Manley Labs STEREO EQ - Manual (Page 7)

NOTES
1) Do not assume the knob settings "mean" what you expect they should mean. Part of this is due to the interaction of the controls. Part
is due to the new shelf slopes and part due to a lack of standards regarding shelf specification.
2) You may find yourself leaning towards shelf frequencies closer to the mids than you are used to and the "action" seems closer to the edges
of the spectrum than your other EQs. Same reasons as above.
3) You may also find yourself getting away with what seems like massive amounts of boost. Where the knobs end up, may seem scarey
particularly for mastering. Keep in mind that, even at maximum boost, a wide bell might only max out at 6 dB of boost (less for the lowest
band) and only reaches 20 dB at the narrowest bandwidth. On the other hand, because of how transparent this EQ is, you might actually
be EQing more than you could with a different unit. Taste rules, test benches don't make hit records, believe your ears.
4) Sometimes the shelfs will sound pretty wierd, especially (only) at the narrow bandwidth settings. They might seem to be having a complex
effect and not only at the "dialed in" frequency. This is certainly possible. Try wider bandwidths at first.
5)A reasonable starting point for the Bandwidth for shelves is straight up or between 11:00 and 1:00. It was designed this way and is roughly
where the maximum flatness around the "knee" is, combined with a well defined steep slope.
6) The back panel I/O level switch is important to set properly in order to maximise headroom and ensure that there is not an unwanted
6 dB level loss. However, there may be situations where a deliberate goal might be to make the Mini Massive clip early. For example, one
could use the "+4 UNBALANCED" setting (assuming it is patched into balanced gear) and get 6 dB less headroom or use the "-10
UNBALANCED" setting which will clip the input 12 dB early.
7) And speaking of clipping, there are no "Clip LEDs" mostly because like the Massive Passive, the headroom is generally outrageous. For
example the balanced output clips at +30 dBm which is about 6 dB more than most gear and 8-10 dB more than most A to D converters.
That said, one still needs to always be listening and should be aware that clipping may be possible with extreme settings.
8) The Mini Massive may sound remarkably different from other high end EQs and completely different from the console EQs. Yes, this
is quite deliberate. Hopefully it sounds better, sweeter, more musical and it complements your console EQs. We saw little need for yet
another variation of the standard parametric with only subtle sonic differences. We suggest using the Mini Massive before tape, for the
bulk of the EQ tasks and then using the console EQs for some fine tweaking and where narrow Q touch-ups like notches are needed. The
Mini Massive is equally at home doing big, powerful EQ tasks such as is sometimes required for tracking drums, bass and guitars, or for
doing those demanding jobs where subtlety is required like vocals and mastering.
9) Of course the Mini will get compared to the Massive Passive which gets compared to vintage Pultecs and to Manley's Enhanced Pultec
EQs so maybe a few words from the designer are appropriate. First things first - The vintage Pultec EQ section was designed by Western
Electric and decades later Eugene Shenk added his gain stage and formed a company called Pulse Technologies to manufacture these EQs.
Shenk's design used 4 triodes (2 tubes) in a balanced topology and 3 transformers, and we might point to the interstage transformer and
less than optimal drive circuitry for its vintage Pultec crunch . This made it a favorite for kick and sometimes bass guitar during the 70's
and 80's but may have been too low fidelity to be used on much else. Of course, most Pultecs by that time had drifted to the point where
if one had 10, one was lucky if two sounded similar enough for stereo. The Manley Pultecs were designed initially for mastering and a
cleaner gain stage was used and transformers were chosen that were flatter and cleaner and more consistant. Of course, the exact values
of the original EQ components were used, but the quality of capacitors, resistors and pots had improved and were used. So the original EQ
shapes are intact along with several new frequencies added. Pultecs have been a studio and broadcast standard since the 60's and that most
engineers used both the boost and cut knobs at the same time - so it may be a bit funny that what we call "the Pultec Curve" wasn't described
until the late 90's and wasn't resurrected earlier.
The Massive Passive was designed as a tracking EQ and as an alternative or addition to the usual tools like console EQs and plugs.
A) There were hundreds of op-amp based parametric EQs and a growing number of software based simulations of that idea. Even a Manley
variation on that idea wouldn't have been so different and we didn't want to use op-amps (but ended up using one in the end)
B) Nobody had really addressed the issue that most engineers favorite EQs were Neves, APIs and Pultecs and nobody had really done an
new inductor based EQ design in decades.
C) There was more of a percieved need for a new tracking EQ than a 'mastering EQ'. Besides back then there were a lot fewer people calling
themselves mastering engineers. The idea of strapping an EQ across the mix at that time was pretty unusual and almost unheard of.
D) So we set out to design an EQ that would be good for guitars, bass, keys and drums, and of course it ended up being used for almost
everything else (like vocals) and started a fashion of EQing the stereo buss (for better or worse).
The Mini Massive came about due to the designer finally finding a solid state gain stage he liked a lot (it was developed for an A/D converter)
and because he appreciated how the Massive came to be used and how that style of EQ might be improved for some users. Of course, some
use the Massive for its color and there was no need to repeat that (if that is what you need we still build the Massive). The Mini was envisioned
as a buss EQ so and was optimised for that (it is clean), so, of course, we expect it will get used for everything else.
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