Esoteric Audio Research Vs Massive Passive

StuartMac · 14th March 2004

(posted also on another forum - apologies in advance!)

I only have experience of the Massive Passive, which I loved, but has anyone compared the Esoteric Audio Research 825 Mastering EQ? It's a bit more expensive than the Massive in the States, but over here it's a lot cheaper.

Any thoughts? Fletcher? Anyone??

**Lindell** · 14th March 2004

I used the EAR for a couple of days recently. It sounds very good indeed. The one thing that bugged me is the frequence selections. The band does not overlap enough. Plus the mid range filter has a very tight Q, so you cant really boost, only cut.

I´ll look into this instead. Better price, 5-band, extremely sweet sounding....

Cheers,

jazzius II · 14th March 2004

Stu - are you looking at 2-buss duties or a mix EQ?

damon · 14th March 2004

825's are amazing.Tim de Paravicini is fantastic. You should check out the 660 compressor too. 825's are great for polishing anything but not if you need to seriously carve . As mentioned by Lindell, the mid q's are quite tight , but you can wind in as much as you like and they never make your teeth curl. Top and bottom shelves great.

e-cue · 14th March 2004

I noticed Dave Way uses the EAR joint.

StuartMac · 14th March 2004

Hi Darius - probably a bit of both!! Maybe tracking as well.

I quite fancy using something like this on vocals in the mix, cos I still have the Avalon 747 and I'm pretty happy with the top and bottom on the mix buss. At the moment my main vocal EQ is the Expounder, but I'm not THAT convinced by it on vocals, and I love it on bass and drums, so....

Keeping your Ibis, by the way?

jazzius II · 14th March 2004

Oh yeah, i forgot you have an Avalon...........get the MP!....you have that hi-shelf air thing covered (although the Ibis does it nicer

).

The only thing that could kick the Ibis out the rack is an Avalon 2077, and that ain't gonna be happening any time soon!

D.

shack jonz · 14th March 2004

I noticed that Greg Calbi was using the EAR for mastering during a recent session he did for me. Sounded fantastic.

jazzius II · 14th March 2004

I don't think anyone would claim the MP is the best sounding EQ out there......it isn't....if anything it has a slightly dirty sound (relatively speaking for a 4k unit)...what it is is the most versatile analog eq in terms of what you can do with it (because it has slope-adjustable shelfs on each band).......and sometimes the coloration is just what you need. You can sculp in ways normally only possible with a digital eq, but with an real analog-y sound......

thethrillfactor · 15th March 2004

Check this thread out:

******//gearslutz.com/board/showthrea...hlight=Fairman

We had a shootout with a Fairman EQ, EAR and MP EQ.

We kept the Fairman and the MP EQ i already owned.

Fletcher · 15th March 2004

Quote:

Originally posted by StuartMac
Any thoughts? Fletcher? Anyone??

Yeah... the D.W. Fearn VT-4

jbuntz · 15th March 2004

A Designs is making a pultec type eq with a little more flexibility than a real pultec but fewer bands than the massive. I've heard good things about it.

blackcatdigi · 15th March 2004

Quote:

Originally posted by Fletcher
Yeah... the D.W. Fearn VT-4

Fletcher, could you mention to Doug that this piece would be KILLER as a stereo 2 bus unit?

Yeah, yeah, I know, just buy 2...

Fletcher · 15th March 2004

There is one full on stereo unit that exists... unfortunately it's a proto-type that will probably never be released.

One thing that Doug didn't count on when designing the original VT-4 was that a "stereo" one would require a full and complete redesign in order to exist.

He's working on a compressor at the moment... however this compressor will be designed to be dual mono or stereo from the get-go... meaning that all he'll have to do for a mono version will be to layout a new face panel... which is a whole hell of a lot easier than having to redesign the unit from the ground up.

In the meanwhile... as far as the EQ goes... yeah, get two. They match perfectly... the only drag is that they'll take up 6 RU... but so would two Pultecs... seems I've seen more than a couple studios with 2 or more Pultecs in them so maybe space really isn't a huge issue.

blackcatdigi · 15th March 2004

Quote:

Originally posted by Fletcher
In the meanwhile... as far as the EQ goes... yeah, get two. They match perfectly... the only drag is that they'll take up 6 RU... but so would two Pultecs... seems I've seen more than a couple studios with 2 or more Pultecs in them so maybe space really isn't a huge issue.

Space isn't that big of a deal; Its the $8k that hurts!

Thanks for the (very gentle) let down.

StuartMac · 15th March 2004

Aah, crap - the decision just got tougher!!

I can get the EAR or a Crane Song Ibis for the same price, but the Massive is about £700 more.

I really like the Ibis when I heard it as well. And no, I CAN'T get all three!!

jazzius II · 15th March 2004

Stu, having heard your (excellent) production/mixes, i'm tempted to suggest the Ibis.........i know i suggested the MP before...i'm full of shite!.........i've never heard the EAR BTW........anyway, you know they're completely different and you will own both eventually....sooooooo

jpaudio · 16th March 2004

Quote:

Originally posted by StuartMac
At the moment my main vocal EQ is the Expounder, but I'm not THAT convinced by it on vocals, and I love it on bass and drums, so....

