Phoenix Audio Ascent One EQ is a Class-A channel strip in a 1U half rack chassis: microphone preamplifier, line input, DI and a four band gyrator equaliser in one unit.
Equalisation before the converter, not after it
Fixing tone with a plugin after the fact always starts from material that has already been through a converter. The Ascent One EQ lets you shape the sound on the way in, while the signal still has full headroom. The equaliser is built on gyrator circuits and offers twelve frequencies: a high shelf at 25 kHz, 15 kHz and 10 kHz, a high mid bell at 6 kHz, 3 kHz and 1.6 kHz, a low mid bell at 800 Hz, 400 Hz and 200 Hz, and a low shelf at 130 Hz, 80 Hz and 40 Hz.
Recall on every parameter
Each band covers ±16 dB on a twenty-one position stepped pot, and microphone gain is stepped in 5 dB increments with another 10 dB on the fader. Nothing is a knob set by eye, so a week later you return to the setting step for step, and when tracking a stereo pair you match both channels without guessing. The 10 kOhm microphone input impedance is chosen for ribbons and dynamics, while a separate DI input with up to 30 dB of gain takes a guitar or a synth.
KEY FEATURES
- Class-A channel strip: preamp, line input, DI and equaliser
- Transformerless, true balanced microphone input
- 10 kOhm impedance chosen for ribbons and dynamics
- Microphone gain in 5 dB steps plus 10 dB on the fader
- High impedance instrument input with up to 30 dB of gain
- Four band gyrator equaliser with twelve frequencies
- Cut and boost range of ±16 dB per band
- Stepped equaliser pots with twenty-one positions
- 15 dB input pad on the microphone input only
- High pass filter at 80 Hz on a push-button
- Phase reverse and phantom power on push-buttons
- DSOP-2 output stage with DB694 transformer
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
- Microphone input impedance: 10 kOhm
- Microphone gain range: 5 dB steps plus 10 dB on the fader
- Maximum gain on the instrument stage: 30 dB
- Equaliser high band: 25 kHz, 15 kHz, 10 kHz
- High mid: 6 kHz, 3 kHz, 1.6 kHz
- Low mid: 800 Hz, 400 Hz, 200 Hz
- Low band: 130 Hz, 80 Hz, 40 Hz
- Cut and boost: ±16 dB per band
- Maximum output: +26 dBu at 1 kHz
- Noise floor: -90 dB (20 Hz to 20 kHz)
- Format: 1U half rack, optional 19 inch rack kit
