BAX 500 brings the same circuit prized by mastering engineers in the rackmount BAX EQ into a single lunchbox module — Dangerous Music replicated exactly one channel of the original unit, so the sound stays identical while only the format changes. One unit works fine on a mono source, and two can run in parallel for stereo bus duty.
The same BAX EQ circuit in a single 500 series slot
Instead of dedicating a full 1U of rack space to a stereo Baxandall equalizer, BAX 500 fits the same tonal character into one slot of an existing 500 series lunchbox — a practical option for studios building a mobile or compact rig, where rack space carries a higher premium than in a fixed mastering room. Detented gain potentiometers give ±5dB of control per band with accuracy and repeatability, and a relay-based hardwired bypass allows a fair A/B comparison without the circuit adding its own noise to the equation.
Broadband curves instead of surgical EQ
Broad Baxandall shelves reshape several octaves at once, so a small knob move delivers a clear yet still musical result: open highs, solid low end, and a sense of three-dimensionality without pushing up one narrow band. High Cut and Low Cut filters at 12dB/octave remove infrasonic rumble and ultrasonic interference that eat into headroom and cloud translation across different playback systems — without touching the midrange where most of the musical content lives. A DC-coupled signal path, free of transformers, keeps phase coherence intact and the low end tight and precise.
KEY FEATURES
- Mono Baxandall equalizer, API 500 format, single slot
- Same circuit as one channel of the rackmount BAX EQ
- High and Low shelves with ±5dB gain adjustment per band
- Detented potentiometers for precision and setting repeatability
- High Cut and Low Cut filters, 12dB/octave slope
- DC-coupled signal path, transformerless
- Relay-based hardwired bypass for A/B comparisons
- Usable singly (mono) or as a pair (stereo bus)
- Requires a powered 500 series rack/lunchbox
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
- Format: API Series 500, single slot
- Channel count: 1 (mono)
- Gain adjustment: ±5dB per band (High and Low shelf)
- Filters: High Cut and Low Cut, 12dB/octave
- Signal path: DC-coupled, transformerless
- Bypass: relay-based, hardwired
- Power: standard 500 series (requires a powered rack)
