Who makes an inexpensive parametric EQ for home use?

The tone control thread got me once again wanting to add a parametric equalizer to my stereo.

I have an adaptor loop on my Plinius integrated amp which takes one switch to engage. For maybe one record in twenty, I'd like to make some tone adjustments.

I owned the Luxman 5F70 tone control box and didn't care for its sound. There are two graphic EQs sitting in my basement. They will remain unloved. But I could get enthused about adding a two or three band parametric equalizer to my system. Paramets are quick, easy and very satisfying to adjust.

Does anyone know of a two or three band parametric equalizer for $500 or less that I could add to my hi-fi? I'd consider a pro piece, maybe a used one, but of course it would have to be a stereo device.


(For people not familiar with a parametric equalizer, they not only allow you to add or subtract sound at a given frequency, like a graphic EQ, but they do two more things. They can move that frequency up or down, to get right to where the sound is bad, as well as adjust the "Q", or how tightly or widely you are changing the music. With a high Q, you will just add or cut right around the frequency you want to change. A low Q affects a much broader range of frequencies.)

 

I do have tape monitor loops, two of them, but they are already in use. Instead, I'd use a processor loop. I could hook up an EQ there and engage it with the little toggle switch above the jacks. Otherwise the EQ would be out of the circuit.

BTW, can you tell me what's wrong with this picture? I don't know of many amps like my Plinius.

I worry that I might be too cheap here but I don't want to spend a lot. I've lived without tone adjustments on my stereo for years.

 

Behringer use to make the feedback destroyer pro, which worked great for peq.
Don't know if they still do, but i would only use it to dial in a sub.

 

Funny you mention Behringer. They have a piece, the DEQ2496, which, for $299, does way, way more than I need anything to do. One of its features is that it has a 10 band parametric EQ per channel.

http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/DEQ2496.aspx

I've used Behringer gear in the past and have never been impressed. It functioned fine and had a lot of performance for the dollar, but the sound of Behringer pro audio pieces has never excited me. I may have to try this piece out, though. It may be my best bet for the money.

 

Two options exist. Good and Cheap! Choose wisely!

 

It is a conundrum. Anything I've seen that I think I would want to own is ten times more expensive than the Behringer piece I mentioned upthread. Do I want to spend $2-3,000 on a good parametric EQ that I use at the most a couple of times a month? While I'd want to try it out, I think I would grow tired and frustrated with the sound of the Behringer and I'd be effectively where I'm at now, with no satisfactory way to adjust the tone of my system.

 

One option would be to use a software parametric EQ running on a computer. Spend $500 on a AD converter that connects to a computer. Run the signal through software that can let you use a good parametric EQ plug-in. And out through a good DAC. You'll get some latency, but not a big deal for playback only purposes. Good parametric EQ plugins are available for free to under $100.

On the plus side you'll have an AD converter for doing needledrop recordings. On the downside digital EQ is not a panacea, especially at the level of analog that you're at. And it involves a computer which will complicate things.

The Behringer unit is digital. It is doing an AD conversion, then digital EQ, then DA conversion all in a $300 box. The quality of AD and DA conversion in a box like that ain't gonna be that great.

I wish there were $500ish analog stereo parametric EQs. I want one too.

 

I have used the Behringer PEQ-2200 for doing some post mix eq for some of my band tapes that needed it. It has five parametric sections, each with relay switched true bypass. When I ran pink noise through it, however, I discovered roll off below 25 cycles. I opened them up and removed their input buffer caps, which then they passed all frequencies. This opened up the overall sound quite a bit. But maybe that was just my imagination.

The PEQ-2200, and PEQ-2000 and tube T-1951 are discontinued, but can be found on ebay. Their prices have skyrocketed lately, up to 3 times their retail value. I recall paying apprx $120.00 back in 2002 for each PEQ-2200 unit, now going for $300.00+ .. crazy stuff!

The balanced ins and outs can be cabled up by grounding pins 1 and 3. Pin 2 will be hot. It is best to run balanced cable and do the grounding at the RCA end.

 

If you are using a DAC, then the Behringer DEQ2496 might be worthwhile.
It is best used in all digital form. So a digital output either toslink or SPDIF (or even AES-EBU) in and let the gizmo do stuff, then digital out to your DAC.
I have one and really it is mostly just a passthrough to convert toslink to AES-EBU for me.
They cost about $300 or so.
The device can do many cool things in the digital domain including dual parametric eq with adjustable slopes etc.
Plus shelving EQ, and tilt etc.

