square state solid state EQUALIZER model one b

[fifthflaw]

i like the sound of this a lot, im very close to giving you some money Warren

[warhead]

Originally Posted by fifthflaw

i like the sound of this a lot, im very close to giving you some money Warren

We could call it the "cash extraction / gear surrender" process.

War

[Brenton]

Well I bought one of these and it arrived yesterday. I had a play with it for a while tonight and I like it a lot. Sounds great, I think it will get a lot of use.thumbsup

[gainreduction]

Will it run on 240V mains power too ?

[Brenton]

Yep, it uses a wallwart. I had to buy a separate power supply here. It cost about $20

[tuRnitUpsuM]

SOMEONE had to ask

any plans on making a vertical model? slipping 24 together and adding faders?


thumbsup to Joe (and crew) and warren

nice job - unit looks sharp, sounds great
will be keeping an eye out for more stuff from Square State Solid State.

any hints into what the future may bring?

[square state]

Originally Posted by gainreduction

Will it run on 240V mains power too ?

As Brenton pointed out the model one b uses an external supply. Our circuit needs to see 15VAC 400mA, he was able to find the correct supply locally. We're working hard to find reliable supplies for 220/240 that will then be available for sale with the unit.

Originally Posted by tuRnitUpsuM

SOMEONE had to ask

any plans on making a vertical model? slipping 24 together and adding faders?


thumbsup to Joe (and crew) and warren

nice job - unit looks sharp, sounds great
will be keeping an eye out for more stuff from Square State Solid State.

any hints into what the future may bring?

Thanks for the compliments! As far as a "vertical model" goes we've talked about making our own mixers for some time now, that's on our list (which is pretty big).
My partner has a HP/LP filter prototype on his bench. It's looking very promising and would come in at a very good price.

We're actually two, pretty creative cats with numerous ideas. At the top of our list is function and sound quality, followed by sensible street prices, then of course invoking the ghosts of Wright and Mondrian for aesthetics. If everyone on Gearslutz will just buy a stereo pair of the model one b (just two ) we'll be able to wow you with lots of groovy gear for years to come!
As usual, thanks for the great questions and feedback!
Joe

[fifthflaw]

ah, ill have to have a look into the power supply thing as in uk. Like the audio clips a lot though

[square state]

Originally Posted by fifthflaw

ah, ill have to have a look into the power supply thing as in uk. Like the audio clips a lot though

fifthflaw,
This should work -

AC/AC Multi-Voltage 1000mA Power Supply : AC/AC Power Supplies : Maplin

We are working double time on sourcing good, reliable supplies for various locales. Thanks!
Joe

[Docmattic]

Looks like i found the eq ive been look for, nice price.

For recall, i would suggest knobs with markings/numbers on them. All you have to do is line that number up with the lines already on the eq, if you get me. I have knobs on my compressor (i made it) that look exactly the same as this eq except with numbers. It makes it easy for recall. This would not change the price.

At any point i dont care. Id it sounds good i'll buy it.

[Docmattic]

I do have a question thinking about it.

Is this eq capable of boosting at 200 then cutting at 350? or would you have to have two in order to do this?

[square state]

Originally Posted by Docmattic

I do have a question thinking about it.

Is this eq capable of boosting at 200 then cutting at 350? or would you have to have two in order to do this?

Docmattic,

You'll need two units for that particular operation. There are six selectable frequency points in the mid region (220, 350, 700, 1.5k, 3k and 6k), all of which are bells that you can cut or boost. Only one at a time can be selected.

I have two units here in my studio and have chained them on occasion to achieve certain cut/boost scenarios like the one you referenced, they work well together. That being said, most of the time I'm getting all the tone shaping I need out of one of our EQ's. Thanks for the question!
Joe

[warhead]

Originally Posted by fifthflaw

Like the audio clips a lot though

thumbsup

War

[Stratafusion]

Well shoot. I was going to get something else and then I saw this which looks interesting. Can you please speak to the differences in characteristics and features (to a noob who is shopping for 2 channels for ~$1k) between this and the JDK Audio R24? I know one is 2 channel but I figure same diff as 2 SSSS units). If it helps to know my goals - I emphasize tuning my sources and the chain (source +mic +pre) to try to get them in their own primary sonic space to begin with, but I want to perform fine tuning after the tracks are done to enhance punch and clarity (meaning I am always after a clear, dynamic, and punchy sound and would eq mainly to support that). I need a bit of help so that I can stop reading about things and just get on with making music

[Stratafusion]

bump for last question

[warhead]

I have not used the unit you mention so cannot comment. Features wise I'd just be reading the same stuff on the web as you (4 band vs 3, there are no shelving EQ's on the R24 it seems, the Model One B is switchable frequencies, the R24 = variable, the R24 capable of about +/- 12dB of gain, the S.S.S.S. = +/- 20 dB)...wish I had better info!

Sound wise I do not know, the Model One B is inductor based. They likely sound very, very different character wise.

War

[The Beatsmith]

hi

liking the look of this unit.

can i ask (sorry if someone has already asked this) - the low shelf - how steep is it? what i mean is, is it suitable to be used as a HPF on vox?

that'd be my main application, having it before (or possibly after...) my compressor in my vocal chain.

mic -> great river pre (Y cable insert) -> EQ -> DBX 160XT -> great river output -> adc

would the low adjustment be suitable for this kind of application?

the shelf does sound useful for recording bass guitar!

thanks! (i'm in the UK too btw!)

[The Beatsmith]

just listened to the clips and to be honest they were quite off-putting. i am kinda hoping that this was just bad choices on the behalf of zenpro audio when they were using the EQ (sorry warhead!).

