HLabs Audio EQ169 is a three-band equaliser in API-standard 500 series format, replicating the EQ section of the Studer 169 console. It takes a single slot and is intended as the tracking partner to the PRE169 preamp.
Tone set while tracking, not rebuilt in the mix
EQ ahead of the converter means the decision is made once and stays in the file — fewer plugins on the channel, less latency, and a signal that already sits where it belongs by the time you start balancing. ±15 dB shelves at 20 Hz and 20 kHz plus a continuously variable Presence filter from 150 to 7000 Hz cover that job without reaching for a surgical equaliser. A multicolour output level indicator on the panel shows saturation after the EQ section, so you can see when a low-end boost starts eating headroom.
A bypass that works when the power does not
The EQ section is bypassed by a relay rather than a switch sitting in the signal path — the sound with EQ disengaged is transparent, and if the lunchbox loses power the module falls into bypass instead of cutting the signal. On a live recording where there is no second take, that behaviour has concrete value.
KEY FEATURES
- Three-band equaliser in 500 series format (API standard), single slot
- Replica of the Studer 169 console EQ section
- High and low shelves with ±15 dB of range
- Continuously variable Presence filter, 150–7000 Hz
- Multicolour output level indicator
- Transformerless input and output using top-grade op-amps
- Relay-operated bypass, power-failure proof
- Designed as the tracking partner to the PRE169 preamp
- Designed and assembled in Saint-Vérand, France
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
- Format: API-style 500 series module
- High shelf: ±15 dB @ 20 kHz
- Presence filter: ±11 dB, 150–7000 Hz (continuously variable), Q ≈ 1.0
- Low shelf: ±15 dB @ 20 Hz
- Maximum input and output level: +22 dBu
- Input impedance: 48 kΩ; output impedance: 50 Ω
- Frequency response (1 kΩ load): ±0.5 dB from 5.4 Hz to 25 kHz
- Signal-to-noise ratio: above 105 dB (0.2% THD)
- Power consumption: 120 mA