 

It sounds like the Behringer T1951 might be the bet for me. It is stereo, tube, 4 band parametric EQ. There are none on Ebay right now but that can and will change. I will also check other sources. It would be worth a shot, assuming I can find one reasonably priced.

Anybody have any personal experience with this piece?

http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/T1951.aspx

Thank you, The FRiNgE, for mentioning it.

 

Steve is also totally right on that assessment. Because that nice gear you likely own will now have grainy sound in your signal path when it is patched in.

 

Agreed, Steve. No question. And doing some Internet reading on the Behringer T1951, maybe I'll pass on it, too. The tubes are there for fun and games, and are even lit by an LED rather than the plate voltage, so it makes them seem like they glow. I'm afraid it will sound like all Behringer gear I've played with, which means sub-par. Even though I want an EQ only for that one record in twenty that really needs some tonal assistance, I've lived with a straight wire with gain system for over 30 years. I'm not going back now.

The last time I even had tone controls in my stereo was 1981. Back in the 1980s and '90s, when I was trading Grateful Dead bootlegs, I lived and died by an Alesis third octave EQ, which I still own. But it was only on my tape loop and there for making a fifth generation POS cassette tape sound halfway listenable. I don't do that anymore which is why the Alesis has been out of my system for almost two decades.

I learned the lesson you are preaching back in 1977 with my first preamp, a Soundcraftsman 2217. It was recommended by The Absolute Sound back in maybe issue #3, along with the Phase Linear 7000. Harry Pearson has come a long way since then. I could hear the Phase Hernia sounded awful so I ended up with a Dynaco 410 power amp, an early Jim Bongiorno design. But I was too locked into the knobs-per-dollar mentality of the era to pass on the Soundcraftsman. It had a built in octave equalizer! Plus it looked beautiful in a walnut case. It lasted less than 4 months in my system. An Audionics BT-2 preamp passed though my house. It was defective, with a bad 60 Hz hum and a channel imbalance so severe the balance control had to be at 2 o'clock, but still, it sonically trounced my Soundcraftsman. It was then I realized the Soundcraftsman only sounded good with the EQ in the circuit. Flat, it sounded awful. I sold the Soundcraftsman in favor of a GAS Thoebe, which in a few years was itself replaced first by a Mark Levinson ML-1 and later a ML-7a. I've never looked back.

Beware! You may want to avert your eyes. "One cannot behold the face of the Gorgon and live!" - Dr. Edward Morbius

 

There was also the companion Soundcraftsman record for flatting the system. The record contains one side of pink noise, and the other side with 10 iso centers from 31 hz to 16 kHz. The record may be useful for testing cartridges!

I had this record, and tried "flatting" my original Pioneer system to the room, which it already sounded fantastic! So, using a Radio Shack sound level meter (send me a sympathy card) the resulting EQ settings were pretty extreme. My system sounded terrible! The problem with graphic EQ's are their wide range centers, so adjustment of one band affects adjacent bands. So this results in a counter adjustment of the adjacent bands, eventually resulting in wilder settings to obtain a "flat" response. The popular 10 band EQ (which the MXR was) also introduces octave induced harmonic distortion, and lots of it.

So, if anyone feels compelled to use an EQ unit for music reproduction, the parametric types are a better option. If a graphic is the only option, just minimal settings will do a better job. The 10 band graphic EQ's should be avoided, it matters not the price and quality of components. Given the same quality of the filter sections, the 7 band units sound better, as do the 16 to 17 band 2/3 octave units.

As mentioned above, I used a pair of Behringer PEQ-2200 parametrics to help a few of my band tapes. These were old tapes which were not recorded so well, problems with resonant peaks from the room, mics, etc., so the entire mix was off. The EQ correction helped these.

For a well mastered source, and for reproduction on a fine system, the EQ units will not do you any favors. (but not all recordings are mastered that well as to not require any post EQ adjustment) This is just me..... I prefer to use conventional bass and treble shelving if I feel it's needed. Some lesser recordings benefit by having some flexibility (sometimes not "lesser" just the final equalization may be a bit bright or dark) Not all systems and listening conditions are exactly the same.

