Pultec Passive EQ Collection

Get silky‑smooth sounds with a collection of "must‑have" EQs.

When Ollie Summerland and Gene Shenk hand-crafted the first Pulse Technologies passive program equalizer in 1951, they had no idea they were transforming an industry. But like a Stradivarius, their little garage-built, made-to-order device was copied by every EQ-maker for decades, and their early EQP-1A's still bring $4,000 plus on the used market — if you're lucky enough to find one.

The reason for all the fuss is the Pultec's unparalleled sound and control. Words like "airy," "silky," and "warm" are often used to describe the Pultec's effect on vocals, guitar, bass, kick drums, and full mixes — pretty much everything.

The new Pultec Passive EQ Collection for UAD-2 and Spark is the ultimate plug-in emulation of Pulse Techniques' original passive EQs. With painstaking amplifier section modeling now onboard, the Pultec EQ Collection "breathes" like the original hardware.

Key Features:

• Painstaking circuit reproduction of the most popular outboard studio equalizers ever made.
• Must-have studio staple Pultec Equalizers: EQP-1A Program EQ, MEQ-5 Mid-Range EQ, HLF-3C Filters.
• Models entire electronic path, including tube amplifiers and transformers, for colorful, highly-musical distortion.
• Silky, vintage highs and tight, focused lows using combined boost/cut resonant shelf dip with EQP-1A.
• Broad, overlapping frequency selections for fine peak and dip midrange filter control with the MEQ-5.
• 12 dB cut filter tonal sculpting or special effects with the HLF-3C.
• Includes Artist Presets from Neal Cappellino, Jacknife Lee, and John Paterno.
• Requires a UAD-2 DSP Accelerator or Apollo Interface available from authorized dealers worldwide.

Pultec EQP-1A Program Equalizer Specifications:

• Low Frequency switch: 20, 30, 60, 100 CPS (Hz); frequency cycle button with "CPS" label, shift + click to reverse.
• Low Frequency Boost knob: 0.00 to 10.0 shelf filter; can be used simultaneously with LF attenuation.
• Low Frequency Atten knob: 0.00 to 10.0 shelf filter; can be used simultaneously with LF boost.
• High Frequency switch: 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12, 16 KCS (kHz); frequency cycle button with "KCS" label, shift + click to reverse.
• High Frequency Boost knob: 0.00 to 10.0 peak filter.
• High Frequency Bandwidth knob: 0.00 to 10.0 Q, sharp to broad.
• High Frequency Atten switch: 5, 10, 20 KCS (kHz); frequency cycle button with "ATTEN SEL" label, shift + click to reverse.
• High Frequency Atten knob: 0.00 to 10.0 shelf filter.
• Enable switch: Out/In; soft bypass, system filtering/nonlinearities still present.
• Output/Power knob: -12.0 to 12.0 dB provides clean, unculored gain, clickstop/Off disables all DSP processing; clicking "OFF" label toggles between hard bypass and and previous Output gain value, "0" label provides RTZ (return to zero) button.

Pultec MEQ-5 Mid-Range Equalizer Specifications:

• Low Mid Frequency switch: 200, 300, 500, 700, 1000 CPS (Hz); frequency cycle button with "PEAK" label, shift + click to reverse.
• Low Mid Peak Boost knob: 0.00 to 10.0 peak filter.
• Mid Frequency Dip switch: 200, 300, 500, 700, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 CPS/KCS (Hz/kHz); frequency cycle button with "DIP" label, Shift + click to reverse.
• Mid Frequency Dip knob: 0.00 to 10.0 dip/notch filter.
• High Mid Frequency switch: 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5 KCS (kHz); frequency cycle button with "PEAK" label, shift + click to reverse.
• High Mid Boost knob: 0.00 to 10.0 peak filter.
• Enable switch: Out/In; soft bypass, system filtering and nonlinearities still present.
• Output/Power knob: -12.0 to 12.0 dB provides clean, unculored gain, clickstop/Off disables all DSP processing; clicking "OFF" label toggles between hard bypass and previous Output gain value, "0" label provides RTZ (return to zero) button.

Pultec HLF-3C Cut Filters Specifications:

• Low Cut-Off switch: Off, 50, 80, 100, 150, 250, 500, 750, 1000, 1500, 2000 CPS (Hz) 12dB per octave; frequency cycle button with "CPS" label, shift + click to reverse.
• High Cut-Off switch: 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, Off KCS 12dB per octave (kHz); frequency cycle button with "KCS" label, Shift + click to reverse.
• Enable switch: Out/In; disables/enables all processing.

{See video at top of page}