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The original D-BOX can be found in both project and professional studios worldwide. Its practical fusion of analog summing and monitoring has earned it countless accolades. The D-BOX+ eclipses its predecessor, thanks to an upgraded summing mixer, more speaker outputs, mastering-grade D/A, Bluetooth connectivity, remote operation, and more. This indispensable box will help you achieve that elusive “glued-together” sound, and you’ll hear your mixes like never before — it’s one of the easiest ways to advance your project studio into the pro league. The D-BOX+ — it belongs at the center of your studio.
8 channels of analog summing to pump up your mix
When you bring up Dangerous Audio, the first thing that pops into most people's minds is analog summing. After all, they invented the standalone analog summing mixer in 1999 with their groundbreaking 2-BUS — and the original D-BOX brought this exciting technology to project studios everywhere. The D-BOX+ features an upgraded 8-channel summing mixer that’s guaranteed to inject new levels of headroom, dimensionality, and clarity into your mixes. Get the D-BOX+ and your panning will become more precise. Reverbs and delays will become more engaging. Bass will become punchier, mids more detailed, and highs more open. The D-BOX+ will elevate your mixes.
5 analog and digital inputs — and more — at your fingertips
The D-BOX+ is like a large-format console’s center section. It provides routing and switching for your studio’s inputs and outputs, both analog and digital. Five input sources are at your fingertips: analog stereo, the onboard 8-channel summing mixer, USB, AES/SPDIF, and a wireless stream from any Bluetooth-enabled device. The D-BOX+ also includes three stereo speaker outputs, which can be programmed to be mono and/or to include a subwoofer. Beyond that, you can use the third output as source for an independent sub with individual level and mute control.
Mastering-grade D/A delivers results you can trust
At Sweetwater, we like to say, "if you can't hear it, you can't mix it." That's why we love the D-BOX+. Whether you're placing a mic, tweaking an EQ, or preparing a final master, you'll hear everything. Advanced clock stabilization, top-of-class chipsets, and world-class, audiophile-grade analog circuitry add up to a D/A that’s as powerful as it is nuanced. It delivers true mastering-grade quality you can trust. You also get a pair of top-shelf headphone amplifiers that ensure clean, powerful, and accurate sound that’s tailor-made for fine-grained quality control listening. Thanks to D-BOX+’s no-compromise design, you’ll experience crystal-clear audio fidelity and flawless performance across its entire feature set.
Loaded with pro-studio essentials
Harness your studio’s full potential with the D-BOX+’s comprehensive routing capabilities. Take command of your monitoring with three independent speaker outputs and a programmable speaker selector. Benefit from an onboard talkback mic with push-button activation. Gain remote control over all of the D-BOX+’s major functions (volume, dim, talkback, I/O select, and more) with the free D-BOX+ app for macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android. The D-BOX+ makes a powerful centerpiece for any studio.
Dangerous Music D-BOX+ Summing and Monitoring System Features:
- Upgraded 8-channel analog summing mixer injects headroom, dimensionality, and clarity into your mixes
- 5 input sources: analog stereo, the onboard 8-channel summing mixer, USB, AES/SPDIF, and a wireless stream from any Bluetooth-enabled device
- Switch between inputs and toggle between 3 sets of studio monitors for audio referencing
- Speaker outputs can be programmed to be mono and/or to include a subwoofer
- Mastering-grade D/A includes advanced clock stabilization, top-of-class chipsets, and world-class analog circuitry
- Top-shelf headphone amplifiers are tailor-made for fine-grained quality control listening
- Onboard talkback mic with push-button activation
- Free D-BOX+ app supplies remote control over all of the D-BOX+’s major functions (volume, dim, talkback, I/O select, and more)
| The Dangerous Music Liaison puts the fun back into trying out creative combinations of gear. The Liaison also lets your setup remain absolutely flexible — just what you need if you want to survive in a market that often demands recording, mixing, and mastering services from a single studio. The Liaison's claim to fame is that it combines your favorite pieces of music gear together in various configurations, allowing you to try out new gear combinations and recall them later. But there's a lot more to the Dangerous Music Liaison than mere signal routing.
