It’s usually hot air, but not always … The Manley Massive Passive EQ plugin

[Sundown]

Hey all,

 

I’ve been around long enough to know that when a company advertises their effects unit or plugin to be the “missing ingredient” in your mix, you’re generally going to be disappointed … Rarely does a single unit make a colossal difference and especially with the boutique / vintage craze, many plugins are a 1-3% difference in overall sonics. Said another way, there is a sonic impact, but it’s the last 1-3% of the journey that many listeners won’t even notice. 

 

But every once in a while I’m surprised, and right now I’m pretty knocked-back with the Massive Passive EQ from UAD/Manley. It’s not new to the market, but new to me. I slapped it on the mix buss tonight (along with the Vari-Mu compressor plugin) and there is indeed something great happening here … With just subtle cuts and boosts on the buss, there is a clarity, separation, warmth, and depth that wasn’t there before. I hypothesize that it’s the tube modeling as my adjustments have been quite subtle.

 

I like the Vari-Mu too but between the two, the EQ seems to have a bigger “oomph” and impact to the overall sound. It’s definitely bringing a smile to my face. My go-to buss setup before was the UAD or Waves SSL G-Bus compressor and the UAD Precision EQ. I think I’ll be using these Manley units for a while….

 

And there’s a small, perhaps unintended bonus with this  EQ … Because the frequencies are detented, I’m forced to choose and move on with life … I’m not fiddling around worrying about whether the right cut is 373 Hz or 417 Hz. On the Manley, it’s 330, 390, or 470 and that’s it (for that frequency range). You can certainly adjust the Q, but you don’t get other frequency choices except the available detents.

 

P.S. I have no connection to UAD or Manley Labs … I’m just an amateur home studio rat who was pleasantly surprised tonight.

 

Todd

[KenElevenShadows]

I have never heard the Manley Massive Passive plugin. I have, however, heard the hardware unit. It's the best, most musical EQ I have ever heard. If the plugin sounds half as good as the hardware unit, it's gotta be great. I know Eveanna, but would say this regardless. That EQ is amazing.

[Anderton]

I agree there's something special about this plugin. 

 

12 hours ago, Sundown said:

And there’s a small, perhaps unintended bonus with this  EQ … Because the frequencies are detented, I’m forced to choose and move on with life … I’m not fiddling around worrying about whether the right cut is 373 Hz or 417 Hz.

 

And you get both versions of the Massive Passive hardware - the one with the detents for the Bandwidth (the "mastering" version) and the one with variable Bandwidth. 

 

I always cite the Massive Passive as a sterling example of plugins that sound 99.9% the same as the hardware, for a fraction of the price. When the plugin first came out, I cornered Eveanna Manley and asked her to level with me about how she felt regarding the accuracy of the plugin. She was enthusiastic and super-impressed with what UA had done with her "baby."