 George
Shilling reviews:
SPL
Qure
It
never ceases to amaze me that many items are sent for review that
are either faulty, or fail to include the (often vital) manual. If
it happens to me, it could certainly happen to you. Whilst neither
of these problems afflicted the SPL Qure, the supplied manual was in
German, perhaps forgivable because this is a new model. Unforgivable
was that two calls to the distributor failed to elicit one, despite
promises, and even the manual on SPL's otherwise excellent website
refused to download. It was eventually emailed, accompanied, of
course, by an apologetic telephone call from Germany…
Buy the Joe Meek TwinQ and other recording equipment in our shop.
Essentially,
the Qure is a dual-channel parametric EQ. Housed in a smart 2U box,
each channel features full 3-band parametric EQ, High- and Low-Pass
filters, Input and Output gain knobs, and the magic 'Qure' controls,
more of which later. Rear panel layout is good, with both XLRs and
jack connectors, and additional upside-down legending for instances
when you are peering over the top. A ground-lift button and a
voltage selector are adjacent to the IEC Mains-socket.
The
two channels are arranged side-by-side, but panel space is wasted
with large grilles showing off two glowing Sovtek 12AX7 valves. Very
nice, but the space could have been used to improve the layout. At
switch-on an unnecessary Warm Up LED glows until the Ready LED kicks
in after a minute or so, this slow voltage build-up claiming to
lengthen valve life. On both channels, each of the three EQ bands
has an 'On' switch and there is a combined 'On' switch for the two
filters. These are cute white buttons, which miraculously light-up
red when switched in. They all momentarily mute the signal as you
press them, apart from one on the review model which I assume was
faulty: the MF button on Channel 2 produced a deafening howl when
half-pressed. Ouch. The red switch at the far right labelled
'Master' is an overall bypass, activating both channels
simultaneously with a satisfying relay click. With Master 'in' and
all other buttons 'out' there is a noticeable 'warming' of the
sound, as valve circuitry is now operative, as are the gain knobs.
However, with gains at zero there is a small level boost, which will
undoubtedly enhance your signal!
Confronted
with a sea of twenty-eight identical black knobs, the layout is
initially slightly confusing. These very smart knobs unfortunately
have no pointers along their rather deep sides, therefore accurately
lining-up with the legending is slightly tricky, despite helpful détentes
at various spacings, intended to make recalling settings easier. The
frequency knobs each have 31 détentes, which slightly impedes
smooth sweeping, whereas the Output Gain has only a centre détente,
making accurate recall difficult. On each channel, Input Gain (-12
to +18dB) is at top left, with Output Gain (-7 to +4dB) at bottom
right. The middle three columns of knobs on each channel are the
parametric controls, with Frequency at the top, Bandwidth in the
middle and Boost/Cut at the bottom. Frequency ranges are marked as
15-365Hz, 0.2-5.0kHz and 1.0-21kHz. Bandwidths (BWs) are marked 0.5
to 5, and Boost/Cuts (B/Cs) are marked +/-15dB, except for the Mid
band, which has the same +15dB boost, but up to -36dB cut. LF Cut is
40-200Hz, HF Cut extends downwards: 20-2.5kHz. These are both 2nd
order Butterworth filters. The EQ uses 'Proportional Q', where the
amplitude of the processed frequency band is reduced as the
bandwidth broadens. This means that a maximum 15dB boost can
actually be between 12 and 16dB at the centre frequency, and the
quoted 36dB midrange cut can be as little as 22dB with the broadest
bandwidth. Different technologies (valve, transistor, etc.) are used
for each band. This can lead to 'worst of all worlds' degradation,
particularly with regard to phase accuracy. However, whilst not as
'open' sounding as some high-end competitors, the EQ works well,
with a precise, musical feel.
The Qure control is marked from Min/0 to Max/20 and accompanied by 'Qure
On' and 'Shift Qure' buttons. Switching on the 'Qure' section
introduces a coil/condenser/resistor filter network into the tube
output stage. Adjusting the Qure knob changes the frequency response
and apparently alters 'phase response'. Without an oscilloscope it
is impossible to assess technically what is occurring. The manual
claims a 'sonic blur' reduces digital 'harshness', particularly on
vocals. New harmonics are generated, and existing ones intensified.
In practice, the Qure effect is fairly subtle, with Maximum sounding
much like the application of several dBs of Mid/Hi boost (or mid
boost in 'Shift Qure' mode). It also perceptibly reduces
'wooliness', and when processing a mix enhances vocal clarity.
Switching in the process makes the signal louder by several dBs.
The long-awaited manual was good, if a little boastful and lacking
humour, despite translation help from Paul White. When it comes to
ergonomics, style has edged out functionality by a small margin.
That's a shame, because audio performance is excellent, with quoted
frequency response 10Hz to 100kHz and good S/N ratio. The Qure
effect is rarely offensive, and less irritating than some enhancers.
The EQ is definitely no afterthought, and this unusual unit is a
'must-try'.
Buy the Joe Meek TwinQ Studio Channel Strip in our shop.
Reproduced
with kind permission from www.George.Shilling.Com. Copyright ©1997
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