The Motown Sound: Signed, Sealed, Delivered
The Acme Audio MTEQ-1 Motown EQ is a spot-on reproduction of a 1960s design built in-house at Motown Studios in Detroit. Over the course of that decade, Motown fostered a culture of incessant innovation that generated an arsenal of homegrown hit-making equipment, such as the original device known simply as the “Motown EQ.” However, just 48 were ever built, and today, the highly coveted originals are exceedingly rare — even more so if you’re seeking one in working condition. That’s why Sweetwater is excited to present the Acme Audio MTEQ-1 Motown EQ. To faithfully re-create this vintage masterpiece, Acme Audio collaborated with Mike McLean, Motown’s former chief technical engineer, to reverse engineer one of the original Motown EQs. The results are impressive, indeed.
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The sound of Hitsville, USA
In the early ’60s, achieving heavy rotation in AM radio airplay for your 7-inch, monaural 45 rpm single was the gold standard of success, and record companies were falling all over each other to have their discs be the loudest on the airwaves. At Motown’s Hitsville, USA recording studio, the company made loud into a science. Physics dictated that a record could only be so loud before the stylus would pop right out of the grooves — and record stores started returning boxes of 45s that wouldn’t track. As a result, Motown — led by chief technical engineer Mike McLean, who designed and built much of the studio’s proprietary gear in-house — explored every avenue of obtaining hotter releases while retaining trackability to maximize the impact of their music on disc. Of course, equalization plays a big role in perceived loudness, which helps explain some of the design parameters behind Motown’s storied 7-band EQs — and why these exceedingly rare units are so highly prized today.
No-compromise design for authentic sound and performance
In order to match the sound and performance of the original Motown EQ, the MTEQ-1 contains only OEM or meticulous reproduction components, with every inductor, capacitor, and transformer being engineered to precise original specifications using 100% period-correct materials, values, and tolerances. So, as you would expect, Acme Audio’s authentic re-creation packs a wallop without a hint of harshness or distortion. Under the hood, the passive equalization circuit is identical to the proprietary Motown design. As such, the MTEQ-1 EQ is no mere reverentially “close” copy or “improved” modern version of the original. It is, effectively, the real deal. With the Acme Audio Motown EQ, you can pump up your recordings with the sound that launched countless Motown hits six decades ago.
Acme Audio MTEQ-1 Motown EQ Features:
- 7-band equalizer inspired by the Motown classic
- Frequency bands: 50Hz, 130Hz, 320Hz, 800Hz, 2000Hz, 5000Hz, 12500Hz
- +/-8dB of boost/cut per band
- Rotary switches facilitate precise parameter settings and recall
- Transformer-balanced circuit with AMI A24 input transformer and Mesanovic custom output transformer
- Custom Mesanovic Moly permalloy powder-core inductors
- Op-amp Labs 425 output amplifier, True to the original
- Additional 2520 footprint available for user-specified op-amp
- 29dB maximum level
- Frequency response: 10Hz–30kHz (+/-1dB)
- External PSU for low noise floor
- Rugged all-aluminum chassis
