cakes wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:21 pm

Kniferide wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 2:41 pm I think the Tascam is his IO to DAW. It would be worth plugging the ART directly into the Tascam on a Line input and seeing if the buzz is as bad. Definitely get away from the monitor for testing. I had an old Gateway monitor that I was using for a second mon for a while and was having a tom of issues with buzz/hum getting into everything. It was driving me nuts. one day when I was pluggin something in I unplugged the monitor and from under my desk heard the buzz go away and I got rid of it. It's way better now.

You are correct, that the Tascam is my IO. I can remove the computer from the equation, no problem.

Curious if it matters where the monitor is plugged in? That is plugged in a totally different spot. Only the outboard gear is plugged into the power conditioner.

Aaaahhhh gotcha.
So the Tascam IS the interface, not an old mixer?

brownreasontolive wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:32 pm

cakes wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:21 pm

Kniferide wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 2:41 pm I think the Tascam is his IO to DAW. It would be worth plugging the ART directly into the Tascam on a Line input and seeing if the buzz is as bad. Definitely get away from the monitor for testing. I had an old Gateway monitor that I was using for a second mon for a while and was having a tom of issues with buzz/hum getting into everything. It was driving me nuts. one day when I was pluggin something in I unplugged the monitor and from under my desk heard the buzz go away and I got rid of it. It's way better now.

You are correct, that the Tascam is my IO. I can remove the computer from the equation, no problem.

Curious if it matters where the monitor is plugged in? That is plugged in a totally different spot. Only the outboard gear is plugged into the power conditioner.

Aaaahhhh gotcha.
So the Tascam IS the interface, not an old mixer?

Yeah, the Tascam Model 12 is a 12 track digital audio interface that can also act as a live board or be the recording interface itself with an SD card slot. Computer is optional. It's like all the great things of the old Tascam tape recorders, but made in the 21st century.

cakes wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:34 pm

brownreasontolive wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:32 pm

cakes wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:21 pm

You are correct, that the Tascam is my IO. I can remove the computer from the equation, no problem.

Curious if it matters where the monitor is plugged in? That is plugged in a totally different spot. Only the outboard gear is plugged into the power conditioner.

Aaaahhhh gotcha.
So the Tascam IS the interface, not an old mixer?

Yeah, the Tascam Model 12 is a 12 track digital audio interface that can also act as a live board or be the recording interface itself with an SD card slot. Computer is optional. It's like all the great things of the old Tascam tape recorders, but made in the 21st century.

Ah, okay. I thought I remembered seeing something older with a separate usb interface in another thread you had created.

brownreasontolive wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:36 pm

cakes wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:34 pm

brownreasontolive wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:32 pm

Aaaahhhh gotcha.
So the Tascam IS the interface, not an old mixer?

Yeah, the Tascam Model 12 is a 12 track digital audio interface that can also act as a live board or be the recording interface itself with an SD card slot. Computer is optional. It's like all the great things of the old Tascam tape recorders, but made in the 21st century.

Ah, okay. I thought I remembered seeing something older with a separate usb interface in another thread you had created.

I started with a Behringer 404HD, which is just a basic 4 input usb audio interface, you might have seen that!

Opening up this thread back to the original question, I can vouch for two not-cheap but very high bang for the buck EQs:

Manley Stereo Pultec-- more frequencies than the original, more reliable components, and with 18K on blast on Coles 4038, this makes any Mäag redundant. Plus it's stereo so you really get a lot for your money. Way, way more than just a bus EQ.

Kush Electra-- the high end boost sounds expensive and the variable Q on the two mid bands sounds very musical, especially on kick, snare, and toms.

Bonus cheapie: Furman PQ6. A little noisy so just keep the signal hot going in. Very cool unit for mid shaping.

A common theme is I'm a big believer in stereo units. If you're a small to medium studio with limited rack gear, a big part of your day is printing stems through your analog gear, so having more channels to pipe through really helps your workflow.

Sam_Scholten wrote: Wed Dec 08, 2021 8:58 am Opening up this thread back to the original question, I can vouch for two not-cheap but very high bang for the buck EQs:

Manley Stereo Pultec-- more frequencies than the original, more reliable components, and with 18K on blast on Coles 4038, this makes any Mäag redundant. Plus it's stereo so you really get a lot for your money. Way, way more than just a bus EQ.

Kush Electra-- the high end boost sounds expensive and the variable Q on the two mid bands sounds very musical, especially on kick, snare, and toms.

Bonus cheapie: Furman PQ6. A little noisy so just keep the signal hot going in. Very cool unit for mid shaping.

A common theme is I'm a big believer in stereo units. If you're a small to medium studio with limited rack gear, a big part of your day is printing stems through your analog gear, so having more channels to pipe through really helps your workflow.

Thank you for the suggestions and bringing the topic back on track.

So, those DBX 500 series EQs go for like $150.00 used… I would legit figure out a way to get a small 500 setup going if those turned out to be an upgrade from whatever EQ you might find in a live sound board.

I just can’t ever see a situation where I am paying $1000 per channel for something I can’t use without spending hundreds more on a power supply.

They seem like useful problem solving EQs for live stuff - variable Q on each channel is probably great for cutting weird humps and resonances.
I'd be surprised if they were doing anything interesting enough to merit going out of the box, but ymmv.

Also, I know this thread is very old, but I'm surprised no one suggested simply recording through / printing VSTs while tracking? UAD stuff makes this really easy but it's also just a right-click away in Reaper, isn't it? For my shitty vocal demo tracking where I'm whisper screaming into a 635A in my home office, I have my voice going through the time-honoured neve pre—>1176—>LA2A chain where none of it is really doing anything much but it definitely sounds much better with it all turned on.

There's an argument to be made for committing to your weird and possibly bad ideas imo. Also a nice way to ease the load on your CPU.

mdc wrote: Tue Dec 12, 2023 2:49 pm I'd be surprised if they were doing anything interesting enough to merit going out of the box, but ymmv.

This. If I'm working on a computer I cant imagine spending a single extra dime on Hardware EQ. There are so many good software EQ's and a ton are free. TDR Slick Eq is great and free. The Eq in Melda Audios Free pack is pretty dang good. The EQ that comes with every single DAW is pretty great. Here is a bunch that are free.

https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2023/0 ... ee-eq-vst/

If you want something kinda crazy that will most likely make things worse but its a cool idea, the Eventide Split EQ is weird ass hell. Not free.

When I do mix out of the box, I can insert a EQ plugin on the sends out to the console if I think the console EQ ain't got it (like in the rare case I want dynamic EQ)

As far as Hardware goes, i've rarely thought the 4 band on the channels of my old Allen Heath 2200Gl were missing anything for basic shaping. You can buy a used 24 ch A&H board for like $500 and get 24 eqs and 24 Preamps while you are at it. I'm a cheap bastard.

If the advanced audio EQ plugins aren't on that list of great free EQs, they should be! I really like the API-style graphic, the Siemens/Neumann-style bax+mid, and the Helios.