EQ's : share your thoughts

[premiumplus]

EQ's are something that I've never kicked, and I think that they are a healthy addiction.
I've had or have SAE, Soundcraftsmen, DBX, and Pioneer EQ's in my system since the 70's.
Agree with Nando about the need for correction of certain recordings; after all, EVERY recording studio uses them at most every stage of the recording process, and during mixdown. So you're by necessity listening to the engineer's best effort which is driven by his monitors, equipment, ears, and taste. Some recordings are lifeless until I boost the upper frequencies; some are too hot treble wise and need to be rolled off a bit.
Then there is the fact that my ears at age 61 aren't what they were when I was 15 before I would hang on the fence at Lion's drag strip 15 feet from top fuel dragster headers pouring 130 db at my ears!
Lately my SAE 2800 has spent some time with long cables running to the preamp which is in my studio at the rear of the photo (the last pix is through the double doors and looking left). That way I can put it in my lap and adjust from my "sweet spot."
I have noticed that the closer I get to audio nirvana in my equipment, the flatter the EQ curves tend to be.
Dave

 

[Northwinds]

EQ's are important... no one has a perfect listening environment and boosting/cutting frequencies helps adjust room deficiences from drapes, furniture, whether you have a hardwood floor or carpet, ceiling height, room dimensions, speaker placement etc...

I actually prefer a BBE unit but always have a few good EQ's kicking around

 

[BubbaH]

Never use em. Got the eq for the 901's and thats it. I have considered getting one at times, to help bootlegs sound better, but have never come across one I like enough to buy.

 

[nobody]

Way back when I hooked up an EQ to my system to check it out, but it was an admittedly crappy one and even before trying to make adjustments the mere act of running my system through it distorted things significantly and I have pretty much just ignored EQs since then. Not saying a better quality model might not make a big difference, but at the low end, the EQ I used did some pretty horrible things to the sound. I've kind of always toyed with the idea of using one again someday but have just never messed with it.

 

[Northwinds]

I never heard of an EQ adding distortion... sounds like it had issues? Or was it an active EQ?

 

[Elite-ist]

When I record a Master for a new project onto MiniDisc, I record it as it comes from the source. Then when going to analog tape from the Master, I decide what might be needed for processing. It might be just the Pioneer SG-9500 equalizer, the dbx 3BX, or the BBE 1002 Sonic Maximizer, or a combination of the three. On my recent project, "Shirts Or Skins," I had two songs from Gov't Mule, that I liked, but were as flat as a pancake for tone, because the live recording came right from Gov't Mule's sound board at one of their concerts in San Francisco. I used all three processors to get the right sound I liked. The processors, I use, help tailor the sound for my recordings. If I like a song well enough for a mix and it fits the theme I am going with, I use the various processors to get the music to sound equally as well as the other songs within the tape.

If I find one, this will be my next one to buy, a dbx 2020:

Nando.

 

[Northwinds]

I sold a dbx 2020 a few months ago, wish I knew you were looking. Now I have an Audio Source that needs some work. Also have an Audio Control C-101, BSR-EQ3000 and a big old SAE that I need to pull out someday. I sold a couple fancy Technics models last year also when I switched to just the BBE

 

[BubbaH]

Is that not what Gordon uses in his system Nando? If its the same unit in the video's I saw, It sure is a neat piece.

 

[Elite-ist]

Ron: Poor timing on my part. I have a few other equalizers including the Sansui SE-9 with the motorized sliders and spectrum analyzer. I'm missing the original microphone, however.

Nando.

 

[Elite-ist]

Is that not what Gordon uses in his system Nando? If its the same unit in the video's I saw, It sure is a neat piece.

Yes, it's the same one, Ben.

Nando.

 

[Elite-ist]

EQ's are something that I've never kicked, and I think that they are a healthy addiction.
I've had or have SAE, Soundcraftsmen, DBX, and Pioneer EQ's in my system since the 70's.
Agree with Nando about the need for correction of certain recordings; after all, EVERY recording studio uses them at most every stage of the recording process, and during mixdown. So you're by necessity listening to the engineer's best effort which is driven by his monitors, equipment, ears, and taste. Some recordings are lifeless until I boost the upper frequencies; some are too hot treble wise and need to be rolled off a bit.
Then there is the fact that my ears at age 61 aren't what they were when I was 15 before I would hang on the fence at Lion's drag strip 15 feet from top fuel dragster headers pouring 130 db at my ears!
Lately my SAE 2800 has spent some time with long cables running to the preamp which is in my studio at the rear of the photo (the last pix is through the double doors and looking left). That way I can put it in my lap and adjust from my "sweet spot."
I have noticed that the closer I get to audio nirvana in my equipment, the flatter the EQ curves tend to be.
Dave View attachment 11123 View attachment 11124 View attachment 11125

Dave: Nice pictures, there. I like the décor, especially, with adding the grandfather's clock. Lots of nice gear in your room and it must be recent pictures since your 2100L is already in place. The idea of the eq being in your listening position is something I hadn't thought of. It's the biggest replacement for a remote control I've ever seen.

