Recording - July 2016 - 58

B Y PA U L V N U K J R .

BAE Audio B15 500 Series EQ
A classic sound takes modern form in this 500 Series module
BAE Audio, although short for British Audio
Engineering, is based in North Hollywood, CA. The
company was originally founded over 20 years ago by
famed gear designer Brent Averill (the original "BA" in
the name), with a focus on part-for-part accurate reproductions of classic 10 Series Neve modules.
Remember, this was a time when even AMS Neve was
no longer making nor servicing 10 Series products.
BAE was one of the only options for upkeep, repair,
and replacement of these units, whether standalone or
in classic consoles.
BAE is now under the direction of Mark
Loughman, and its product line boasts no less than
27 products that continue the classic 10 Series tradition, as well as introducing brand-new designs
with their own style and sound... in everything from
19" rack enclosures and portable boxes to 500
Series solutions. Today we are looking at one of
these BAE originals, the B15 500 Series equalizer.
The B15 is a transformer balanced 3-band discrete EQ. If this EQ looks familiar, that's because it
is an updated version of the older Avedis-designed
E15 EQ from earlier in BAE's history.
Frontside, inside
Visually the B15 is every inch a classic 500
Series console-style EQ module. Its look, layout,
and styling are very much like an API 550A and a
Neve 1073 had a baby!
The faceplate is finished in a classy matte black
with white lettering. Each of the three bands features a dual concentric rotary pot/switch. The silver
Neve-like outer ring features six stepped frequency
positions, while the black plastic inner knob is fully
variable and offers 16 dB of boost or attenuation.
On the bottom of the unit are three white push buttons. The first two switch the high and low bands
from bell curves to shelves, and the last button-
complete with an LED-engages/bypasses the unit.
Inside the unit is a work of art with three high-end
Swiss-made Elma stacked rotary switches, two
Avedis 1122 Op amps, a Jensen JT-11P-1HPC input
transformer, and a custom Jensen JT-BAE1211 output transformer.
Like an API 550A, the three EQ bands of the B15
feature a proportional Q and their frequencies do
not overlap. Proportional Q means that the more a
band is boosted or attenuated, the narrower the Q
becomes. The frequencies are as follows (note that in
this labeling, for example, "6k8" means 6.8 kHz):
High: 6k8, 8k2, 10k, 12k,16k, Off
Mid: 560, 750, 1k5, 3k3, 5k6, Off
Low: 63, 120, 200, 300, 430, Off
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RECORDING JULY 2016

In use
In use I found the frequencies well chosen.
Sonically the B15 is very modern, clean, open
and dimensional, but thanks to its transformers
and op amps, it also has a beautiful punch and
weight. Like any good console-style workhorse
EQ, it was fantastic at sculpting electric guitars in
an indie rock mix one minute, and great for folky
male vocals in an all-acoustic ballad the next.
On an acoustic Martin guitar the 12k and 16k
High bands are great for adding air and sparkle,
and I was impressed by how much I could push
them. The guitar just got more and more opensounding, yet never harsh. Also on acoustic guitar, the Mid band is great for sculpting the woody
tone of the guitar-but be warned, on any source
these mids are powerful! I tended to stick to wider
and more gentle settings.
The B15's low end is quite natural sounding;
similar to what I heard in the uppermost high
bands, pushing the lows liberally rarely sounded
bad. Because of this, though, it was easy to add
too much low end to an instrument or mix and get
out of hand if not paying attention! I can't pinpoint
why, but the 200 Hz on the Low band is pretty
magical; it was the frequency I ended up using
often, especially on electric guitars and bass.
Speaking of on bass: when tracking a 1950s
Fender Precision reissue through an Ampeg
BA115 amp with just a Neumann U47fet mic,
1k5 on the mids was great for bringing out the
string growl and finger noise. 12k on the top
added a nice air, and again 200 Hz on the
low end, pushed to about +12 dB (!), made the
track fat as heck but still punchy.
Thanks to the transformers and op amps,
even with all bands turned off, the B15 adds a
nice slight polish and weight to the sound... a
gloss, if you will.
Fini
A rack of these EQ modules would serve any
mix well. While not a clone of any classic unit,
the B15 does fit a vintage API-esque paradigm
by forgoing any overlap on the bands. As mentioned, however, the frequencies are well chosen and broad enough to work well on just
about anything, alone or in pairs on a bus.
The B15 is a truly quality build, with top-tier,
well chosen parts and a fantastic sound!
Price: $1000
More from: BAE Audio, www.baeaudio.com

http://www.baeaudio.com

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