Er is wel wat voorzichtige belangstelling, maar nog steeds beschikbaar, staat inmiddels aardig in de weg...
Mag weg voor een sympa bod(je). Dan heb je voor weinig geld een klassiekertje.
Reverb schrijft:
Here is a highly overlooked and awesome sounding vintage 1984 Fostex 3030 Proportional Q Graphic Equalizer (20 Hz - 30 kHz) from Fostex's golden age. Why do I say it’s “overlooked?” Well, for two reasons:
(1) It's a Fostex, which I've found is a less familiar name to those newer to the recording/studio world. Allow me to elaborate...
At one time in the 80s, Fostex stood alongside audio giants like UREI, SSL, JBL, Neve, SONY, API and so on.
Their headphones are legendary, used near exclusively in the 80s by Michael Jackson for tracking and their outboard gear is world class, having been used by the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Duran Duran, A-Ha ("Take On Me" was recorded on a Fostex B-16), Phil Ramone, David Byrne/Talking Heads, Steve Vai, film composers Danny Elfman & Jerry Goldsmith... you get the idea. The point is, Fostex made quality professional audio tools that were used by some of the most discerning ears and musical minds on the planet.
(2) It's a "Graphic" Equalizer. It is amazing how many gear snobs in the various recording forums will overlook a Graphic equalizer essentially because of it's looks without stopping to consider what is actually going on behind the face plate...
The most important thing you can learn about graphic EQs is the difference between a Proportional Q Graphic (professional/studio grade) and a Constant Q Graphic (home/consumer grade). Outwardly they look semi-similar because of the faders, but that's where the similarities stop. In the guts of the unit, where your actual sound shaping comes from, they are completely different. A Constant Q graphic will leave you crying on your console, destitute and alone, because your sound is so limp and lifeless. A Proportional Q graphic will have you praying to the fader gods, thanking them for the audio revelation they've just imparted to your recordings.
Constant Q vs Proportional Q
Constant Q designs are often found in lower end graphic EQs, built for home stereo and gig rigs for use at weddings, corporate events, etc. Constant Q equalizers create jagged peaks in the frequency curve with “gaps” between bands. Imagine it sort of like a picket fence. The result is an unnatural, “notched,” frequency disconnected, often harsh and not particularly pleasant sound result.
Proportional Q, on the other hand, creates very smooth bell curves (see picture 7) that interpolate the transition between bands as a smooth transfer, resulting in a natural, pleasingly smooth, and most importantly... musical... sound quality. In a way you could think of a Proportional Q as sort of a fader controlled parametric EQ.
I have owned and still do own some of the very best graphic and parametric EQs and graphics are by far my favorite. No question. I would even almost call them "magical" in their capability to shape and impart "feelings" to sounds. It's not that parametrics are bad, because they aren’t at all, but graphic EQs can create far, far more complex EQ curves than any parametric could dream up. A frequency curve that might take 3, 4 or 5 parametric EQs to achieve can be done on ONE Graphic EQ such as the Fostex 3030, UREI 5547, API 560, MXR 31, etc.
I also love being able to look over at the rack and see exactly what the frequency curve is doing visually, having my eyes be able to match what I'm hearing. Then if changes are needed, a single band can be boost or cut in seconds without affecting the other bands and that is greatly beneficial for workflow efficiency. It makes the whole sound shaping process visual as well as auditory, which makes recording more "3D" for me, so to speak.
Anyway, my personal preferences aside, there are a few very well-known producers who regard graphic EQs as a secret to their sound:
Brian Eno
Regarding Robert Fripp’s guitar tone in Another Green World:
"The tone of the guitar is shaped using a studio graphic equalizer. Eno loved to shape sounds using graphic EQs."
Todd Rundgren
"The other thing about the way that I mixed is that it was very visual. Most studios that I have owned have been equipped with a graphic equaliser on every single channel, usually a 22-band graphic equaliser. This became a characteristic of my sound."
Daniel Lanois
"My old API desk..... they also have wonderful equalisers. Each channel has a very musical 10-band graphic with great bottom and top end. I like graphic EQs because they're quick to use. You can make a musical change on them in three seconds, whereas with a parametric it's fiddly, and you might be messing around with something for two or three minutes and still wonder whether you've improved something or not. The graphic is quick and it's visual. You can look at 40 channels in one glance and see what you're doing."
