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Tone Controls

I have recently rethought the issue of tone controls. How many recordings do you own that you don’t like, but a little tweaking and it may be a different story?

How are using tone controls different than when they master the CD in the final process? I have a particular CD that I like and on one song it has a slight glare one it that I feel was missed in the mastering process. Without tone controls, there is nothing you can do after the fact.

Tone controls seem to be taboo in the high-end arena; I think they have been given a bad rap. We were sold the reasoning for no tone controls and we bought it.

If the tone controls have no affect on the signal when left in the middle, such as McIntosh does, no harm no foul, but a useful “tool”.

Someone may have a system that caters best to a certain type or style of music but falls short elsewhere, possibly with tone controls this could be overcome.

Any other thoughts?
brianmgrarcom

Showing 1 response by sean

sean
6,231 posts
 
Several older "straight wire with gain" preamps provided switchable "loops" specifically for use with an EQ or outboard tone controls. In my opinion, this offered the best of both worlds.

If the recording was poor enough to need "help" in terms of correcting tonal balance or other deficiencies, the use of a simple bass or treble control might not be enough. As such, a more advanced processor or multi-band EQ would be more suitable. One could then completely remove said device from the circuit and switch it in as needed. This also added more flexibility due to the fact that you could add / change / upgrade the external processor as one felt the need without having to "dump" the preamp that may have otherwise been functioning perfectly. Sean
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