Z&H Designs has announced its HVC250 five-band parametric EQ, a tribute to the 1970s-vintage Sontec MEP-250.
A recently-launched brand, Z&H Designs has spent the past five years working on a collection of audio outboard. The HVC250 has five true parallel bands on each of two channels based on original’s circuitry. It is built ‘the expensive way’ with 14 independent high-voltage op-amps that outperform IC op-amps in terms of bandwidth and dynamics.
TheHVC250 specification begins with a frequency range of 15Hz-25kHz and S/N ratio of 97.092dBV (left), -96.021dBV (right). The 15Hz-800Hz low filter has ±12dB boost/cut; LMF spans 15Hz-800Hz with ±12dB boost/cut; MF covers 160Hz-8kHz with ±12dB boost/cut; the 450Hz-25kHz HMF has ±12dB boost/cut; and the 450Hz-25kHz high filter has ±12dB boost/cut. These bands all overlap each other and can be independently bypassed. Generous Q of 0.67-4.0 on all bands allow surgical-style EQ, while a shelf option is available at ‘air’ and ‘sub’ band levels.
The use of componentry from the likes of Motorola, Nikon and Philips give the HVC250’s all-discrete circuit boards their analogue character, while its modern-day design gives it a clean output stage. The 56V linear power supply is central gives a higher dynamic range, offering more headroom and effectively reducing noise.
Since all Z&H Designs products are handcrafted and tested, the signatures of the two working engineers who tested the unit in question will be applied to every HVC250 that ships. Additionally, purchasers can customise the HVC250 at the ordering stage – switching knobs and changing the front panel design from a selection of available alternatives, or even submitting an original design to better suit their studio set-up, for example, as well as choosing a 6dB boost/cut option.
Shipping from Shanghai, where units are handcrafted and tested, HVC250 is available directly from Z&H Designs for £2,123/US$2,699/€2,631.95 via a dedicated webpage, that includes more in-depth information.
More: https://zhdesigns.audio/products/hvc250-stereo-5-band-parametric-eq
