Mister Focus - EQ
Mister Focus - EQ
Shipping info
Shipping info
New orders will ship in 3-5 business days when in stock.
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Have a question?
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Overview
Mister Focus - EQ is an equalizer you won’t overthink. Available in two different functional variants: passive Pultec-style high shelf boost (powered by Rogue-Tec Air), or FET saturating EQ (powered by FET Filter). Our single-knob FOCUS EQ can be placed before or after this stage for effortless tone shaping pre or post saturation. The final signal passes through the SHEEN stage powered by the Royal Blue module. This features classic British transistor amplifiers driving a rich sounding output transformer. An optional treble presence boost can be enabled via jumper, and the entire SHEEN stage can be toggled on or off.
Features
Two flavors of EQ:
- Midrange boost / cut + HPF, with FET saturation
- Mid EQ: +/-12 dB at 330, 500, 800, 1600 Hz (selectable via jumpers)
- High Pass Filter: 6 dB/oct at OFF, 72, 160, 340 Hz (selectable via jumpers)
- FET saturation: Clean or Dirty (selectable via jumper)
- Pultec style passive HF boost with 2520 discrete op amp
- High shelf boost: 3, 5, 8, 12, 16 kHz (selectable via jumper)
EQUALIZR Drive: -6 to +18 dB input gain to drive discrete circuits for color
- Constant output gain
EQUALIZR Gain: controls the amount of configured EQ boost or cut
SHEEN engages “N” style discrete class AB, transformer coupled output stage with optional presence boost
Focus EQ adapted from Chop Shop:
- Switchable to pre or post EQ
- Internal jumpers to select corner frequency
All circuit components chosen by ear for maximum MOJO
- Nichicon HE and Panasonic FR electrolytic capacitors
- Wima polypropylene film capacitors
- Thin film 0.5% resistors
- Audiophile grade op amps (OPA1602), class A biased
- Alps pushbutton switches
Analog plugin slots are Colour compatible
Made by tone geeks for tone geeks. Designed and assembled in Silicon Valley, California.
Documentation
Audio Samples
- Mister Focus Sound Clips
- Mister Focus Overview Video - coming soon
FAQ
What is Colour?
Colour is an exciting new modular platform for creating your own custom analog signal chains. The ever-growing family of modules allows you to bring multiple stages of high end analog processing to your setup a la carte.
The Colour platform consists of Colours and hosts like Mister Focus or Chroma. Colours are ultra-compact, swappable analog circuit blocks that snap into the host, and impart various types of analog color such as distortion, saturation, compression, EQ, and even echo. The host device provides input and output controls, power, and support circuitry for the Colour modules. On both Mister Focus and Chroma there is also control of wet/dry mix via its C-MIX knob.
Check out our Colour-compatible analog plugin modules here.
What analog plugin (Colour) modules work best in slot 1?
For the first slot we recommend modules that benefit from being driven and mixed with dry signal: line amps, compressors, EQs, saturators, distortion are some of our favorites.
What analog plugin (Colour) modules work best in slot 2?
For the second slot we recommend modules that work well as presets toggled on or off: filters, line amps, EQ boosts/cuts, etc.
When is this product shipping?
As of 4/9/19 assembled Mister Focus units are in stock and shipping with a standard 2-3 day lead time.
How long does it take to manufacture a product like Mister Focus?
It generally takes 4-6 weeks to have PCBs made and assembled, 4 weeks to have the faceplates fabricated and finished, and about 2 weeks for final assembly and calibration. Once all that is complete (about 6-8 weeks total), we box up the units and ship them out to customers all over the planet.
AN EQ YOU WON'T OVERTHINK
Mister Focus - EQ is your dream channel featuring three blocks of high end analog processing: EQUALIZR, SHEEN, and FOCUS.
EQUALIZR
Select EQ with one of two colorful EQUALIZR options to give this module the focus your studio needs.
FET FILTER: Saturation + Midrange Boost/Cut + High Pass Filter/Low Shelving Cut
ROGUE-TEC AIR: Pultec High Frequency Boost
Intensify the analog texture by increasing input gain via the DRV knob. Turn GAIN up to increase the amount of configured boost or cut.
SHEEN
Powered by our Royal Blue module, SHEEN engages British console mojo inspired by legendary 80-series channels from the 70's. This stage features classic N-style transistor amplifiers driving a rich sounding custom steel core output transformer. An optional treble presence boost can be enabled via jumper for a dose of sweetness that sounds good on just about everything.
FOCUS EQ
Bring tracks into focus with the intuitive single-knob FOCUS EQ from the Chop Shop. Effortlessly rebalance the bass and treble energy of the sound. Turn right go brighter. Turn left to go heavier. Apparent loudness is maintained constant for meaningful A/B comparisons. Internal SHIFT jumpers decrease turnover frequency for a different midrange response.
The PRE-C switch allows FOCUS to be placed before or after the primary Colour slot for the most sonic flexibility.
CONSOLE-LIKE SIGNAL FLOW
Easily select one of two signal paths by swapping the order of the EQUALIZR and FOCUS processing with the PRE-C switch:
HOW IT WORKS
Mister Focus - EQ has a simplified set of controls that are results-oriented. No tweak fest here. We designed this for artists who simply require great tone quickly.
NERDY DETAILS
ANALOG EXPLANSION SLOT
Choose from our growing list of Colour module options to customize Mister Focus. There are two analog plugin slots on each unit you can fill to build your dream channel. You can also install any of the Colour modules from DIY Recording Equipment. This is a platform that adapts to the needs of your studio.
APPLICATIONS
Despite it's affordable price, Mister Focus - EQ offers an expensive sound for individual tracks, busses, and the 2-bus. We love what the FET Filter version of this module can do for drums, synths, bass, and vocals. With a single turn of the GAIN knob you can easily carve out muddiness in a track or elevate the soul of a sound to let it speak more clearly in a mix. The Rogue-Tec Air version excels on drums, guitars, and full program material – anywhere you might want the upper midrange, or high frequency openness that the original Pultec EQ is known for. A Pultec high shelf with an N-style output stage is a thing of beauty on just about everything we've thrown at it.
PREMIUM COMPONENTS & BUILD QUALITY
We chose every component in Mister Focus by ear for maximum mojo and its sonic synergy with the rest of the circuit. Our meticulous development process involved both empirical measurement and real-world studio use to validate the design. We also leveraged what we learned designing and building Chop Shop and Chroma. In this design you will find high end parts from Nichicon, Panasonic, Vishay, Susumu, Wima, TI, and Analog Devices. All audio path resistors are 0.5% or 0.1% thin film types for low distortion and noise. Where applicable, Mister Focus features custom American wound transformers and our very own discrete op amp in some modules. Other components like switches, knobs, and faceplate are sourced from American suppliers. Our PCBs use high temperature Tg 170 material for long-term reliability. The entire assembly is RoHS compliant (lead free). All assembly and testing is performed right here in Silicon Valley.