API 500 Series 550B Discrete 4 Band EQ
Re-issue of the classic '60s 4 Band EQ
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Want to Click and Collect or try items at our Guildford Store?
The store is open 10am - 6pm Monday to Saturday and 11am - 5pm Sunday and bank holidays.
The stock information shows the quantity of units that are available to purchase at the Guildford store and the quantity of units that are available at our off-site Guildford warehouse. These stock levels are updated in real time.
Our Click and Collect service is available at our Guildford store from 10am - 6pm Monday to Saturday, and 11am - 5pm on Sunday. You can either choose click and collect as your delivery option online or, during store opening hours, call our sales team at 01483 456777 to place a 10% deposit.
If you have placed your order online, you will receive a confirmation email of your order and a separate follow-up text or email to confirm when your item is ready for collection.
Please do not come to the store before you have received the follow-up message, as your order may not yet be ready at the store.
If the only available stock is in our off-site warehouse it can be brought to the store location for you to try - you just need to contact the store within opening hours. Please note any requests received after 3.30pm will not arrive at the store until the following morning.
Please be aware that, unless you have paid a deposit to reserve the item, it will continue to be free, both online and in-store, for another customer to buy. Therefore we would advise you to place a 10% deposit by either using the on-line click and collect service or calling us 01483 456777.
SKU: 550B
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Product Description
HERE'S WHAT API AUDIO SAY ABOUT THE 550b DISCRETE 4 BAND EQ
Based on API's original 550 from the late '60s, the API 550b is a continuation of the EQ that played a major role in the history of music recording, but with an additional filter band and several new frequencies. Incorporating API's exclusive circuitry and proprietary components (such as the legendary API 2520 Op Amp), the 550b artfully blends the past with the present. So many hit records still depend on the unique 550 sound that engineers around the world find it to be an invaluable tool. In fact, the 550b design has been taken from the original blue prints and spec control drawings from the API archives. It is unlike any other EQ you will ever use.
Rather than offer a huge assortment of complex features, the API 550b provides exactly the right number of controls. Its four EQ bands are overlapped significantly to aid in dual roles as problem solver and sweetening device with each band offering seven switchable filter frequencies that span four-to-five octaves. These frequencies, purposely selected to be musical rather than numeric, were selected by an experienced "who's who" list of the industry's most proficient engineers.
Making use of API's "Proportional Q," an innovation designed by Saul Walker in the '60s, the 550b intuitively widens the filter bandwidth at minimal settings and narrows it at higher settings without the need for additional bandwidth controls. This unique feature minimizes the "phase-shift" sound found in many equalizers. In addition, the reciprocal nature of the 550b enables the user to "undo" what has been done previously with exact precision.
The benefits of the API 550b are most obvious to those who work with EQ on a continuous basis. If major tonal restructuring is required, the extraordinary headroom made possible with API's 2520 Op Amp offers the predictable and warm analog performance, even under duress. With a surprisingly wide range of tonal variations, the 550b is an invaluable and professional audio tool with great flexibility and excellent sonic ability.
SPECIFICATIONS:
- Four bands of our famous sounding equalization
- Each band offers seven API selected frequency centers
- Reciprocal and repeatable filtering
- 12 dB of boost/cut per band
- EQ band 1 and 4 offer shelf/peak switching
- "Proportional Q" narrows filter Q at extremes
- Traditional API fully discrete circuit design
- High headroom +30 dB clip level
- Re-issue of 1967 API 550 EQ with an extra band