Favorite 500 series eqs

losthighway · george martin Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Posts: 1406

Sorry for a semi-cliched thread, it wasn't easy to conjure this with the search function.

I'm looking at holes in my gear as I save for new things in 2013. I record digitally but have been processing many things analog. I've been thinking of getting a channel or two of eq that's a class higher than the soundcraft ones on my board.

So.... what's your favorite flavor of 500 series eq?
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sirhills · audio school Joined: 27 Jul 2007 Posts: 4

The Purple Odd is sweet for broad strokes. I can easily smooth things with the odd & it also takes dramatic boost & cut very well. I tend to use them most on vocals & brighter stringed instruments. I own an API 5500 & really find it useful on quite a wide variety sources, applications & settings. Tracking - I enjoy it on bass, individual drums & acoustic stringed instruments. It's useful with mixes & busses for me as well. It can add pleasant girth & also help things sit together or bite more. It's more "precise" than the odd & capable of much more. I demoed a pair of the 2 band Electrodyne 500 series EQ's when I was trying out the 5500 & liked them (broad tone machines) but thought the 5500 was more in line with what I needed at the time. Anyhow, I would imagine a 550 a or b would be good choices as well.

Nick Sevilla · Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:00 pm Post subject: Re: Favorite 500 series eqs

Tonelux EQ5P.

http://tonelux.com/eq5p.html

Granted, it is the only model I own, but I did test a bunch of others before buying these.

LOVE THEM. They are very useful.
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losthighway · george martin Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Posts: 1406

All good looking suggestions. I'm pretty drawn to what I know about that Purple Odd. Seems like it has some mojo.

Also, I'm wondering the utility of an API 550 vs the graphic 560. Parametric seems like a more versatile choice, but I see a lot of nice studios seem to like having a couple channels of 560.
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**cgarges** · Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2012 3:32 pm Post subject: Re: Favorite 500 series eqs

I've got API 550As (1974), 550Bs (1998), and 560Bs (1998). I love all of them. The 550As and 550Bs are VERY similar and I probably couldn't tell the difference if they weren't side-by-side. The 550B has four bands instead of three and more frequencies available in general. I usually go for the 550A first, unless I need four bands or some really specific frequency on the 550B. Not sure why.

The 560B is a different animal. You get the same forward midrange, sonically, and the same handling power at lower frequencies, but I find the sculpting power of the 560B to be more apparent. Where the 550s can sort of push things in a specific direction and make things sound nice, the 560 can effectively shove things around a bit more, if that makes any sense. I tend to like the 560 a little better for boosts than the 550 for some reason (maybe I just like relatively narrow-bandwidth boosts). All of them are variable Q equalizers (each band gets narrower with more boost and/or cut), but the 550s seem to start out a little broader than the 560.

Those are my only 500 series EQs, out of many EQs I own. They're really superb, though.

I have heard the Tonelux EQs (in the Tonelux-specific format) and they're really great, so I imagine the 500 series versions are probably pretty terrific, too.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC
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joninc · Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2012 8:17 pm Post subject: Re: Favorite 500 series eqs

i sold a pair of 560s to get the ODD's... for whatever reason the 560s just weren't getting a lot of love. i also have a pair of 550b that i use a lot on the mix buss.

i read somewhere (maybe here or in tape op) that you might want to think of the goal with your eq. i know it seems obvious to say that but a lot of plug ins can sculpt and cut well - i find that the 560 plug in is really similar to the outboard version and since neither really "enhances tone" - i opted for something which would impart more color/tone/mojo....

so i got the ODDs and they are ok and an improvement in the tone dept. but, i am not gaga over them - they are more of a tone shaper than a fixer upper eq.

then, when i got a chandler germanium tone control, all my other eqs sounded like crap. it is just way more powerful and can really alter the sound/shape/eq/tone DRAMATICALLY. makes me wonder what a pultec could do. they are just so smooth and round.

also - the MAAG eq is probably pretty great - the plug in is amazing. the air band especially.

what you will like probably has a lot to do with the kind of stuff you record and what you are really looking for in an EQ. do you want to sweeten (aka add top end and phatten the bottom) or just have more control over problem frequencies?

good luck! there are lots of choices and you may need to try a few to see what really appeals to your ears.

ps - i have a soundcraft ghost and my eqs are bypassed 95% of the time.
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losthighway · george martin Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Posts: 1406

Yeah after having a love affair with my two chandler germanium pres, I have a built in love for all things Chandler. I could just save and wait for a tone control and skip expanding my 500 series slots.
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