Sculpt Your Sound with Beautiful Broad Strokes
A-Designs' Hammer 2 is a dual-mono, 3-band tube equalizer in a 2RU chassis. A broad-brushstroke EQ that works wonders strapped across your stereo mix bus, the Hammer's unique features also make it indispensable during tracking. Sweetwater engineers have found that the Hammer 2 enhances any signal you run through it — even with the EQ bypassed, thanks, in part, to an innovative filtering system that imparts sweetly musical 2nd-order tube harmonics while eliminating noise. This makes the Hammer 2 a natural for DAW-based workflows that can often produce clinical-sounding results. With the Hammer 2, you can add air to vocal tracks, punch to bass and drums, and the perfect texture to your entire mix. It's also remarkably easy to use; you simply can't make A-Designs' Hammer 2 sound bad.
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Nailing the perfect sound is quick and easy
With the Hammer 2, nailing the perfect sound is a fast, intuitive process. Each of its two channels is fitted with six detented rotary controls. There are three stepped frequency selector switches for easy recall; each is accompanied by a gain knob providing 12dB of continuously variable boost or cut. The three bands overlap for a seamless transition throughout the entire spectrum. In a novel arrangement, the bottom three frequencies (30Hz, 60Hz, and 125Hz) and top three frequencies (4.8kHz, 12.5kHz, and 30kHz) are shelving; the others are peaking. If you perked up at the mention of 30,000Hz, we should point out that the Hammer 2's overall frequency response is spec'd at 5Hz-40KHz (-3dB) — impressive, to say the least. Per-channel toggle switches for EQ in/out as well as highpass (84Hz) and lowpass (8kHz) filters complete the feature set.
Program-dependent, floating Q moves with the music
So, by now you may be thinking you have the whole story on the Hammer 2, but there's just one more thing. It's bandwidth "floats" according to the amount of gain, and the frequency content and dynamics of the program material. The program dependency of its Q is key to the HM2EQ's highly musical nature, and is another reason why it's hard to make it sound less than stellar. A-Designs' ingenious tube-harmonic filtering circuit, a pair of hand-selected 12AT7 tubes (known for exceptional stability), and a custom heavy-duty toroidal power transformer also add their alluring sonic charms to the Hammer's signal path.
Weapons-grade build, cool retro-modern looks
A-Designs, quite eloquently, touts the Hammer 2 as "an inspired design whose sonic signature is far greater than the sum of its components." While this statement may seem to cast shade on the parts list, let us assure you that the Hammer's components and build quality are every bit as impressive as its performance. And did we mention how great it looks in your rack? With its custom-milled brushed black aluminum faceplate, milled aluminum control knobs, and big blue jewel power lamp, the A-Designs Hammer 2 rocks no-nonsense retro-modern visuals that your collaborators, clients, and friends will immediately spot in your studio rack.
A-Designs Hammer 2 Features:
- 3-band, dual-mono tube equalizer
- Highly musical for broad-brushstroke EQ stereo bus and mastering duties
- Smooth, ultra-fidelity equalization suitable for high-end professional applications
- Gorgeous-sounding broad EQ-shaping across several octaves without adversely impacting tone
- Warm transparent sound with clean, airy high end
- Detented boost and cut controls
- Highly musical overlapping bands
- Program-dependent, floating Q moves with the music
- Highpass and lowpass filters with bypass
- Transformerless design utilizing 12AT7 output tubes
- Custom-milled aluminum knobs and faceplate
- Heavy-duty Carling power toggle switch
