them suitable for devices using passive or piezoelectric pickups. The INST. setting also
reconfigures the Line Inputs as strictly unbalanced, pin 2 (tip) hot, pins 1 and 3 (sleeve and ring) ground-
ed.
INSERT LOOP
These connectors allow you to insert another processor such as a compressor or de-esser into the signal
path.You would insert your processor into this loop to place it in the path leading to the equalizer of the
dbx 586. Both the SEND and RETURN are balanced TRS jacks with +4 dBu nominal sensitivity.
SEND
The audio signal produced at the SEND output is taken from a point in the circuit after the
dbx 586’s tube stages.You can run a cable from this jack to the input of your external processor. Inserting
a jack here will not interrupt the audio output.This is to allow the SEND to be used as direct post-preamp
output that bypasses the main output stage of the dbx 586.
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