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Stereo tube equalizer

The Michelangelo is an all-tube stereo equalizer and harmonic generator, designed and handmade by Chris Henderson of Hendyamps. Admired for its raw sonic beauty and inspiring ease of use, it ranks among the most remarkable equalizers available today.

The beauty of a 100% tube design

Only 2U high, the Michelangelo is an all-tube stereo equalizer focused on sonic beauty! It is not meant to target specific frequencies precisely: it is a broad-band equalizer that also acts as a harmonic generator. This one-of-a-kind equalizer is at home at every stage of music production (recording, mixing and mastering). Its sound signature, combined with its ease of use, makes it a genuinely useful everyday tool.

The Michelangelo is a discrete, class A, all-tube stereo unit.

Features

• BYPASS switches let you fully disengage the Michelangelo for quick comparison
• The TRIM control adjusts the Michelangelo's output level to the desired level
• The left and right CALIBRATION controls balance the two channels by compensating for level differences. They can also be used to change the Michelangelo's tonal response: for example, by raising the calibration levels and lowering the TRIM, the signal is driven harder than normal, increasing harmonic distortion
• The AGGRESSION control changes the circuit drive to saturate the tubes further
• The LOW, MID and HIGH controls set the three EQ bands, adding more dynamic harmonic content as you increase the gain. The MID control covers a very wide band, while the LOW and HIGH controls are narrower by comparison
• The AIR section boosts the very high frequencies; it is one of the features Michelangelo users love most
• LOW SHIFT changes the LOW control to target all frequencies below 150 Hz or 80 Hz
• MID SHIFT changes the response of the LOW and MID controls, assigning the low mids to one or the other
• HIGH SHIFT changes the HIGH control to target frequencies above 1 kHz or 2 kHz
• The VINTAGE switch toggles between a "modern" mode (more defined) and a "vintage" mode (with less top end)
• LoZ/HiZ changes the Michelangelo's output impedance: either a more coloured tone (HiZ), which interacts more with the equipment after it in the chain, or a cleaner tone (LoZ), little affected by the following equipment

Three versions of the Michelangelo are available at Cool Kids Audio:

• Standard version
• 1/3 gain version (ideal for mastering): the ranges of the EQ controls (LOW, MID, HIGH and AIR) are limited to about 1/3 of the normal gain range. This modification is often more useful for mastering, while the standard version is better suited to tracking and mixing. Same price as the standard version.
• Stepped version: the knobs are stepped for easier recall, with top-of-the-range Elma switches. A few additional changes are made:
  • AGGRESSION is unchanged, but becomes stepped
  • LOW, MID and HIGH offer a +/- 6 dB range (12 dB span), in steps of about 0.5 dB
  • AIR offers a 6 dB boost in steps of about 0.5 dB
  • TRIM is unchanged (from zero to maximum volume), in 2 dB steps; TRIM at maximum = unity gain