JLM PEQ500 and Eisen lilpeqR rundown and review

[PlugHead]

OK,

This is by no means a legit controlled test or comparison, just a real quick review with a small sample of the EQ's sounds...

I've had very little actual time with both - I received the JLM right before leaving for 6 weeks in late Dec., and got the Eisen as soon as I got back a week ago. These are both "program EQ's" - they have lo and hi bands, and little to nothing in between. If you want to look up more info on them, search GS under "lilpeqr" and "JLM PEQ500", or go to their respective websites. Tho I assume the lilpeqr will not be listed on the website as it is a limited run of 60 EQ's, and all are gone...

First, I gotta say I love hardware EQ's. I do not have all the various plugins, nor have I tried all the current digital EQ's - suffice to say I have a load of SW EQ's, and I'm nearly always disappointed with the end results. After years of trying to get adequate results within a DAW, I'm doing 2 mix OTB. This has been a move in the right direction, but I didn't have near enough OB to have versatility re: EQ's (and comps), thus my decision to hop into the 500 series format for some EQ's, and hopefully some comps too. There has been a lot of discussion in regards to DA/AD conversions, but I've found this to not have a negative impact on my mixes, rather an improvement. After being at a recent listening session where there was an A/B/X comparison with one being a 20X conversion, and no one being able to discern a difference, I realized I should be trusting my own ears, and not what I read on any bb/newsgroup...

JLM PEQ500: this is a very solidly built unit - heavy as a brick, and solid switches/bats/buttons throughout. I ran through this EQ at AES this year, and knew it was something special. I've tried VERY hard to make things sound bad through it - almost impossible. I have no idea the amount of boost available (in either shelf or peak on the hi band) but - it takes a really nasty piece of audio to make things fugly! The inclusion of extra freq. compared to vintage EQ's is a bonus - they are all musical, and esp. in the bass freq., there is some serious thump available with freq. select down to 10 (yes ten!!!) Hz!!!

In brief, the tonal quality to this EQ is soft - much like the Pultec/TubeTech style, where you can't help but enjoy boosting to the extreme. There isn't a huge colour to the sound, just passive boost or cut to what is already there. Having the highcut available above the peak/shelf is useful, and is a very good sculpting tool should you require it. The high's are never shrill or glassy, and having some mid-range options are very handy. The big thrill is the bass boost - there is soooo much lift down there, it is unbelievable at times! Wide freq. selection allows boost or cut in enough areas to be a very versatile tool.

Eisen lilpeqR: I knew I had to get this EQ, regardless of it's limits. Having the Marinair/St. Ives transformer is a tonal colour unto itself, and I knew this to be yet another 'sound' to choose from. The 2 bands are shelving only, with 3 freq/band (Hi @ 28/10/5 kHz, Low @ 160/80/50 Hz).

In brief, this EQ has ballz to spare! bgrotto has an informative review already, so I won't say too much other than the freq. are well selected, and there is INTENSE amounts of boost/cut available. It is near impossible to have the dials move too far in either direction before things get silly. The 'airband' is absolutely worth the entrance price alone! I find I miss it when it's gone, no matter what source. The low end is heavy, and just a little goes a very long way. Even when the dials are flat, the flavour of the transformer has a nice euphonic character. Tho versatility is not it's strong point, it has attitude to spare.

The only caveat is the dials have little resistance, and feel flimsy compared to others more solid. Also, (as mentioned by bgrotto), there is no centre detent, which would also be very nice. That said, this is a bargain for what it is, and no real complaints otherwise...

Now - for the samples. Keep in mind, the Eisen has centre as detent, and the JLM has separate boost/cut knobs, so flat is at 7AM (noon is 1/2 way).

The JLM example is with 40hz boost at 1 PM, and high shelf on 25kHz, at 2 PM boost. The comparable Eisen sample is with airband engaged (28kHz) set at 2 PM boost, and the bass on 50 Hz at 1 PM boost. The last JLM snippet is 1k5 @ 2:30PM boost, and lowband @30Hz fullboost (5PM).

Enjoy!

[drBill]

Thanks Jay! I'm loving my Eisen's. The JLM sounds promising!

bp

[andychamp]

How did you get those JLMs? I can't find any product or ordering info on jlmaudio.com.

They had an almost expander-like quality on the samples you posted: somehow that beat seems to have groovier dynamics through the PEQ500 than flat.
I don't know if this is possible, but that's what I'm hearing.

Me wants badly!!

[PlugHead]

Originally Posted by andychamp

How did you get those JLMs? I can't find any product or ordering info on jlmaudio.com.

They had an almost expander-like quality on the samples you posted: somehow that beat seems to have groovier dynamics through the PEQ500 than flat.
I don't know if this is possible, but that's what I'm hearing.

Me wants badly!!

Bought direct from Joe at JLM - just drop a note with "want to buy" in the header. AFAIK, there's still nothing on the website yet.

I heard it on the AES floor, and knew that I wanted a pr.

There's a lot of sound-sculpting ability with these EQ's - not much sonic penalty with dialing in tremendous amounts of EQ - gotta love that!

Best,

[ThomasWho]

Jay , thanks for the clips, Sounds great.

One thing I notice is that the stereo image shifts slighly between the clips.... Do you find it`s difficult to get the left and right to match properly? (I assume they are two mono eq`s set to identical settings?)

Thomas

[PlugHead]

Good question.

Is this in reference to one EQ, or to both? Both are mono, no linking. Both have switches for freq., tho boost and cut are dials, but pretty easy to match.

I did notice the JLM left channel (I think?!?) to be a bit lower than the right, but the raw file is the same. Do you notice phase shift, or is it just volume?

I'll have to re-listen to them in the studio...

[ThomasWho]

Well , I loaded the clips into iTunes and made a playlist. When iTunes plays them in sequence I notice the HiHat moves slightly between the clip "EQ@25" and "EQ@28".
And the "drmsflat" clip has the HH more towards the other side....

Maybe the stereo image is reversed or something? Or maybe one channel on the eq has a slightly different setting?

No big deal I guess , but it could make 2bus use a bit tricky...?

Anyway , thanks again for posting!

Thomas

[drBill]

Still lovin' the LilPEQr's here. Excells in almost every application.

[PlugHead]

Originally Posted by ThomasWho

And the "drmsflat" clip has the HH more towards the other side....

Thomas

I bet I somehow flipped cables in the Xfer - if the hats switched sides, this is the reason - sorry - it was a really quick demo and I would assume operator error.

As for the slight shift - maybe it's the difference in the EQ's? Amount of boost was not the same between the JLM and Eisen - I would expect this to be the primary reason.

Thanks for the comments - I forgot all about this thread till you posted and it bumped back onto the radar.

[PlugHead]

Originally Posted by drBill

Still lovin' the LilPEQr's here. Excells in almost every application.

Word.

I was a bit skeptical with the limited freq select, but as time goes on, they seem to be VERY well chosen.

I've been Xferring a lot of live mixes, and the lilpeqr's are always adding (and sometimes subtracting) something. They sound so damn good.

[drBill]

Originally Posted by PlugHead

They sound so damn good.

Yes, that they do. The bottom end sounds like thick dark chocolate. YUM!