Nando.

 

[BubbaH]

I think I spy a PL 71 in those pics. Nice table!!

 

[Elite-ist]

I sold a dbx 2020 a few months ago, wish I knew you were looking. Now I have an Audio Source that needs some work. Also have an Audio Control C-101, BSR-EQ3000 and a big old SAE that I need to pull out someday. I sold a couple fancy Technics models last year also when I switched to just the BBE

Ron: Which model BBE have you got? Besides the 1002 I have the 882i, which I bought new about four years ago. This is an old picture:

Nando.

 

[Northwinds]

482i

I used to use it in my guitar rack setup but since dismantled it. I use tube amps primarily now

I do still have one helluva Yamaha dual 1/3 octave EQ from the rack that I am not using but I am keeping my Eventide H3000 for when I need to get my Steve Vai on. Not sure what to do with the eq though, it's incredible for recording though

 

[Elite-ist]

Lots of professional musicians and sound engineers, according to the testimonials on the BBE web site, use their gear. I just happened along my 1002, before deciding to buy the 882i. I see a few members, here, play guitar or other instruments.

Nando.

 

[Northwinds]

The BBE is an indispensible tool for Pro musicians and Home Audio. It's not like an EQ but moves and expands the waveform. Reminds me of a better Aphex Aural Exciter. Problem is, they are addicting but purists hate them preferring to live in the dark ages

 

[nobody]

I never heard of an EQ adding distortion... sounds like it had issues? Or was it an active EQ?

I don't believe it was, although this was many years ago, can't really remember what brand or anything. It wasn't just the unit having issues I don't think as my brother and I both got them and I tried them both after the first one sounded terrible and both had the same effect. Again, this was pretty much a crap piece of gear bought as a kid more for some lights and switches to look at, not like I knew anything about it. So totally willing to believe this is not generally the case.

 

[premiumplus]

482i

I used to use it in my guitar rack setup but since dismantled it. I use tube amps primarily now

I do still have one helluva Yamaha dual 1/3 octave EQ from the rack that I am not using but I am keeping my Eventide H3000 for when I need to get my Steve Vai on. Not sure what to do with the eq though, it's incredible for recording though

Ron: I used to use a BBE for guitar too...I eventually, like you, went to tube amps and the older I get, the simpler my rig gets too. Right now I'm down to a Strat with Lindy Fralin Vintage Hots pickups, and either a '67 Deluxe Reverb or a '57 Deluxe Tweed clone I built a few years ago. It's got a Celestion Blue in it and sounds great. Oh, and I love the OCD clone I built. Great overdrive. I'm thinking about building a Trainwreck Express too. I've got the Stancor A-3801 output transformer sitting on the shelf...
But getting back to BBE, yeah...they are addictive! It's hard to describe what they do to your tone, like an expander but it brightens it up too. Some kind of phase manipulation going on that I can't put my finger on.

 

[Lazarus Short]

Is a BBE unit anything like a TDS (True Dimensional Sound) unit? I liked my TDS unit at first, but it became irrelevant after I improved my gear.

 

[Northwinds]

Ron: I used to use a BBE for guitar too...I eventually, like you, went to tube amps and the older I get, the simpler my rig gets too. Right now I'm down to a Strat with Lindy Fralin Vintage Hots pickups, and either a '67 Deluxe Reverb or a '57 Deluxe Tweed clone I built a few years ago. It's got a Celestion Blue in it and sounds great. Oh, and I love the OCD clone I built. Great overdrive. I'm thinking about building a Trainwreck Express too. I've got the Stancor A-3801 output transformer sitting on the shelf...
But getting back to BBE, yeah...they are addictive! It's hard to describe what they do to your tone, like an expander but it brightens it up too. Some kind of phase manipulation going on that I can't put my finger on.

The Trainwreck Express is killer! A guy on MLP builds them also as well as other pedals

From what I gather, there is two adjustable waveforms (highs and lows) that the BBE isolates allowing you cut/boost as to your listening/recording needs. A eq only manipulates boosts/cuts frequencies in one 2 channel wave form. I am sure others could explain the process. It's almost like a dynamic recovery unit. It does bring whatever source fed into it alive

EDIT: I miss my old Fenders from when I was a kid. I had a Princeton Reverb, Deluxe Reverb and a Super Reverb