Recording - February 2018 - 36

Maselec

MEA-2
Mastering EQ

Tonal shaping for the master or
mix bus-utterly without compromise
REVIEW BY JUSTIN PERKINS
he Maselec MEA-2 is a stereo 4-band EQ that
was developed by UK-based engineer and producer Leif Mases, whose history of designing
and building high-end audio equipment includes
custom mastering consoles where transparency and a
clean/neutral sound are key. He originally built this EQ
for personal use because he wanted a very clean and
precise stereo bus EQ and wasn't completely happy
with any existing options! While the MEA-2 has been
around for awhile, its latest version has attracted a lot of
attention for its considerable sonic improvements over an
already impeccable design, and I'm glad to present it
to you today.

Meet the new box

The MEA-2 is a 3U rack unit, just over 15" deep. It has a
track record of incredible sound and reliability, something that
similar EQs such as the Sontec 432 have been known to struggle with. Some mastering engineers even keep an extra Sontec
on hand as a backup! With the MEA-2, I don't think that would
ever be necessary; it's simply rock solid. The mastering world
is fast-paced and mastering engineers don't have time to be
without certain pieces of gear due to maintenance issues.
The latest version of the MEA-2 (Rev 7) features faster
amplifiers with wider bandwidth and improved low-frequency

RECORDING February 2018

EQ filters. Some of these low-frequency changes were made
because the way we produce and listen to music is different
now than it was 20 or 30 years ago, especially regarding
low-end treatment. These developments have significantly
improved the MEA-2's specifications by providing a lower
noise floor and wider dynamic range. Its new output amplifiers have improved high-frequency performance compared
to previous revisions.

Ergonomics and performance

From the moment you first touch the MEA-2, you can tell
you're working with a quality piece of equipment. The latest
revision of this EQ includes an improved knob design that I
think is easier to grasp, and the knobs feature a pointer/
arrow which allows you to quickly verify your settings, unlike
the flat knob design found on earlier versions of this EQ.
The Frequency, Gain, and Q knobs are all multi-position
switches rather than potentiometers, which makes recalling
your settings at a later time extremely easy and accurate. This
is crucial for mastering, where recalling settings requires precision, as well as the ability to match the left and right channels
perfectly. The ergonomics and layout of this EQ are extremely
well done-I never find myself second-guessing any settings.
Speaking of settings, the four bands per channel feature a
wide and overlapping range of frequency options, with a total
of 84 settings per channel. I find the frequency options to be
very logically chosen, ranging from 19 Hz up to 27 kHz. Each
band can be boosted or cut by 8 dB in half-dB increments. Each
band can also be a shelf EQ: this is a unique feature that can
make for interesting results as the bands interact with each other.
One of my favorite features is that if the gain of a band is
set to 0 dB, that band is internally bypassed within the unit.
Some users might prefer having an actual bypass switch for
each band for easier A/B comparisons, but perhaps having
less switches in the signal path is part of the low noise and
high transparency of this unit.

The sound

The MEA-2 elegantly straddles the line between transparent
and musical. I find that doing cuts is very transparent, while
most boosts are very clean yet musical. If a track is feeling dull
and needs a little more bite, a subtle boost at 5.4 kHz can do
wonders. About the only area where I have any reservations
is with high shelving boosts, which work well on some tracks
but can be a touch harsh on others; adding air and presence

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - February 2018