We are talking about mastering EQ's here :D

Henrik,

The Maselec EQ is one of several EQ's that I have available. It's the most neutral sounding EQ of the bunch. That is not always what I'm looking for but the other EQ's I use have a more distictive color. So it's a great balance of choices for me.

I've tried many other EQ's. My choices are based on what I feel will give me the sound, the consistancy, the ability to recall and the confidence that it is going to work everyday. There are a couple great sounding EQ's that I've tried but they were too tempermental. I also like knobs that click! This way I know exactly where I am. That's just one pet peave. With the Maselec gear I can call Lief personally and get all the info I need. That's a big plus.

You need to check out which ones fit the way you like to work.

Do you work with Ben?

There are also some EQs like the SONTEC that have a really good reputation for being hard to maintain and parts availability is nil. Some EQs have a very distinctive "sound" to them which is good in many cases but bad in others. Equalizers are like speakers you have to listen to them for a good long time before deciding to purchase a particular one.

Thanks Thomas!
hmm... like speakers, that is a very good way of describing it :D

Usually about a week or less to try it out but depends on who you are buying it from.

I now make it a business and personal policy that I will not buy any equipment (analog or digital) without the ability to really listen to it in my own studio for an extended period of time. I have been really badly disappointed in the past with purchasing some piece of equipment after reading a review from someone whom I trust and then finding out the equipment does not perform correctly or it has problems there were NOT mentioned in the review.

Case in point I recently listened to a WAVES L2 unit and it sounded terrible. I sent it back to the tech rep asking for a new unit to try out. I have not heard from them. The unit had been beat up and they were trying to interest me in purchasing one from stock by letting me listen to their "sample" unit. It was a really BAD sounding unit with lots of high frequency hash and no bass. Based on what I heard I would not pay a dollar for it.

There have also been speakers and amplifiers that were suppose to be great sounding according to the "golden ear" reviewer and sounded like crap when one listened to them in the comfort and familiar surrounding of my mastering room.

Suggest you listen long and hard to what ever eq you decide on BEFORE laying down the long green.