Arturia 1973-Pre, User Manual

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The 1973-Pre EQ has two Shelf bands, which will take care of boosting or cutting the high
and low frequency content of the audio. The midrange band has a broad range of selectable
frequencies. All three EQ bands have a relatively large and smooth bandwidth ( read what
we wrote about the Baxandall curves in the introduction [p.2] ).
So, in what concerns the Midrange Bell, this band is more about boosting or cutting the mids
in general than about precisely sculpting a short range of the frequency spectrum. Actually,
it was labeled Presence in the original, and that gives a pretty good idea of why it was
dreamed of, designed, and what it does. It changes the globally perceived "presence" of the
audio by altering the midrange content, but with a relatively large and smooth bandwidth.
Each of the three EQ bands has a separate rotary knob to control the boost or cut. We can
apply a boost or cut of up to 18dB, which is actually more than the original High and Low
Shelf could achieve in the original. So, to get a behavior closer to the original, we should limit
the boost or cut in those two bands a little (actually, we doubt anyone would feel the need
to use a boost or cut of 16db). Anyway, mixing is about sound, and the best way to judge
that is to use our ears: Focus on the sound and use the EQ boost or cut at will.
Besides the boost/cut knob, the Mid Bell and the Low Shelf have another knob to control the
base frequency (the High Shelf frequency is fixed at 12kHz). Unlike the original, which had a
fixed number of switchable frequencies, here we can sweep to any value within the ranges
defined by the lower and the higher frequencies. So, the Mid Bell can sweep between 360Hz
(labeled 0.36) and 7.2kHz, while the Low Shelf can sweep between 35Hz and 220Hz. This
gives the EQ section more flexibility than was available in the original.
The High Pass Filter complements the three band EQ. It has a slope of -18dB per octave,
and a range of frequencies that goes from 50Hz to 300Hz. Curiously enough, the range
of filter frequencies completely covers the range of frequencies of the Low Shelf EQ band,
so pay attention when using it. Although the original also had a fixed number of switchable
frequencies, here we have a sweepable filter that covers all frequencies within the minimum
and maximum.
On the bottom of the EQ section, we have two switches. The left switch turns the EQ section
On or Off, and is On by default. The other switch is for Phase inversion, and is Off by default.
Arturia - User Manual 1973-Pre - 1973-Pre OVERVIEW 23