Lindell Audio PEX-500 500 Series Passive Equalizer

Name: Lindell Audio PEX-500 500 Series Passive Equalizer
Brand: Lindell Audio
Rating: 4.5 (14 reviews)

500 Series Rack Format Passive Parametric Equalizer with Stepped Frequency Controls and True Bypass

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Item ID: PEX500

Lindell Audio PEX-500 500 Series Passive Equalizer

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Lindell Audio PEX-500 500 Series Passive Equalizer

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Add a Passive EQ to Your 500 Series Rig!

Drop a Lindell PEX-500 equalizer into your API 500 Series compatible rack and you're in for a real sonic treat. Built around a classic Pultec parametric EQ design, the PEX-500 gives you the open mids, creamy highs, and punchy lows that only a true passive equalizer can deliver. Like the classic EQs it was modeled after, the PEX-500 features all discrete circuitry, including transformer-coupled balanced inputs and outputs. A series of 3-step switches provide hassle-free control over your low- and high-frequency EQ bands plus the cutoff frequency for the high-frequency attenuator and Lindell's true-bypass circuitry keeps your signal pure on the rare occasions you actually feel like bypassing your PEX-500 equalizer.

Resources

From the Manufacturer

PEX-500 Passive EQ Cue Sheet

PEX-500 Passive EQ User Manual

500 Series Buying Guide

Signal Processing Buying Guide

Hands On: Lindell Audio 500 Series Modules

Apr 17, 2013

Welcome Lindell Audio!

Dec 12, 2012

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Tech Specs

Type: Solid State
Number of Channels: 1
Controls: Attenuate, Boost, Q
Number of Bands: 3-band
Q Type: Selectable
Freq Range High: 10kHz, 15kHz, 20kHz
Freq Range Hi-Mid: 6kHz, 10kHz, 16kHz
Freq Range Low: 30Hz, 60Hz, 100Hz
Bypass: Yes
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20kHz
Depth: 7"
Manufacturer Part Number: PEX500

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Reviews

4.4

Customer Photos & Videos

I've had a Klark Teknik EQP-KT for a while and upgraded its tubes to Genelex Gold Lions but that made no difference. The EQP-KT has major issues with the bandwidth of the HF boost (too narrow of a Q even at fully wide setting) so I tried this Lindell PEX-500 after hearing good things about it from YouTuber Glenn Fricker. Even though the Lindell has far fewer selectable frequencies than plugins, a genuine Pultec or any of the other hardware clones, it still does what it needs and has a bandwidth control similar to all the other plugins I've used (unlike the KT). If I had it to do over again I would have gotten this instead of the KT without hesitation. This baby is so sweet I'll be getting a second to make a stereo pair.

I like that it uses an API style op amp instead of tubes. That gives it a much snappier response to transients than a real tube Pultec. It's more like the solid state edition that Pultec themselves make (don't recall the model numbers but I think they have SS at the end). Andrew Scheps has mentioned in a recent video I saw that he prefers Pultec plugins over real hardware because he feels the transient response is too slow with the tube hardware ones. That's where the Lindell's op amp design can help. Plus it's op amps are pin compatible with my CAPI VP312 pres in case I want to try giving it a different op amp flavor (2520, 1731 or even a 990). The one it comes with sounds just fine though. I just really like that it uses such a great standard.

I put a sweep tone through the Lindell to do a spectrum analysis so I could compare it to the many Pultec plugins I have and also the EQP-KT. The Lindell faired very well in that analysis and was able to duplicate EQ curves of plugins without breaking a sweat. I tested using Waves Q-Capture/Q-Clone which has a nice spectrum graphic.

Last, I compared its tone to plugins on several different instruments and again, it compared admirably. It did the LF boost/cut technique just as well as any plugin. It's top was sweet, airy and not harsh just like a real one. It's quiet. No system noise, no tone shift, nothing nasty about it. Just pure hardware girth and sweetness. I'll probably still use plugins for mixing only due to recall and multiple instances but the Lindell will probably be used on every tracking job I ever do again.

Only one issue which I have with all my units with power lights, it's L.E.D. is a tad bright at my mix chair so I put a red dot sticker over it. My 500 series chassis already has a power indicator so the one on the Lindell is redundant anyway.

Thanks to Lindell and to Aaron at Sweetwater. I can't wait to get another one (or more)!