[warhead]

No offense taken, all of this is subjective. Some of those clips are pushed hard to bring out excessive character of the EQ. I would not formulate my opinion 100% based on any clips but yeah, I made the clips that made these guys say:

Originally Posted by flute player

Listened to some of the samples and yes, great result.

Originally Posted by Stepwise Sound

samples sound nice.

Originally Posted by muddy

if the clips are even half-way indicative of how this unit performs, i am WAY impressed!

Originally Posted by baslotto

The samples sound good to a point that once again I feel like the slut that I am...

Originally Posted by indie

Looks and sounds great -

Originally Posted by tapehiss

from the samples this piece sounds radical man!

Originally Posted by minor_glitch

Agreed.
As it is now, this unit is something I've been craving for a while!
A simple, low cost, great sounding eq. Nice

Originally Posted by SANDS

Samples sound great, sounds like a cool unit for the $.

Originally Posted by SANDS

got a chance to really sit and listen to the samples today, Loaded them all up in a session for quick a/b-ing.

great job! Very nice piece of gear for the money from what I heard.

Originally Posted by fifthflaw

i like the sound of this a lot, im very close to giving you some money Warren

Originally Posted by Brenton

Well I bought one of these and it arrived yesterday. I had a play with it for a while tonight and I like it a lot. Sounds great, I think it will get a lot of use.thumbsup

Originally Posted by tuRnitUpsuM

nice job - unit looks sharp, sounds great

War

[The Beatsmith]

of course, i realise i am in the minority of the folks that have posted here about it thumbsup

[warhead]

I have offered eq'ing any files you want to send me also, which maybe would give you a better idea.

You can contact me off site warren (at) zenproaudio (dot) com and get some stuff to me to process and send back.

Minority opinions are still opinions...!

War

[The Beatsmith]

cool, thanks. can you help me out with my question on the low end shelf? is it suitable as acting a bit like a HFP and shelving off the boom/low end in a vocal chain. will the 20db shelf at 75db work ok?

[warhead]

Yes, very much suitable for this.

War

[square state]

Originally Posted by Stratafusion

Well shoot. I was going to get something else and then I saw this which looks interesting. Can you please speak to the differences in characteristics and features (to a noob who is shopping for 2 channels for ~$1k) between this and the JDK Audio R24? I know one is 2 channel but I figure same diff as 2 SSSS units). If it helps to know my goals - I emphasize tuning my sources and the chain (source +mic +pre) to try to get them in their own primary sonic space to begin with, but I want to perform fine tuning after the tracks are done to enhance punch and clarity (meaning I am always after a clear, dynamic, and punchy sound and would eq mainly to support that). I need a bit of help so that I can stop reading about things and just get on with making music

Stratafusion,
Neither of us here at square state solid state have heard the JDK R24 so I can't speak to a comparison of the two units. The model one b uses inductors to get the job done, I'm not sure about the JDK's topology.
I, like you, like to "tune my sources and the chain" (the exception being vocals that I track with EQ/compression and samples or keys that I will regularly mangle on the way in). Because of my process I most often end up using the model one b when mixing - our EQ's wide bells are very musical, in addition when driven hard the inductors tend to add a nice magic to to things. Read on...

Originally Posted by The Beatsmith

hi

liking the look of this unit.

can i ask (sorry if someone has already asked this) - the low shelf - how steep is it? what i mean is, is it suitable to be used as a HPF on vox?

that'd be my main application, having it before (or possibly after...) my compressor in my vocal chain.

mic -> great river pre (Y cable insert) -> EQ -> DBX 160XT -> great river output -> adc

would the low adjustment be suitable for this kind of application?

the shelf does sound useful for recording bass guitar!

thanks! (i'm in the UK too btw!)

Beatsmith,
The model one b has two shelfs at the low end, 75 and 150. With about 20 db cut I have no problem scooping out plosives and rumble on vocals. Hanging us off the Great River insert is easily accomplished as our EQ handles balanced or unbalanced connections easily. I think we'd be a great addition to your tracking chain. Read on...

I think it's important to understand where we are coming from as an audio design company - My partner Byron is a gifted design engineer but more important is his real world experience as a recording engineer and drummer. I have been playing guitar and engineering/producing for over 25 years. We wanted an EQ that was better then what we could afford. As it turned out an inductor based circuit from the 60's was the way to go. In our attempt to get a decent EQ at a decent price we came up with a stellar EQ at a great price. Inductors folks - with wide, musical bells. They can be as subtle or as heavy as you'd like. Balanced or unbalanced our box doesn't discriminate. American made and a $500 street price! We made the EQ we couldn't afford!
As usual, thanks for the questions!
Joe
square state solid state

[warhead]

Originally Posted by square state

We made the EQ we couldn't afford!

I think it's fair to say you guys are trying to make a living, not a killing.

War

[dysenterygary]

So how is everyone liking their units lately? I'm thinking about these or the Specks. How do they compare? Is this more of a "mojo" unit or a cleaner unit?

[fragletrollet]

This is a potential first hardware EQ for me. Im also interested in the comparison of different eq`s to this one. How does it compare to the SPECK, API (550A/B), Great River Harrison EQ etc. Great price, and feature wise it looks flexible thumbsup

[The Beatsmith]

same here. interested on how people have been getting on.

[dysenterygary]

I think a lack of response might be the loudest response we can get concerning how this compares to everything else.

[Silver Sonya]

Originally Posted by dysenterygary

I think a lack of response might be the loudest response we can get concerning how this compares to everything else.

Come on, man. Ease up.

- c