Fredenstein F610: a bad-ass 500-series EQ with a big ol’ touchscreen
4,0 / 5,0 | 
Fredenstein announced a badass-looking equalizer in 500-series rack format – the F610 Universal Entzerrer UE-1. Yeah, it’s named like a piece of lab equipment and it very much looks like one. The full product description reads as follows: digitally-controlled stereo analog quad band EQ and 30-band spectrum analyzer. Respect the EQ!
Of course, the main eye-catcher here is the 3.5-inch touchscreen display that makes all of the EQ’s parameters available on tap. Very modern and convenient! Turning back to the EQ itself, it offers four identical filters which can be tuned from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. With the rotary encoder, users are given access to around 190 frequencies per filter.
Maximum filter gain is +/- 16dB, adjustable in 0.25dB steps and offering the option to stack additional filters at the same frequency for cuts and boosts at up to 64dB. Furthermore, the Q-factor of each filter can vary between 0.4 to 7.9, giving the means for tight/wide boosts & cuts.
If that’s not enough, a variable 2nd order low-cut filter ranging from 20Hz to 975Hz is available, as well as a Color function for tube-inspired saturation. In tandem with the EQ, a 30-band spectrum analyzer with 60dB dynamic range with selectable sensitivity ranging from +6dBu to +24dBu, adjusted in 6dB steps. The analyzer can deal with both the input and output signal for added versatility.
Since the F610 is very much a computer at heart, it’s not surprising that it has a fair bit of memory as well. Up to 99 presets can be stored there, and a microUSB interface connects the unit to PCs for remote control.
All in all, this is an impressive and modern equalizer that looks and means business. The 1900 EUR price tag is difficult to stomach, but hey, there are folks out there spending 20k on a single cable, so there’s that.
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