Equalizer

Project Overview

A project formed from a frustration in my music production workflow. I wanted a simple, analog equalizer that I could use to shape the sound of my guitar and vocals. I had tried using digital plugins, but I found that they did not have the same warmth and character as an analog equalizer. So, I decided to build my own.

Technical Details

My first project in Analog processing. Transferring from digital to analog circuits was quite the challenge! At this point in my life, I had devloped an intuitve understanding of digital circuits, and how they behaved. Researching analog, and learning about it's negative phase was disorienting, as it completely changed my perception of how current flows. Additionally, it introduced several new concepts to me, including band filters, op amps, and the concept of gain. I accomplished my goal through a combination of researching old schematics, and trial and error. I started by builing a simple op amp with the ne5532-still my favorite op amp to this day. I built that up by adding 3 band pass filters, and a gain stage. Plugging in my contraption, I was dissapointed. Nothing was coming out of the speaker! I put my ear closer, and started hearing something interesting--people talking. I was shocked. Was something talking to me? Had God abandoned the burning bush in favor of an 8 ohm speaker? I was confused, and a little scared. Probing around more, I found my problem--my op amp wasn't grounded correctly. About 20 minutes of research later, I realized I had accidentally created a simple radio. The op amp was amplifying the radio signals in the air, and sending them to the speaker. I was amazed by this discovery, and it sparked a new interest in radio and wireless communication.