TEAC DX-8 Volume Jumping Problem. Help Needed.

[jasonguitar]

I recently purchased a DX-8 DBX unit for my Teac 80-8(some of you may have seen my posts regarding a diy control cable which I was finally successful in making) I finally used the unit two nights ago tracking drums and was simply blown away by how good it sounds! I was VERY cautious about level setting and with all DX-8 channels bypassed I set my input levels so nothing went over 0db VU. I experienced no "pumping" or "breathing" issues. The tracks sound super clean, quiet and warm as can be, however, on track 7(left overhead) playback there was this intermittent HUGE jump in volume from time to time. The volume suddenly jumps up and then returns to normal off and on throughout the recording. It sounds as though you suddenly cranked up the gain knob or threshold on a compressor. With the dbx bypassed you can hear it on the tape so it seems to be an encoding malfunction. I triple checked all connections and swapped out the DX-8 channel 7 card with channel 4 and sure enough the problem moved to channel 4. I bypassed channel 4(hi hat track) and recorded 2 back to back takes of the same song. On playback I now had the problem on channels 7 and 8 throughout the first take but nothing on the second. I just don't understand what would cause such a huge jump in volume. My inputs aren't hot enough to even create that hot a signal. The dbx encoding circuit must be amplifying it. Suggestions? Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks.