With a Cheapness (EQs) Inexpensive Equalization for the Budget-Minded Slut

[Kent]

...

Check out the sticky on top of this forum for info on the "with a cheapness" threads.

Gustav

[Albert]

I've already responded to the 900 rack part of your post in another thread, but I'd also like to put in a vote of confidence on the DBX 905 parametric. I've got a couple of them and like them a lot.

Another eq that's cool is the Urei 546. I had mine modded by Jim Williams at Audio Upgrades. Four bands of eq, each independently enabled, high and low cut filters, it's a great box for not much money.

[tINY]

Parametric EQ is the way to go. For a bang-for-the-buck recomendation, I'd say find an AudioArts 4ch parametric (I belive they could be had in mono and stereo versions)

if you pay less than $150 per channel, you may have to clean the pots and remove the little critters from the inside, though.


-tiNY

[chessparov]

Second the DBX 242, pro sound and easy for an non-pro like me to use.

Chris

[Ruudman]

Orban 642b..

I'm pretty satisfied with this unit.
It also has cascade mode, so 8 bands can be used on one channel.

Good top-end.


Nice threads, Kent

ruudman

[Bowisc]

I have a pair of DBX 242's that I mod'd the IC's to. I consider tham the "RNC's" of EQ, IMHO.

[PlugHead]

Great thread!

My vote goes for Filtek MK3's: 3 band, 12 position overlapping freq. with wide/narrow Q, each band w. bypass switch, hi and lo pass filters, and good transformers - hard to find item (tho I hear not so in Europe... ), but at around 400 bucks, I think they're sleepers. IME, they sound awesome on damn near everything.

My .02 c

[Drumsound]

I have an Ashley 7-band parametric that's pretty cool. I need to get another.

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally posted by Mind-Over-Midi
How about the speck Model ASC? Anybody work with one of these? Or would it be considered too expensive for this thread?

I have a pair of ASC's...killer EQ's IMSHO. Love 'em.

[warhead]

Originally posted by Bowisc
I have a pair of DBX 242's that I mod'd the IC's to. I consider tham the "RNC's" of EQ, IMHO.

That's a great description.

I found two on eBay mint for $250, they rock modded or not.

War

[Albert]

Jay, how would you describe the tone and character of the Speck ASC's?

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally posted by Albert
Jay, how would you describe the tone and character of the Speck ASC's?

Clean, smooth and musical. Kinda like the poor-mans GML 4200 only without the 4-6khz bump.

[Teacher]

Originally Posted by Jay Kahrs

Clean, smooth and musical. Kinda like the poor-mans GML 4200 only without the 4-6khz bump.

and the nice high end shelf.....

[tINY]

Those were workhorses. At the time, they were almost magical in shaping the tone the way you wanted. I never understood how graphic EQ's still dominated FOH, stereo shaping, and crude speaker compensation after they came out on the market.

If the pots are clean and the PS caps are still alright, I'd use one today for just about any EQ application (except for FB supperssion on monior mixes, but who uses loud wedges without an FBX anymore?).



-tINY

[jeronimo]

I´ll third the DBX 242, I just got mine and I´m in love with it!!!!!
What kind of mods are avaliable to it?

[CassidyGT]

Since dbx 242's are not to be found anywhere - how about the Aphex 109? Very versitile - can be 4 band single channel or two band dual channel. Used on eBay for $150.

[sloanfiske]

I picked up my Orban 622b for about that if I remember correctly.

cool and blue

[O.F.F.]

I've got an ARX MultiQ on ebay for £90.
Quite happy with it and it is incredibly versatile: its got six bands of eq which you can configure any which way ie from six channels of one band to six bands in single channel and everything in between! Right now I'm using it as a two band stereo unit with two bands of eq spare...

[blesscurse]

Symetrix SX201

"The Symetrix Model 201 EQ/Preamp provides studio quality equalization and notch filtering for line level balanced or unbalanced signals, as well as for low level unbalanced signals. Three fully parametric bands of equalization are provided, with +15dB boost and -30dB cut capability, allowing the SX201 to be used for both creative and corrective equalization. Overlapping frequency controls cover the audio range, from 16Hz to 20kHz. Bandwidth is continuously variable from .05 octaves (for deep notch filtering), to 3.3 octaves (for smooth tone shaping). With its separate line and preamp inputs, the SX201 will handle nearly any signal level. The line level input provides both balanced or unbalanced terminations, while the preamp input is unbalanced. The line level input is intended for use with signals that have already passed through a preamplifier. The preamp input provides 30dB gain, and is intended for use with low level signals such as those from synthesizers, guitars, bass guitars, or electronic drums. The overall input level control allows the operator to set internal signal levels to match boost/cut conditions."