Mix, match, store, and recall all your favorite gear combinations
Dangerous Music has always been dedicated to providing serious engineers with the most useful gear possible. They've upped the ante again, with the Liaison. The Liaison lets you experiment with different combinations of gear, giving you a total of six discrete 2-channel inputs and two 2-channel buses. Want to hear how that compressor sounds pre- and post-EQ? With a Liaison, you can audition various hardware combinations as easily as swapping around plug-ins in a DAW. What's more, you can store and recall your favorite setups, so you can keep that killer vocal compression chain or that thumping kick drum processing path close at hand.
Flexible stereo buses give you advanced configuration options
When we ran the Dangerous Music Liaison through its paces here at Sweetwater, we found that its stereo buses do more than just compare two discrete signal paths. Depending on how you configure them, these stereo buses can provide you with two completely independent, flexible signal chains, each serving as its own small routing matrix. You can also combine both buses to create a long and flexible continuous signal-processing chain, in which you can reorder entire sections of your gear setup. Even cooler, you can use the Liaison's buses to establish complex parallel signal processing — opening up limitless sonic possibilities.
Mastering-grade components for unrivaled sound quality
As is the case with all Dangerous Music products, the Liaison is made entirely from mastering-grade components, so you never have to worry about audio coloration or latency. In fact, when set to simply pass audio, professional grade testers used to measure the Liaison read as though they were plugged into themselves. Talk about quality control! Here are some of the other specifics. Both the inserts and the buses feature straight-wire, unamplified, balanced signal paths. All audio is relay-switched via top-quality, gas-filled, bifurcated contact relays — ensuring that all switching is absolutely noiseless. The rest of the Liaison's signal paths feature mastering-grade components made by THAT Corp. and Burr-Brown.
What the pros are saying about the LIAISON:
- "The Dangerous LIAISON feels like engaging light-speed for my workflow...and make no mistake: workflow IS sound. The sheer speed at which you can do critical comparisons of entire signal chains does have a direct and positive impact how your music will sound." — Alberto Rizzo Schettino (Engineer)
- "One of the best features of the LIAISON is the monitor outs...you can monitor the signal at four points in the chain: before and after Bus A and B. The usefulness of this feature is huge, and Dangerous deserves major props for including it! The switching of inserts is managed by beefy relays that are as transparent as any I've ever heard." — Adam Gonsalves (Mastering Engineer)
- "LIAISON gives you the impetus to rethink how you record, mix, and master your music...[and] using the LIAISON is dead simple. I think of LIAISON not as an insert switcher, but as a creativity enabler." — Andy Hong (Writer/Reviewer)
- "The Dangerous LIAISON is incredibly exciting. To have a device that lets you so easily switch between processors, swap the order of processors, do quick A-B comparisons of signal chains. It makes my work better!" — Jonathan Wyner (Mastering Engineer)
- "Being able to switch devices from one bus to the other is extremely useful. The fast switching is amazing!" — Jeff Lipton (Mastering Engineer)
- "The LIAISON is really important — I can do a lot of combinations of chaining gear and I am able to work a lot faster. Before the LIAISON [I had to] switch the patchbay and compare the sounds. Now I am 20-times faster than before, I like the way the LIAISON allows me to still be in the energy of the music. — Antoine "Chab" Chabert (Mastering Engineer)
- "So happy with the LIAISON. Being able to switch gear in and out from the listening position without leaning over a patch bay is fantastic. After sitting in this chair for so many years, it actually improves my mixing ergonomics considerably." — Bob Power (Mastering Engineer)
Dangerous Music Liaison Features:
- Flexible signal routing matrix that allows you to combine the gear in your studio in fun, exciting, and creative ways
- Leverage all your gear, all the time
- Improve your tracks, mixes, and masters by auditioning and marrying the perfect ensemble of equipment
- 2 independent stereo buses mean you can set up 1 as a tracking path and the other as a mix path, without repatching, or chain them together
- Separate parallel processing loop to let drums breathe and crush simultaneously
- Create complex combinations of gear and A/B instantly
- Store your favorite settings to recall any tracking, mixing, or mastering configuration
- 6 stereo insert loops, assignable to 2 stereo buses
- Mastering-grade components ensure silent, relay-based switching and color-free audio
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API’s The Box summing mixer and recording console has been very popular at Sweetwater. Now The Box 2 continues that legacy, offering audio pros worldwide — from professional home recording studios to commercial production facilities — legendary API big-console sound in a compact package, along with expanded flexibility and options for the modern studio workflow. The updated Box console features eight input channels with mic preamp, line input, and highpass filter; eight 500 Series slots, and LED metering for each of its 24 summing channels. The Box 2 still provides the same comprehensive center section, monitoring, and rear-panel connectivity as its predecessor, as well as the popular 0dB bypass switch on each summing channel.
