It has long been recognised that vacuum tubes impart a unique warmth and musicality to an audio signal. However, many classic tube equalisers fall short of the technical performance demanded in today's digital recording age.
Designed to complement the acclaimed Drawmer 1960, the 1961 Vacuum Tube Equaliser combines low-noise circuitry with twelve active tube stages to provide two channels of exceptional equalisation with a distinctive personality.
Rather than employing a continuously variable resistor for frequency control, the 1961 uses a rotary step-switching system derived from vintage designs. This allows the component values for each frequency band to be optimised across the entire audio spectrum, ensuring uncompromising performance and greater accuracy when setting up - particularly when processing stereo signals.
The 1961 allows you to control the amount of warmth by deciding how hard to drive the tubes - producing a sound as clean as the best discrete solid-state designs, or as hot as the most colourful vintage tube gear.
The 1961 and 1960 can also be interlinked, effectively creating a two-channel vacuum tube mixing console - the perfect mastering or post-production sweetening tool.
A variable input level control, ranging from -20dB to +20dB, ensures compatibility with a wide range of sources and allows the tubes to be driven softly or pushed harder for added warmth. Clear LED bar-graph displays provide instant visual feedback of input levels.
Balanced inputs and outputs are provided on XLR connectors, while operating levels of -10dBu or +4dBu can be selected via a rear-panel switch. Insert points on 1/4" jacks allow direct connection to the side chain or insert points of the Drawmer 1960. When interlinked, the 1960 and 1961 form a powerful front-end package, with gain control, EQ and compression available directly to mic or line-level signals without the need for a mixing console.
At the heart of the 1961 are four bands of parametric equalisation per channel, each with six carefully selected overlapping frequencies and its own dedicated tube stage to deliver exceptional harmonic clarity. Each band provides a variable bandwidth from 0.3 to 3 octaves, with up to ±18dB of cut or boost. The full frequency ranges include Bass (20Hz-200Hz), Low-Mid (100Hz-1kHz), Hi-Mid (0.5-5kHz), and Treble (2.5-25kHz).
In addition, the 1961 offers a variable 12dB/octave high-pass filter adjustable from 15Hz to 500Hz to remove unwanted low-end or subsonic noise, and a variable 12dB/octave low-pass filter adjustable from 2.5kHz to 56kHz for removing high-frequency interference or limiting overly bright signals. Together, these facilities provide precise, musical control over the entire audio spectrum.
Two additional tube stages in the output section of each channel allow soft clipping when driven harder, with 'Soft' and 'O/L' (Overload) LEDs clearly displaying the effect. The VU meters are switchable to show either gain reduction or output level, enabling accurate monitoring at all times.
Each EQ band has its own bypass switch, along with a master bypass per channel, allowing instant A/B comparisons or the option to run signals through the tube output stages alone for added warmth without EQ. This straightforward layout makes the 1961 fast to set up and flexible in use, whether for subtle tonal shaping, creative coloration, or mastering applications.