Hey StuartMac... curious, have you found a useful application for the "dynamic" functions of the CLM Expounder? They've proven utterly useless IMHO, although the EQ itself is useful (in the same way a Speck ASC is). When I first heard about the Expounder, I was thinking it would be similar to the BSS dynamic EQ Clearmountain raves about, where each frequency range has it's own threshold so you're not cutting anything til the signal reaches a set level in that range etc. Then I got a CLM and boy was I wrong! Still not a bad EQ for the $$ though.

StuartMac · 17th March 2004

About all I've used the dynamic feature for is a bit of colour for a weedy sounding bass guitar. I tried using the high freq one on an acoustic, but didn't like it much.

Now, the tracking and resonance controls on the filters are a different matter!

jpaudio · 17th March 2004

Quote:

Originally posted by StuartMac

Now, the tracking and resonance controls on the filters are a different matter!

The filters are pretty cool... what's your favorite uses for them? I like adding some color to a boring bass DI.

14th March 2004	#1
StuartMac Lives for gear Joined: Aug 2002 Location: Scotland Posts: 893 Thread Starter	Esoteric Audio Research Vs Massive Passive (posted also on another forum - apologies in advance!) I only have experience of the Massive Passive, which I loved, but has anyone compared the Esoteric Audio Research 825 Mastering EQ? It's a bit more expensive than the Massive in the States, but over here it's a lot cheaper. Any thoughts? Fletcher? Anyone??

14th March 2004	#2
Lindell Moderator Joined: Jun 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 2,453	I used the EAR for a couple of days recently. It sounds very good indeed. The one thing that bugged me is the frequence selections. The band does not overlap enough. Plus the mid range filter has a very tight Q, so you cant really boost, only cut. I´ll look into this instead. Better price, 5-band, extremely sweet sounding.... Cheers, __________________ Lindell Audio One Phat Studio

15th March 2004	#14
Fletcher member no 666 Joined: Jun 2002 Location: Durham, NC Posts: 10,108	There is one full on stereo unit that exists... unfortunately it's a proto-type that will probably never be released. One thing that Doug didn't count on when designing the original VT-4 was that a "stereo" one would require a full and complete redesign in order to exist. He's working on a compressor at the moment... however this compressor will be designed to be dual mono or stereo from the get-go... meaning that all he'll have to do for a mono version will be to layout a new face panel... which is a whole hell of a lot easier than having to redesign the unit from the ground up. In the meanwhile... as far as the EQ goes... yeah, get two. They match perfectly... the only drag is that they'll take up 6 RU... but so would two Pultecs... seems I've seen more than a couple studios with 2 or more Pultecs in them so maybe space really isn't a huge issue. __________________ CN Fletcher Professional Affiliations: R/E/P Professional Recording Engineer and Producer forums - serious hobbyists welcome SoundPure.com mwagener wrote on Sat, 11 September 2004 14:33 We are selling emotions, there are no emotions in a grid Roscoe Ambel once said: Pro-Tools is to audio what fluorescent is to light

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14th March 2004	#3
jazzius II Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2003 Posts: 1,002	Stu - are you looking at 2-buss duties or a mix EQ?

14th March 2004	#4
damon Gear interested Joined: Mar 2004 Location: london Posts: 19	825's are amazing.Tim de Paravicini is fantastic. You should check out the 660 compressor too. 825's are great for polishing anything but not if you need to seriously carve . As mentioned by Lindell, the mid q's are quite tight , but you can wind in as much as you like and they never make your teeth curl. Top and bottom shelves great.

14th March 2004	#5
e-cue Lives for gear Joined: Jun 2002 Location: Lost Angeles Posts: 4,069	I noticed Dave Way uses the EAR joint.

14th March 2004	#8
shack jonz Gear nut Joined: Oct 2003 Location: Nashville,TN Posts: 108	I noticed that Greg Calbi was using the EAR for mastering during a recent session he did for me. Sounded fantastic.

15th March 2004	#10
thethrillfactor Gear Guru Joined: Jun 2002 Location: New York City Posts: 14,177	Check this thread out: ******//gearslutz.com/board/showthrea...hlight=Fairman We had a shootout with a Fairman EQ, EAR and MP EQ. We kept the Fairman and the MP EQ i already owned.

15th March 2004	#12
jbuntz Lives for gear Joined: Jul 2003 Posts: 1,716	A Designs is making a pultec type eq with a little more flexibility than a real pultec but fewer bands than the massive. I've heard good things about it.

17th March 2004	#19
StuartMac Lives for gear Joined: Aug 2002 Location: Scotland Posts: 893 Thread Starter	About all I've used the dynamic feature for is a bit of colour for a weedy sounding bass guitar. I tried using the high freq one on an acoustic, but didn't like it much. Now, the tracking and resonance controls on the filters are a different matter!