The Roots of the FREQ

Paul Wolff knows a lot about both EQ and 500 Series devices. Paul created and brought the original API lunchbox to market in 1985 and the 4-band API 550B 500-series equalizer and the famed Tonelux EQ5P—both are his too!

Meet the FREQ

On its black, single-slot faceplate are four super-smooth yet nicely resistant pots and five bright backlit push buttons.

Inside, you will find a meticulously laid out circuit board with a sizable custom Cinemag output transformer. This transformer, a blend of nickel and steel, was selected by Wolff Audio for its ability to offer transparency without coloration.

Notable specs include:

• Less than .03%, 100hz and higher distortion
• Distortion is primarily 3rd harmonic below 150 Hz
• Clipping onset at +28 dbu
• A less than 100 milliamp per rail power draw

Strike Up the Bands

Each EQ band features +/- 15dB of boost or cut, and a great touch is the zero point, which has a firm detent. Each band’s frequency knob starts with that band’s highest frequency point at 10 O’clock and its lowest option at
8 O’clock. Each band has a dedicated function button, while the fifth center push button is a hard bypass.

A Proportional Response

Each frequency band employs a proportional Q design with an octave-wide reach. In a proportional Q, at low boosts and cuts the Q is full and round, and the peaks get sharper when pushed.

The high-frequency bands are: 20 kHz to 2 kHz, 10 kHz to 350 Hz, 2.2 kHz to 75 Hz, and 700 Hz down to 25 Hz.

If the FREQ stopped there, you would have a proportional Q equalizer with a nice amount of interactive band overlap, perfect for creative tone shaping similar to many well-loved classic 4-band EQ offerings. FREQ, however, pushes the boundaries in two further directions.

Going Wide

Pressing the Wide button on both the high and low bands engages a “wide, gentle shelf.”

While many EQs offer high and low shelf options, here, the description is a bit of a misnomer as a true shelf curve offers an infinite and equal reach on its end.

Here, the “wide gentle shelf” offers a touch of roll-off on both ends of its super wide and generally flat bell curve. Simply put, this offers more control over the extreme highs and lows than a traditional all-or-nothing shelf.

Fixed and Surgical

Traditionally, proportional, channel-strip EQs are more sculptural and “big-picture” rather than surgical. To address that, the two mid-frequency bands offer a 1/3 Octave Lock button, which narrows each band to a 1/3 octave fixed Q band. This is perfect for precise, surgical (and predictable) boost and cut procedures.

Getting FREQ-y

The FREQ is quite powerful, and as such, it does take a bit of orientation to learn where the frequencies live on each dial and when to employ the secondary curves.

It’s also worth noting that with their +/- 15dB throw and broad reaching, overlapping bands, this is one of those devices where little knob movements can yield significant sonic changes. If you are used to boosting the band to full and sweeping back and forth quickly to zero in on offending frequencies, I would exercise some caution to be gentle with your initial boost and go slow with your frequency sweep.

Sonically, the FREQ is a very clean, smooth and solid-sounding EQ that does not add any coloration of its own, and there is no source it favors or shuns.

Spit Personality

The FREQ mojo, if you will, lies in the unique dual-function design of its bands. Depending on how you use it, it can almost be two EQs in one in a stylistic sense. For instance, the wide yet controlled shelf-like bands allow you to make broad tonal adjustments. You can add clarity, presence and openness on the high-end or tame a source that is too cutting or brittle. On the low side, you can add boom and thickness or remove tubbiness and muddiness with broad stroke ease.

You can also use the sharp-fixed, predictable mid-bands alone or together to carve out or fix offending frequencies. The full power comes as you employ all four bands at once and explore the interconnected results of each setting.

In Use

While the FREQ works on any source, I did have some favorites. On a DI bass track, I liked adding some thick presence with the wide low band and then using the proportional low-mid Q to carve out a space for the kick drum in the mix. I used the fixed sharp high-mid Q to zero in on and highlight a touch of string/finger noise while using the wide high band to gently add a bit of controlled air to the track to keep it lively and dimensional.

The FREQ works equally well to add beef, weight and punch to a snare, massage a vocal take while tracking, and subtly sculpt both acoustic and electric guitar tracks. I only had a single unit for review, but I would guess a pair would be great for stereo sources and even bus work.

FREQ Out

Even as a straight-up four-band proportional EQ, FREQ more than lives up to its legacy. It takes it to the next level in the well-chosen implementation of its secondary options. The Wolff Audio FREQ packs an obscene amount of sonic sculpting power in four deceptively simple EQ bands.

Whether filling up a 500-Series Lunch Box or outfitting a full-fledged 500-Series console, this may be a great time to get your FREQ on.

Price: $787

More From: wolffaudio.com

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