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Phoenix Audio DRSQ4M Review /
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The DRSQ4M (available in stereo as the DRS-Q4) is one of those pieces of gear that can fulfill many needs of
the studio owner all in one spot. It’s an excellent DRS series preamp featuring
the transformer-less input Class A circuit they are famous for, it has a very
high input impedence DI input (10M ohm) and also accepts line level sources with
ease (by padding the mic pre input, trust me it’s not a negative!). Now, add in
a hi-pass filter + a full 4 band 11 point “gyrator” EQ (don’t ask me what that
means! ok it’s a simulated inductor type of EQ) with possibly the most well
thought out and chosen points you could ever need. OK if that’s not enough,
route it all to the famous DSOP-2 transformer balanced output section (aka the
“sweetener”) and you’ve got yourself one heck of a high end front end for
tracking, submixing of groups, and 2 buss sweetening + EQ.
You can see my DRS preamp
mini-review here: Phoenix Audio DRS-2
Now, onto this EQ!
Really take a look at the available
points, all 11 of them, and you’ll realize that these are HOT reaches on most
anything. Shaun and David have really done their homework here it seems. There
is no overlap of course, except when dealing with engaging the hi-pass as well
as the lower frequencies. So you have the hi-pass filter and a high and low
shelf EQ, as well as hi-mid and lo-mid peaks. The available points are:
Hi-Pass: 120hZ @ 12dB per slope
Low EQ: 40hZ, 80hZ, 130hZ
Low-Mid EQ: 200hZ, 400hZ, 800hZ
Hi-Mid EQ: 1.6kHz, 3kHz, 6kHz
High EQ: 10kHz, 15kHz
Overall the tone of these EQ’s is
pretty smooth and natural, with a slightly excited sound though. There is a
vibe and a character to them, but in typical
Phoenix style it’s not over
the top but just right on most sources. Boosting to the extremes brings no
noticeable noise, they are very quiet. Even though the manual references all 4
EQ bands frequency points as “centers”, Robin (USA rep) is telling me the top
and bottom bands are shelf types (shelving EQ’s don’t have centers, the figure
represents where the shelf begins to rise or fall). They don’t seem to act as “shelf-y”
to me as other EQ’s, more like a wider peaking curve. The bottom end doesn’t
bloat into the sub-bass region as quickly, and the top end doesn’t open up
super high airy like most shelves I’ve used anyhow. They have a more controlled
type of sound that really must be pushed to reach the extremes.
The 2 mid peaking bands are fairly wide
at first, but seem to tighten the closer you get to max cut or boost. For
gentle sculpting this makes them very useful to make subtle balance changes
without obvious peak-y stuff happening. However, you can push them pretty hard
on drums and guitars to get a more pointed and cutting sound. Voice benefits
from gentle sculpting, you don’t have to hit the top end real hard for it to
open up very nicely without getting harsh or too air-y. Boosting 10k on the
snare drum doesn’t necessarily grab all the hat and cymbals to the extreme, and
what it does grab certainly is pleasant.
The bottom end is unique in that it
seems to stay very controlled, but there is a cool trick I like to use with the
Phoenix EQ: engaging the hi-pass and boosting the low shelf at the same time. Doing
this sort of creates your own curve, with a moderate 12db per octave slope
starting at 120hZ with the hi-pass. Now you are pushing up at say 80hZ on kick
drum, and you end up with this nice WIDE low end response that doesn’t allow
the sub-bass rumble to take over! Also, I think it goes without saying that the
“center” frequency at this point isn’t 80hZ but more of a moving target: push
it around and try other low end frequencies too. This makes the
Phoenix very handy on bass
and kick drum by allowing you to dial in the right boom without having to deal
with subsonic stuff.
A lot of people ask for favorite
starting points on EQ, so I’d like to break this down into the four food groups
of pop music production:
Drums / Bass / Guitar
/ Vocals
Drums:
Kick Drum: HI-PASS, Boost 80hZ, Cut
400hZ, Boost 6kHz, Cut 10kHz
Snare Drum: HI-PASS, Cut 80hZ, Boost
200hZ, Cut 1kHz, Boost 10kHz
Rack Tom: HI-PASS, Boost 130hZ, Cut
400hZ, Boost 6kHz, Cut 10kHz
Floor Tom: Boost 80hZ, Cut 800hZ,
Boost 6kHz, Cut 10kHz
Bass: HI-PASS, Boost 80hZ, Boost 800hZ, Boost 3kHz, Cut 15kHz
Electric Guitar: HI-PASS, Cut 130hZ, Boost 200hZ, Boost 6kHz, Cut 10kHz
Vocals: HI-PASS, Cut 130hZ, Boost 400hZ, Cut 3kHz, Boost 15kHz
Those are just some favorite reaches
of mine, and typically great places to start for me. Some of this stuff ends up
being pretty gentle as far as suggesting a boost or cut, all of this stuff
varies anyhow.
Conclusion: A very versatile channel
strip, you’d love to have just one for processing voice or bass and guitar.
Having a pair though opens you up to having a very useful 2 buss EQ for final
mixdown, as well as being able to process drum submixes and other groups along
the way. The DSOP-2 output section is enough reason to own at least 2 channels
of something from
Phoenix, if anything just to run the mix through.
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