Luxman designed a "linear frequency equalizer", featured on some of their products, ie: Luxman L-11, C-12, and others. The control up-tilts or down-tilts to compensate for brighter or darker recordings. The linear compensation does not introduce any additional harmonic distortion, according to Luxman. I have found this control does not upset the timbral signature of instruments. The quality of vocals is not altered.

I am not against tone controls, just that in my experience, the misuse of tone controls can do more harm. Well designed control amps do not corrupt a pure signal IMO, only the cheap ones do. (basic rule) The Behringer PEQ 2200 did not sound bad, especially after removing the offending buffer caps. The sections can be hard bypassed, so let's say only the upper bass sounds a bit heavy on male vocals, this can be corrected by one section, dialing in on that, and hard bypassing the rest of the spectrum. The Behringer is a notoriously cheap unit. The cost savings are mostly in the pots and switches which will not last... otherwise not a bad sounding unit at all.
thanks for reading, and I feel a worthwhile discussion,
Steve VK

 

What's sad is that a lot of the old big analog mixing boards are getting sold off for cheap. Basically getting discarded. Lots of channels. Each with a parametric EQ and some other filters. All I want is two channels. Wishing I could take just two channels from an old discarded good mixing board and use them at home. So many channels of parametric EQ going to waste and possibly to the scrap heap. If I could only have two of them...

 

I have a couple of API 550b with horizontal legends in a custom cabinet. That might be overkill though

 

Overkill for price for what I can afford to do for EQ. Not overkill though for features and I assume great sound quality.

 

I like the clicks.

 

Well, yeah, that's exactly what a lot of people do with API and Neve modules. You could do that. You'll need two modules, power and interface. But be prepared for the price. They also want balanced +4 level in and out.

 

That's the tricky part. The power supply and interface to make the module work well. And the need for balanced in and out (my setup at home is largely unbalanced). Can't skimp on the power supply and supporting interface to make it all work, or you end up with something not so good.

I can get the modules for some of the old big mixing boards for almost free (my brother has spares, but not Neve or API). It's the ability to actually make use of them that is the problem. Chassis to put them in, power supply, supporting electronics, going fully balanced, and other issues. Makes it impractical for me to consider. I don't know how to do that sort of DIY.

 

The PEQ on the Behringer DEQ2496 is limited to certain frequencies - the usual 1/3 octave ones and those in between, for example 39.9, 44.8, 50.2 Hz. It has ten bands for each channel and plus or minus 15dB adjustment.

Despite positioning and room treatment I had some boomy bass on a very few tracks. This was revealed by test tones to be 42/43Hz. I used my Behringer PEQ at 44.8Hz, 1/6 octave width, and knocked off 6dB. This did the trick and stopped that boomy bass.

I've mentioned this in other threads but I can't hear any problems listening with the Behringer in digital mode (i.e. not using its ADC/DAC). When I did use its ADC/DAC for playing a turntable I never noticed any obvious problem but that was some time ago and I'm more aware of these things now.

There was a PEQ made by a firm called Rane which I think was well thought of.

There's also software PEQ to consider.

 

Well, there's only one way to learn.

Are they true balanced or BINO (balanced in name only)? A lot of solid state pro gear is not really balanced even though it has an XLR connector. Of course you have to ask what its actual input impedance is as well.

Output isn't such a problem you can always drive an unbalanced bridging load from a balanced supply of substantially lower output impedance with just a resistor pad. Especially if it has true balanced transformer out.

There are companies that do this sort of thing for you and could build just what you need, look in any recording magazine. The power supply is easy and packaged ready to go solutions exist, either linear or switchmode. The better switcher bricks are very well filtered and could well be the cheap simple answer. If the board you have is at all common the pro module rackers have everything already done, have done it and enough of them are doing it prices have been sanded down a lot from the late nineties when this stuff started. I'd make a few phone calls or send a few emails: I know for an absolute fact a couple of these guys have done stuff for the home systems of various rockers and Hollywooders.

 

Try mini DSP in a box.
http://www.minidsp.com/applications/dsp-basics/peq-vs-graphic-eq
http://www.minidsp.com/products/minidsp-in-a-box/minidsp-2x4

The market is very thin when it comes to quality EQ devices for home audio. Mobile audio has a few good digital based processors. The technology exists but not the market. To do EQ right is a learned skill for measuring, adjusting and listening. It isn't something that can be done by writing a check.
Too bad. Once you hear it done well there is no turning back.