Graphic Eqs

[alex_kyuss]

Hi all

Just a quick question. I am looking at getting some good graphics eq's. I've been looking around and these 2 seem to be in my price range

BSS OPAL FCS-966 and the Klark Teknik Square ONE Graphic EQ. They both seem to be around £550, but has anyone got any experience with the 2 and which would people say is the better?

Has anyone got any different options, but I can not afford any more then £550 each

Cheers all

[Animal]

Hi all

Just a quick question. I am looking at getting some good graphics eq's. I've been looking around and these 2 seem to be in my price range

BSS OPAL FCS-966 and the Klark Teknik Square ONE Graphic EQ. They both seem to be around £550, but has anyone got any experience with the 2 and which would people say is the better?

Has anyone got any different options, but I can not afford any more then £550 each

Cheers all

 

 

Not sure about the square one. I've heard a few not so good things about the square one dynamics. The BSS Opals are pretty good. I would rather have a second hand DN360 which you can usually find on ebay for about £350.

[Rob_Beech]

Again. look on the second hand market.

 

Contrary to what Animal says I have heard bad things about the Opal stuff. I saw a couple of XTA GQ600? on ebay for about £500 a piece (used) not so long back. Very good indeed IMO.

[minty]

Yeah, I'd say see whats around 2nd hand, as Animal says, you should be able to find a Dn360 for considerably less than that. However, to your question I'm not a fan of the Opal, but I quite like the KT Sqr1.

 

Martin

[Animal]

Again. look on the second hand market.

 

Contrary to what Animal says I have heard bad things about the Opal stuff. I saw a couple of XTA GQ600? on ebay for about £500 a piece (used) not so long back. Very good indeed IMO.

 

I have had problems with the Opals (Mainly faders breaking) but they sound alright. The GQ600's would also be a great option. The Audient EQ's are also very good. They pop up from time to time on ebay. I use mainly DN360's and DN370's and have never had a problem with them

[robertnisbet]

Ha! We've all got very different ideas then, because, contrary to above...

 

I really like the Opals, and have had and heard very good experiences with the Square1 stuff. But, as previously said, within your budget is a used KT DN360, or the BSS equivalent (can't remember the model number). I'd say buy the Sq1/Opal type stuff used to get another rung up the ladder away from cheap brands if a couple of hundred is all you can afford (like me!).

[paulglave]

I have the Opals and do have a problem with snapped faders. As for the KT Square one stuff, I'm not sure... It's not KT. I know that. The XTAs if you can get them from eBay are really nice and not as expensive as the proper KTs. I've been hiring one in for FOH duties and it's really good for that. I do prefer the Opals on monitors though...

[StevieR]

Have been using the Opal's for quite some time now. Not as good as the FCS960's and definately not a GQ600 but you have to pay almost double for those.

 

We had a KT Square1 on demo and we were not overly impressed. Stick with the Opal!

 

Steve

[alex_kyuss]

Cheers everyone for your responces, I'll just a have to be glued to ebay and maybe ring a few of the big rental companies after the festival season

cheers

 

Has anyone used LA AUDIO EQ231GSP theres just one on ebay at the mo??

[Chris Hinds]

As others have mentioned the BSS Opal is a reasonable EQ with no terrible sound artifacts but faders that are easy to break. I have used that LA Audio unit and it does what it says on the tin, I think it sounded ok at least it didn't add loads of noise and hiss and it cut where I thought it would. The cuts seem pretty accurate though there was more interaction between faders at low levels than I expected.

 

Regards

 

Chris

[Animal]

I found the LA Audios to sound fine. I thought the faders felt a bit weak though.

[robritchie]

I would always sugest buying new when possible, you never know the history of second hand kit, although most of it is great there are still people who like to sell bad equipment. Buy new if you can, even if its a slightly lesser spec bit of kit.

The KT Square 1 graphic is a KT bit of kit, it is built by cheeper methods. The basic design is from the DN370 (not the DN360 as many people believe) without the filters. I think for the money they are fantastic graphics.

The BSS Opal's are not good graphics in any way and its a real shame that BSS ever put their name to them.

[robertnisbet]

So, I actually got to use a Sq1 GEQ in anger the other night, and thought I would share my experiences, and opinions.

 

Just to set the scene: one of the live music venues I work in has a KT DN360 on FOH, and a pair of BSS Opals driving 4 monitor sends to stage. The other night one of the Opals started acting up, not passing signal and crackleing through the mons. It was definately the Opal as if you gave it a tap around the bypass buttons it sprung back to life for a few minutes.

 

So, one of our regular equipment providers brought down a Sq1 as a replacement for the time being.

 

I found that the Square1 required much less EQing to get a similar or higher output level without feedback on stage. I made far fewer cuts, found the filters to be tighter and more effective than those on the Opal. The photo shows the EQs in the rack. The DN360 is obviously doing FOH, then the next three curves (two on the SQ1 and one on the Opal) are doing matching pairs of CVA Max15 wedges. The second curve on the Opal is doing a drumfill which is somewhat different. I will note at this point that the KT curve is obviously my own, as is the FOH curve; the Opal I left as it had been used the previous night by another engineer.

 

http://www.robertnisbet.com/images/blueroomgraphic.jpg

 

Now, thoughts and notes:

 

Opal

+ Decent metering

+ Variable HPF

+ 'Contour' control

- No LPF

 

Square1

- Signal lights only

- Fixed HPF (80Hz)

+ Fixed LPF (12kHz)

 

The Square 1 is fine therefore for wedge use (although really I'd rather the HPF at about 100-120Hz), but drum fills I tend to put the HPF in at about 50Hz. The LPF is a nice bonus though. The Opal wins really on features, but I was blown away by the KTs accuracy and absolute resistance to feedback.

 

As I tend to buy used, I will be buying whichever I can get a quantity of at the best price. However, I would have to say that at the moment, I would favour the KT.

 

As an aside, remember that it takes a long time to build up confidence in a piece of kit, and when that piece of kit fails, then ones confidence fails rapidly too. My current preference for the KT may just come from the bad experience with the BSS the other night!

[basilbrush1982]

Not used the Sq one but have used the Opal and the XTA GQ600 and I would use the XTA over the BSS everyday. Having said that like most people here have said if you can get a DN360 secondhand from a reliable source go for that. Have heard mixed reviews on the Sq One stuff - best thing I can think of though if you can hire (or demo) them then maybe try that and make your own decision, a lot of it is personal opinion.

[alex_kyuss]

cheers for everyones replys I have taken it all on board and I have to say that a second hand 360 would be great, but as usual it all comes down to the mighty £. My experiences comes down to using 1 opal which sounded good and behaved its self and many brandless / behringer units which were just hard work in some cases, so I guess I will look around to find a good second hand unit from a good rental company. Although I did buy a second hand KT quad compresser off ebay and it is fantastic.

cheers All