Classic analog warmth and punch
Can’t afford a big API console for your DAW-based studio? No worries. Sporting the same circuitry and performance as API’s esteemed large-format Vision, Legacy Plus, and 1608 boards, The Box 2 is a small-format solution for any studio with a limited budget or space. Designed for professional project studios and production facilities, The Box is perfect for enhancing clinical-sounding digital stems and mixes with classic API analog warmth and punch.
Optimized for the digital era
Optimized as an audio production console for the digital era, The Box delivers all the functionality you don’t get from your DAW, including mic preamps, input signal processing, a high-quality mix bus, cue sends with talkback, monitor control, comprehensive rear-panel connections with balanced inputs and outputs, and much more, while eliminating the redundant capacities of larger boards. You get the legendary all-discrete API sound in a compact, cost-effective package.
With The Box, you are master of your studio
The Box’s comprehensive master section gives you controls for program bus insert and external inputs, aux and cue masters, solo master, VU meters, talkback, and a full-featured monitor section that supports two stereo speaker systems plus headphones. As a bonus, the master section includes a stereo bus compressor, assignable to the program bus or input channels 1–4.
API — a tradition of high-quality audio
In 1968, Automated Processes Inc. began building quality consoles for broadcast applications. Soon the company’s products found favor with recording studios, and a string of industry-leading advancements (including computerized console automation, the first VCA, and more) followed. API produced the 2520 amplifier, one of the most famous op-amps in the recording industry, and their consoles and products found homes in such iconic studio facilities as the Hit Factory, Record Plant, Ocean Way, and Sunset Sound, among others. In fact, there are over 700 classic API consoles around the globe — many of which are still in use. And the company certainly isn’t resting on its laurels; today’s API products give you the same unbeatable combination of utility, innovation, and great sound.
API The Box 2 Summing Mixer and Recording Console Features:
- 8 input channels with mic preamp, line input, and highpass filter
- 8 x 500 Series slots (1 per input channel)
- Direct out on input channels
- Onboard stereo bus compressor, assignable to program bus or input channels 1–4
- Instrument direct inputs on channels 1–4
- 16 summing channels (24 channels during mixdown)
- 0dB bypass switch on each summing channel
- 4-segment LED metering on each summing channel
- Stereo program bus with master fader, insert, and external input
- 1 stereo and 2 mono auxiliary sends/buses
- Stereo cue send/bus and headphone system
- PFL, AFL, and Solo-in-Place solo modes with stereo solo bus
- Full-featured monitor section that supports 2 stereo monitor systems
- Talkback system
- Comprehensive rear-panel connections with balanced inputs and outputs
- Integrated power supply
| Dangerous Music's MASTER brings the amazing analog sound and functionality of previous Dangerous boxes to the mastering world with a truly unique approach that will give your projects an edge over your competitors. Three insert points are front-panel switchable for integrating external analog processing and there's something special lurking behind the S&M Width knob. With the S&M button depressed, MASTER engages a "Sum or Minus" mode that controls the stereo spread and much more. Every mastering engineer that incorporates outboard gear into their rig needs a MASTER!
