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Massive-Passive Sound in a Mini Langevin Box?
With frequency bands identical to bands one and four of Manley Labs' highly-regarded Massive Passive EQ, the same passive components (resistors and capacitors) and incredibly similar circuits, the brand new Langevin Mini-Massive is a two-band solid state "kid brother" stereo EQ that's generating quite a buzz. But while Manley claims that the main difference (besides number of bands) between the two boxes is that the four-band Massive Passive uses tubes for gain while the two-band Mini uses solid state Rapture gain blocks, I wasn't content to just take that word as gospel. So I requested a unit to investigate if that is where the similarities really begin and the differences end . . . here's what I found.
INSIDE THE MINI-MASSIVE
Is the Langevin Mini-Massive really a Mini-Manley Massive Passive? Yes and no. Many of the same components are used in both, and the Rapture amps, while solid state, are super clean and fast (more akin to a GML, in terms of speed and neutrality, than a Langevin PEQ-2 or Pultec EQP-1A3.) Furthermore, the Mini-Massive is as meticulously constructed as its big brother - you won't find any cheap circuit boards here.
The Mini-Massive boasts a triple option toggle per band: boost, out, and cut. Another toggle selects between shelf or bell curves. A Bandwidth control alters the area and shape of each EQ curve-response. Having a shelf with the ability to control the slope is a great feature, lending the Mini to more flexible applications. With the Q control you can adjust the band to be wider or narrower. (Tip: A boosted signal generally sounds nicer with a larger Q, but when removing certain frequencies a smaller bell is more desirable. The reason why is that when you have a frequency that needs to be reduced, you don't want to alter the neighboring frequencies; instead you want more of a "concentrated" reduction. But for boosting, the larger bell definitely sounds more natural.)
On the high bands, there is a second Bell shape for the four highest frequencies - a feature that can be of great use as the bell is more concentrated on certain frequencies. "Bell...