"Parametric equalizers are so named because their operating parameters (characteristics) are variable. The SX201 is described as fully parametric because the center frequency, the bandwidth, and the amount of boost or cut, are all user adjustable."

[AdamJay]

Ashly SC Series
(SC-66, SC-66a, SC-63, etc.)

I've got 4 channels and when i need to bring the high mids out in anything, i reach for an Ashly. The other bands are good too but the high mids are so nice, very up front but still smooth.

[s.d.finley]

On the cheap, Symetrix SE-400 4 band parametric EQ....2 channels...

sdf

[code green]

i think they were mentioned above, briefly, but i think it bears repeating that orban eq's are terrific. this is pro broadcasting gear that is very useful in a project studio at bargain prices used.

big ups on the blue gear

[Tibbon]

Hopefully FMR will kick out an EQ that's just as cheap, and just as good as the RNC/RNP/RNL

[moon_unit]

If the dbx 242's aren't available, then the Rane PE-15 will work nice in it's place.


I love old threads that were started 2 yrs ago.

.

[Reggie Love]

Almost certainly Cyril Jones' RM4 EQ is the best "budget" EQ on the market. Knocks the pants out of anything else I've heard. Period. Plus it comes with a clean and tasty mike pre.

[Coyoteous]

Originally Posted by Reggie Love

Almost certainly Cyril Jones' RM4 EQ is the best "budget" EQ on the market. Knocks the pants out of anything else I've heard. Period. Plus it comes with a clean and tasty mike pre.

- Raindirk, right? How much are these? I guess I need to write them. Are they really cheap enough to belong in this thread (I hope so!)?

Aphex 109: a friend of mine has an NOS one of these (still sealed, I think). I'm interested in it since it does shelves. Does anybody know if the shelves are resonant? In other words, does the Q/bandwidth control have any effect on the shelf shape?

Thanks!

[HudHudson]

The Loft 401 is also a cool, affordable parametric from the early 80s.

[dkelley]

I'm coming across like a behringer lover at the moment but I'm not, just that they have two useful components in their rack gear that are actually quite superior to most of their other gear: in the eq area, the t1951 ultra q parametric two channel eq is excellent, and every bit as good sounding and musical and lacking in nasty obvious phase problems as the other nice low end stuff I've used that is mentioned in this topic, although I haven't used the aphex units for years so I could be forgetting something wonderful about those.

Just a though for those with rack space to spare (this thing is two big for what it offers) and prefer to buy new but inexpensively. I still think nice used gear is preferable in general though, but for new this is a nice unit. Just keep the tube warmth completely turned off unless you're looking for a specific effect (certainly not what the eq is for). And with this unit, use it as a cut EQ only, it does distort easily with low headroom as a boost eq. I only use cut eq anyway, but some people who buy inexpensive gear might not understand the benefits of cut eq over boost eq.

Cheers,
Don

[Ashofapheonix]

Wow this thread is old. But with todays plugin technologies for budget EQ's the stuff in UAD-1 or native solutions like Voxengo would probably be able to outclass most of the cheaper EQ's wouldn't they (Under 500 $ new class of gear)?

[dkelley]

Originally Posted by Ashofapheonix

Wow this thread is old. But with todays plugin technologies for budget EQ's the stuff in UAD-1 or native solutions like Voxengo would probably be able to outclass most of the cheaper EQ's wouldn't they (Under 500 $ new class of gear)?

good call on that. I actually stil use in the box eq sometimes, especially when I need specific notch filters etc since I run out of high quality peq outboard gear pretty fast during mixdown. Unfortunately the more I add to the plugin world, the less horsepower I have in my cpu for multitracking, and I hate latency with a vengence. I know, I know, no latency with eq plugins since the entire mix is delayed to match perfectly in daw software, but still, it bugs me. So use in the box stuff sparingly, but yes there is some good stuff without even having to buy a UAD-1 or anything hardware based. Thing is, uad-1 stuff costs more than everything outside the box in this list, so I'm not sure it counts as with a cheapness type stuff.

Cheers,
Don