dBooster2
intermediate
$595
Used market: $490*
Specifications
3 of 8 values have a recorded source- Type
- inline_booster·
- Added Gain dB
- 20✓
- Input Connector
- 2x 3-Pin XLR Female (3.6 kΩ mic) + 2x 1/4" TS Hi-Z DI (270 kΩ)·
- Output Connector
- 2x 3-Pin XLR Male (300 Ω)·
- Expert Description
- En: Two channels of Class-A boost with switchable gain: 12 dB or 20 dB in microphone mode, 0 dB or 8 dB when the front-panel Hi-Z DI input is used. Input impedance is 3.6 kΩ in mic mode and 270 kΩ in DI mode, output impedance 300 Ω, current draw about 5 mA at rest and 7.5 mA at full output from 48 V phantom. · Uk: Два канали підсилення класу A з перемикним коефіцієнтом: 12 або 20 дБ у мікрофонному режимі й 0 або 8 дБ, коли використано інструментальний вхід Hi-Z на передній панелі. Вхідний опір 3,6 кΩ у мікрофонному режимі й 270 кΩ в режимі DI, вихідний 300 Ω, споживання близько 5 мА у спокої та 7,5 мА на повному виході від фантома 48 В.·
- Provides Phantom Power
- no✓
- Requires Phantom Power
- yes✓
- Updated At
- 2026-08-05T22:03:05.289Z·
Expert Audio Engineering Commentary
Gain Staging Advice
The 12 dB position is not a compromise: at 12 dB the box takes an input 14 dB hotter before distorting than at 20 dB. On a ribbon in front of a guitar cabinet that is the difference between a clean take and a squashed one.
Production Warning
Royer describe the box as providing true electrical isolation and protecting ribbons from phantom power — which is the same as saying phantom does not reach the microphone. A condenser behind it will not work no matter what the interface says.
What the datasheet actually says
Quoted verbatim from the manufacturer’s own page, with the date we checked it. We state what is printed, not what anyone intended by it.
««Self-Noise: referred to -48dB re. 1V/Pa, 20dB setting < 11dBa, 12dB setting < 15dBa» … «Headroom: referred to -48dB re. 1V/Pa and 4mV/Pa, 20dB setting: 127dB, 12dB setting: 120dB»»
Both the self-noise and the headroom of this booster are stated referred to a microphone of a particular sensitivity (-48 dB re 1 V/Pa, i.e. 4 mV/Pa). They therefore describe a microphone-plus-booster combination in dB SPL, not the booster on its own in dBu, and cannot be compared with an equivalent input noise figure from another manufacturer without knowing the microphone assumed. Royer at least name the assumption, which most do not.
checked 8/5/2026* Estimated with the depreciation fallback (~82% retained value). · checked on 8/5/2026