This eq is a great way to shape the tonal balance of a track.
1. Boost the fundamental and the high end attack of a kick
2. Brighten up a vocal, guitar,ect.
3. Add low end to a bass.
4. Process a mono bus (kick/bass, kick/snare/bass, lead vocal or guitar)

It's relatively cheap and an improvement over my Mackie mixer's eq. Not a high bar I know but I feel like it outperforms it's price point and will likely never end up in your closet.

At Sweetwater, it's all about the candy - the ear candy, that is! Scored a pair of these Lindell PEX-500 modules on sale and they're worth every penny. The build-quality is excellent and they definitely have that classic passive Pultec EQ sound. In the scaled back 500 series form factor, they are missing the full range of frequency values included in the original and in reproduction hardware, but the included frequencies are the ones you really need and will use most of the time. With this unit, you do all the time-tested Pultec EQ tricks to fatten up the bottom end or add sheen and sparkle to the top end. We already have the Lindell PEX-500 plugin from Plugin Alliance and bought the hardware to give us a few channels OTB for tracking and analog summing. That gave us the unique opportunity to do an A/B comparison of the two and I can say with absolute confidence that the PEX-500 hardware module is virtually indistinguishable from the PEX-500 plugin. Is that good or bad? It depends on your perspective and on your needs. We think the plugin is great, so the fact that hardware sounds just like it is a very good thing. We actually the hardware to use in the analog domain, so didn't mind spending the dough to get two channels of it. But honestly, if you don't need the hardware then save your money and buy the plugin. It's that good. What's the difference between the two? Not much. I couldn't hear any substantial difference between the hardware and the plugin, but the null test was the clincher. We did this test by reversing the polarity on one and mixing the two together in an analog mixer. With identical settings in each unit, they should null completely. Well they didn't, but the nulls were close enough that the mixed signals cancelled almost completely at every matched setting. For all sorts of reason, you will seldom find complete cancellation between two identical hardware units, and definitely not between a hardware unit and a plugin. But the results were consistently close enough that they'd count as a perfect match in horseshoes or hand grenades.

Wow this thing blew me away. I bought it for bass and vocals and now my vocals can't live without it. It seriously helps a vocal cut right through any mix. And as someone who produces a lot of shoegaze music this is a must to get that top end sheen that cuts the vocal right through.

Man oh man. I feel spoiled owning this eq. If you've got a great mic and preamp, crank up some 16kHz goodness and watch that mystical air start to happen in your track. Very clean eq great for putting that ever so popular smiley face curve on a pop vocal or fattening up a bass for example. And using the boost and cut simultaneously on the low frequency band can get you some cool results.

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What Do Our In-house Gear Experts Think?

inSync Review

Mitch Gallagher

Swedish record producer Tobias Lindell is well known for his dedication to great sound. When he launched Lindell Audio in 2010, his goal was to create equipment that suited his own working methods and satisfied his need for quality. Now he has brought that same dedication to the 500 Series format with three modules: the 6X-500 mic pre/EQ, the 7X-500 FET compressor, and the PEX-500 Pultec-style EQ. I had the opportunity to load all three up in an API lunchbox and take them for a spin. The 7X-500 is Lindell's take on classic 1176-style compression, with all the expected features and controls. However, two additional features take it up a notch: a mix control for parallel compression and a sidechain with a highpass filter. The 7X-500 excels anywhere you'd use an 1176. I found the 7X-500 is especially awesome on drums, guitars, and vocals, but it is a great all-around compressor. The PEX-500 is a Pultec-style EQ with both low and high bands, each with boost and cut controls. Being able to boost and cut in the same band allows you to create complex EQ curves, but the real power of the PEX-500 lies in the fat, punchy bottom and creamy top end it can produce. I used it on kick drum, snare drum, electric bass, and vocals -- everything simply sounded better running through the PEX-500. The 6X-500 preamp/EQ offers a thick transformer-coupled sound with fat low end and smooth top end. The bonus is the inclusion of two boost-only bands of Pultec-style EQ, each with three frequency selections. There's 65dB of gain on tap, plus 48-volt phantom power, polarity reverse, and EQ bypass switches. This is a great-sounding preamp. The Lindell Audio 500 Series modules offer incredible value -- at just $299.99 each, they're no-brainers for building a hybrid studio based around a DAW and a mixer or summing box. Check these out -- great audio awaits!

See also: 500 EQ, Lindell Audio, Lindell Audio 500 Series EQ