Powerful processing at your fingertips
There's truly nothing quite like MASTER. The S&M functionality adds a remarkable element to your mastering arsenal. Imagine being able to modify the frequency content of the program material residing in the left/right aspects of the stereo field without changing the spectrum of the center material. With MASTER, you can. Hit the S&M button, activate insert #2 with a stereo EQ connected, and you can work wonders with the sound. Say the vocals (panned center) sound fine in the mix, but you'd like to brighten the guitars and cymbals a bit (which reside in the left and right panning positions). S&M removes the center material temporarily so you can process the extreme left and right signals without coloring the center material. The S&M Width knob can also modify the width of the overall stereo field. The engineers here at Sweetwater love the flexibility of the MASTER!
A plethora of useful controls
From left to right, you've got L/R Level controls, three buttons that trigger the insertion of outboard gear in the signal path, a button that individually selects which inputs are being processed, a button that triggers Stereo or Middle Sides mode on insert 2, and a button that selects whether the Monitor Output jacks have the Input or Output signal sent to the monitor section. Next up is the Input Monitor Offset. This is very handy to match the input and output levels to listen to the effect of processing without the level difference clouding one's judgment. The engineer can also match input and output level, look down at the scale, and determine the relative gain obtained from the mastering process. This control has a scale of -2 to +8dB in 0.5 dB steps. The S&M Width was covered in depth in the previous paragraph. Lastly, the Output level control dictates the final level that passed on to the A/D convertor.
What the pros are saying about the MASTER:
- "I've never mastered a song without a Dangerous MASTER! And I can't imagine it. With the S&M feature on the MASTER, you can really fix some problems in mixes, and address balance issues... Comparing it to Mid-Side processors in the digital realm I just think it's a 'Day and Night' difference." — Colin Leonard (Mastering Engineer)
- "I'm a huge fan of the Dangerous MASTER's S&M circuitry. It always seems to add an elegant width and depth to the mix. The Dangerous gear has certainly created an advantage. Another reason we have been able to establish ourselves in a highly competitive field is that aside from the gear sounding great...our Dangerous gear has been truly steady and stable." — Emily Lazar (Mastering Engineer)
- "I can't say enough about the quality components and sonic integrity...it doesn't get much better than this. I could hear the difference between AD/DA converters...choosing between them...for each session...has become effortless. I cannot imagine working without the Dangerous MASTER." — Larry DiVivo (TapeOp Magazine)
- "Dangerous Music really got it right with the Dangerous MASTER." — Andrew Mendelson (Mix Magazine)
- "I love all the Dangerous Music equipment. I use the MONITOR ST, the MASTER, and two 2-BUS LTs for my mixing and stem-mastering." — Noël Jackson (Mastering Engineer)
- "The Dangerous MASTER immediately made a huge improvement in the quality of my work. I think it's the cleanest sounding solution available." — Dave McNair (Mastering Engineer)
Dangerous Music MASTER Features:
- Audiophile-grade components yield crystal-clear sound
- 3 insert points are front-panel switchable for integrating external analog processing
- S&M button provides you with integrated Mid-Side processing
- S&M Width knob modifies the width of your overall stereo field
- Stepped controls ensure easy repeatability
- 2 stereo inputs and 3 stereo outputs (1 for monitoring)
- Seamless connection with the Dangerous Liaison
| High-end Monitoring, Conversion, and Summing Bundle
Sweetwater's Dangerous Music D-Box+, CONVERT-AD+, and CONVERT-8 with Cabling Kit Bundle gives you high-definition surround reference monitoring for up to eight channels, mastering-grade stereo conversion, and eight channels of analog summing, plus a cabling kit to get you up and running right out of the box. | The Dangerous Music 2-BUS+ is a 2U, 16-channel analog summing mixer with both XLR and D-sub inputs. It raises the bar on its legendary 2-BUS predecessor with even lower crosstalk, distortion, and noise-floor performance, along with stunningly precise soundstaging and center focus. Dangerous spent over two years developing three onboard audio processors that, with a simple push of a button and twist of a knob, add tone and color to your stems or across your entire mix directly from the 2-BUS+. The 2-BUS+ is smartly designed, extremely useful, and sounds incredible.
