Has anyone ever made an audiophile quality equalizer?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Ghostworld, Jan 8, 2010.

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  1. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    US
    I was wondering if an audiophile quality equalizer was ever mass produced, in other words something you might find fairly easily used. I see the old SoundCraftsmen around occasionally, but I have no idea if they're any good. Does anyone have any recomendations? Thanks.
     
  2. misterdecibel

    misterdecibel Bulbous Also Tapered

    Well, there's the Cello Audio Palette, but it's not cheap.

    Okay, "not cheap" is an understatement.

    As far as something readily available used for sane money, you might consider one of the high-end prosound Equalizers such as the Klark Teknik DN 360.
     
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  3. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Professional gear, the ones mastering engineers use are of audiophile quality.
     
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  4. NekoAudio

    NekoAudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Jose, CA, USA
    But not all of them will work well in a home setup. Sometimes because of assumptions in signal-to-noise and what might be acceptable in some pro venues but not at home. So you still need to do some research and possibly spend a little more for good quality.
     
    Grant likes this.
  5. misterdecibel

    misterdecibel Bulbous Also Tapered

    And the "more pro" you go, the more likely you are to find only XLR connectors or terminal strips.
     
    Grant likes this.
  6. Glen B

    Glen B New Member

    Location:
    USA
  7. I Am The Lolrus

    I Am The Lolrus New Member

    Location:
    LA, CA, US
    easy. If you are spending thousands of dollars on a pro eq, you can figure out how to connect the wires!
     
  8. bhazen

    bhazen ANNOYING BEATLES FAN

    Location:
    Deepest suburbia
    I've never known an audiophile with an equaliser hooked up to their home rigs - phase issues, however minor, are a 'phile no-no. Aren't they? (Calling Steve, Barry, Zal?)

    I'm not saying don't do it, just want to banish my ignorance with this question. BTW I used to work at Audio Control (Greg Mackie's old firm) assembling equalisers, and never liked the sound with them switched on through the tape monitor circuit. Among other things, soundstage seemed to implode a bit.
     
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  9. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Yeah,the less knobs the better.
     
    Dennis Metz likes this.
  10. everton

    everton Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Does the speaker-setup function that most home theatre receivers have (such as Denon's Audyssey and Yamaha's YPAO) work like an equalizer? It seems that most reviews say that it works quite well (for both movies and music).
     
  11. darkmatter

    darkmatter Gort Astronomer Staff

    I have heard these two

    :agree:
     
  12. dmckean

    dmckean Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Diego, CA, USA
  13. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialistâ„¢

    Location:
    B.C.
    A friend of mine used to own a pretty nice sounding SAE Parametric EQ. back in the late '80s.

    The Avalon Design AD2055 Class A Parametric seems really nice as well and considerably less expensive than the Cello Audio Palette.
    [​IMG]
     
    bluemooze likes this.
  14. darkmatter

    darkmatter Gort Astronomer Staff

    Nice :thumbsup:
     
  15. foobar2000

    foobar2000 New Member

    Location:
    US
    Must have got that used from MFSL? :D
     
  16. TONEPUB

    TONEPUB Senior Member

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Manley Massive Passive, it's the only way to go...
     
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  17. dartira

    dartira rise and shine like a far out superstar

    I love my Massive Passive!
    Wouldn't want to use it with my home stereo though. I'd spend more time dialling it in than listening to music.

    I guess something like the Klark Teknik could be useful, or some other good sounding graphic eq with broad filters.
     
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  18. bdiament

    bdiament Producer, Engineer, Soundkeeper

    Location:
    New York
    Hi Grant,

    That's what one would think, isn't it?
    Actually, for my ears, a lot of the pro equalizers aren't so great. Many will change the sound simply by switching them into the circuit - even with all the controls set to "flat". They'll soften the bass, lose pitch definition, harden the treble, add an "edge" to the midrange, lose air and collapse the soundstage.

    Sometimes the effects are subtle but from my perspective, they're there enough that a certain character is imparted to whatever signal is passed through them. And sometimes folks like the character as seen by the success of devices like the Langs and Pultecs (neither of which I personally like).

    Of the hardware EQs I've tried, the old Cello Audio Palette misterdecibel mentions is my favorite. No surprise there, considering it was designed by Tom Colangelo (one of the true geniuses I've been fortunate enough to meet in my life so far) and inspired by the work of the great Richard Burwen.

    Nowadays, I find the best software EQ (for me, the 80 and 64-bit MIOStrip, MIOEQ or ChannelStrip, all from Metric Halo) even more transparent and infinitely more flexible - not to mention it costs a tiny fraction of the Cello's price.

    Just my perspective.

    Best regards,
    Barry
    www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
    www.barrydiamentaudio.com
     
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  19. bdiament

    bdiament Producer, Engineer, Soundkeeper

    Location:
    New York
    Hi Bruce,

    For my ears, this depends very much on the particular equalizer. And to a lesser degree, on how it is used.

    From my perspective, EQs at home are often used for the wrong reasons, i.e. to fix a system or room problem that would be better addressed at its source.
    The best EQs I've heard (for me, a tiny minority) do not harm the sound unless set improperly.

    When properly used to adjust program material, as was the intent of a device like the Cello Audio Palette, I don't see anything wrong. In my view, it is usually the user that causes most of the problems.

    As I see it, if using EQ can make a bad sounding program tolerable or a decent sounding program good, this is a good thing. But again, it all depends on how the device (assuming a good sounding device) is used. It can take years to learn how to properly use an equalizer.

    Best regards,
    Barry
    www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
    www.barrydiamentaudio.com
     
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  20. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    I love Pultecs. I also love White Instruments parametrics and the Cello Audio Palettes.
     
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  21. audiodrome

    audiodrome Senior Member

    Location:
    North Of Boston
    I've never used the Manley with my home system but in the studio it's a killer piece of gear.
     

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  22. misterdecibel

    misterdecibel Bulbous Also Tapered

    Not much use for mastering an LP from analog source then... :)
     
  23. head_unit

    head_unit Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles CA USA
    Audyssey is a digital time-domain based equalizer. It is conceptually completely different from a graphic EQ. It is fine to use this properly.

    Graphic EQ, on the other hand-chadbang, why do you want to use this? We could probably answer your question better if you explained.

    Graphic EQ generally just cannot improve the sound of an audio system unless it's grossly deficient somehow. The Cello was an exception, it was set up/tuned not to fix problems in the audio system but to basically re-color recordings for a more pleasing sound. That's why it has unusual frequencies etc.

    But whatever reason you think you want to use an EQ for should probably be fixed in some other way...
     
  24. deville

    deville Forum Resident

    Location:
    Riverside, CA
    As a professional musician, I know many people who have been duped by this company. Behringer ANYTHING means means paying next to nothing for a poorly reverse-engineered design of someone else's product. They use the cheapest components, and their unreliability is legendary.

    They are the Shasta Cola of Pro Audio. Steer clear.
     
  25. dmckean

    dmckean Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Diego, CA, USA
    Anyone knows who makes a really nice digital EQ?
     
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