Igors Sontec EQ opinions?

[canidoit]

Anyone have any opinions on this EQ as a Mastering or Mixing EQ?

Strengths and weaknesses, mods, sound, quality, etc.

What would be the preferred mods or parts you should use for this unit?

Thanks

 

[glazer56]

Just finished mine. Built a mastering version with 24 position switches for the gain and frequency. 12db-6db select switch for each band's gain. The unit sounds really good... very musical eq. I would say it compares to EQ's costing 3-4K easily. I didn't use any DOA in the summing section and am pretty happy with the sound. As far as the build, I wish Igor would of spaced the resistor pads out a tad bit, as it's pretty difficult to get standard 1/4 watt resistors to lay flat on the board. Also, the numbering of the parts is non-standard, at least for us non europeaners... and can be a bit difficult to follow, especially the capacitors. But, with that said, the layout is clean, and quiet, and the unit works really well. Buy one, build it and be happy!

 

[rob_gould]

Hi glazer56

Got any pics?

I've been waiting for ages for the 'proper' mastering version that Igor has been saying is nearly ready since Sept 2010.  I ought to just jump in and do what you and Dagoose did by just using his standard Sontec boards.  It's a lot of work though...

 

[dandeurloo]

The few people I know that have built them said it was easy and sounds great. 

 

[atticmike]

wish there was an eq such as the 4000 sl, offering shelf and bell.

 

[peterc]

wish there was an eq such as the 4000 sl, offering shelf and bell.

The Gyraf Calrec does have shelf & bell for the LF & HF bands

www.gyraf.dk

 

[Kingston]

wish there was an eq such as the 4000 sl, offering shelf and bell.

sontec has low and high shelf.

What would be the preferred mods or parts you should use for this unit?

Not really mods, but don't use OPA2604 opamps. They are not good. Use LME49860 and you can still have 22V rails, but modern performance/specs. Make sure to use high quality c0g ceramics and polyprop film caps everywhere in filtering sections.

Also, I've tested several DOA's in the input and summing section and PPA's fet offerings are really hard to beat.

Note, igors sontec only has max 12dB cut and boost. rotary switches or a "mastering version" of this is overkill in my opinion.

 

[Biasrocks]

sontec has low and high shelf.

Also, I've tested several DOA's in the input and summing section and PPA's fet offerings are really hard to beat.

My only minor niggle of Igor's design is that he deep sixed the bell selection on the high band in favour of shelving only, albeit with an option of 6db&12db/oct. All though I doubt that it will present a real problem in most situations since there's 5 bands in total and I'd be more inclined to use the shelf on the high band any way.

I was looking at PPA's DOA's for my build, specifically the APP2055 FET on the output. This will be used in conjunction with a Forsell 992 on the input. I'm hoping that combination will sound a treat.

Curious, what don't you like about the 2604's?

The original used 5534's and TLO71's iirc.

Is it the FET input vs the bi-polar in the 5534 that doesn't sound good or the lack of the biasing circuit in the clone.

Regards,
Mark

 

[phelar]

can i use th 2ch sontec M250EP eq for more than just mastering? or is it its only purpose? my intention is to use it for recording togheter with my 2ch gyraf g9 and a fet comp. dont want no 500 series.

 

[Biasrocks]

can i use th 2ch sontec M250EP eq for more than just mastering?

Yes, you can use it for anything that needs EQ.

Regards,
Mark