A trio of custom audio processors
In sync with Dangerous Music's doctrine of tonal coloration as a per-project artistic choice, the 2-BUS+ features three separate custom audio processors that selectively add tone and color to your mixes. In parallel processing mode, you can deploy Harmonics, a tuned harmonic distortion generator, and Paralimit, a FET limiter on steroids. At Sweetwater, we've applied both of these across stereo mixes and on pairs of stems. X-Former kicks in a pair of custom transformers with core-saturation control on your stereo mix outs. You can have all three tone processors active concurrently, and you can flip the order of signal flow through distortion and limiting.
Outstanding flexibility
Dangerous Music knows that each engineer — and session — is unique, so they designed the 2-BUS+ for outstanding professional flexibility. They spec'd it with an XLR stereo insert before the outputs for adding a separate compressor or processing chain that you can bypass at the touch of a button for a quick reference comparison. Channels 1/2 and 9/10 can be set to mono to rout; for instance, vocals/bass and kick/snare each to its own mono input. They also gave the 2-BUS+ an output control stepped in 0.5dB increments from -4dB to +6dB, and included XLR connections for both the main and monitor outputs.
Gang 'em for high channel count
Need a full-on analog "console" summing experience? Gang together multiple 2-BUS+ units via the stereo expansion inputs XLR to create a customized channel count. For the ultimate in tonal flexibility and control, the custom audio processors on each unit apply across the ganged group output. With three units, for instance, you'll have 48 channels of analog summing, with the first two units employing Harmonics (distortion), and Paralimit (limiter) across two separate stereo stems, and the third unit applying X-Former transformer saturation on the master stereo outputs.
What the pros are saying about the 2-BUS+:
- "The Paralimit and X-Former appear to be magic knobs. Special mention goes to the Paralimit because it does that lovely thing of bringing up the general ambience without slamming the track, something I particularly love on drums. Plugged it into my system along with my old 2-BUS and Dangerous MONITOR ST, and wow ... it's fantastic! Bags of air and space around the mix." — Chris Blackwell (drummer/composer)
- "Since the 2-BUS has so much headroom, it's really easy for me to decide that I want the entire vocal submix to be brighter or warmer, or more or less compressed." — Michael James (producer/mix engineer)
- "The Dangerous Music 2-BUS is one of the reasons my studio delivers a killer sound that grants the edge on the competition." — Alberto Rizzo Schettino (engineer)
- "Between SSL, in-the-box, and 2-BUS ... in blind tests ... it was a unanimous decision that the Dangerous mixes beat out everything. The 2-BUS mixes ... were simply cleaner and warmer than the SSL or in-the-box mixing ... I just don't miss my console." — Gina Fant-Saez (mix engineer)
- "With the 2-BUS LT, elements have their own place. You end up with a quicker, bigger mix and retain a more natural, less processed sound." — Phil Greiss (producer/engineer)
- "The Dangerous Music equipment is the centerpiece of my mixing rig. Everything I do goes through a Dangerous MONITOR, 2-BUS, MASTER, and BAX EQ. Everything." — Fab Dupont (mix engineer)
- "I don't understand how the 2-BUS has been in the studio for so long, but hasn't gotten to live shows — the sound is unbelievable." — Horace Ward (FOH engineer)
- "The harmonic and transformer flavors are great options to have and the parallel limiter is a genius idea." — Chris Tabron (producer/mix engineer)
Dangerous Music 2-BUS+ Analog Summing Mixer Features:
- Stunning 16-channel analog summing mixer injects your mixes with exceptional headroom and dimensionality
- 3 analog options (Harmonics, Paralimit, and X-Former) for adding tonal coloration to your mix
- XLR and D-sub input connectivity and flexible routing allow for a customized workflow
- Integrate your outboard gear easily with the switchable stereo analog insert
- Output control is stepped in 0.5dB increments for perfect recallability
- High-quality components ensure audiophile-grade sound
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