5E2 - Tav
*click on a photo above to see a larger preview
A ten-band inductor-based graphic EQ module.
Designed by Ed Anderson for Purple Audio.
An illuminated pushbutton for relay true bypass (green) allows for easy comparison with unprocessed source material. A Tricolor LED meters the signal. The frequency response is +/- 0.25dB from 15Hz to 25kHz, and -3dB at 60kHz.A new take on the console graphic, with ten easy to use bands. Each band uses a high quality inductor and carefully selected caps to set the center frequency. At full boost and full cut the bands are narrow enough to still be useful individually, but at lower settings the bands widen out for more gentle shaping. Even at full boost and cut, the filters are shaped to be musical and useful.
With specialized input and output transformers, the TAV has plenty of headroom, even at full boost. The entire circuit is discrete, with no electrolytic capacitors in the signal path, and no servo amps. With only two active stages, the current draw is low enough to work in any rack, and leave plenty of juice for other modules. The Tav uses one KDJ3 opamp and one KDJ4 opamp.
FEATURES:
Each band boost or cut by 12dB
Relay True Bypass
Tricolor LED level meter
Transformer balanced in and out
Discrete signal path
No electrolytic caps in signal path
Current consumption: 60mA
Over Current Resettable Fused (prevents any module problem from affecting your rack)
ROHS – Lead Free
North America:
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Mexico:
I felt obligated to write about the TAVs that I have in my Radial six-pack. First and foremost, I have personally used many 500 EQs but few stand up to the TAV (& Odd EQ). The primary and most important reason being the dead-silent operation. I feed the TAVs into the line inputs of my Phoenix DRS-1r for output trim and additional drive. Even in Pro Tools, you cannot see the meters jump until the Phoenix gain is dialed in at 2'oclock (trim @ max)! Every other 500 EQ introduces noise long before that combination. These are "Storm Shadow" quiet, aka Ninja!
As far as the sound, you have probably read every other review on various gear sites by now, however, you can really shape individual tracks, and busses with these. IMO, These are the best EQs for pushing sounds in the background because they are fluid and velvety. Real world examples: keys buss, bg vox buss, reverb, etc. On individual drum tracks, primarily kick & snare, these are a gem and never disappoint when seeking analog touch up from the DAW.
In closing, here are all of the "words" associated with the TAV that you are dying to hear: foolproof, finished, analog, steady, fluid & dense.
Kind Regards,