The Audio Expert, 2nd Edition

Chapter 3

Hearing, Perception, and Artifact Audibility

I wasn’t present in 1951 when the Pultec equalizer was designed, but I suspect the engineers were aiming for a circuit that affects the audio as little as possible beyond the response changes being asked of it. I’m quite sure they were not aiming for a ‘vintage’ sound. The desire for ‘warmth’ and a ‘tube sound’ came many years later, as a new generation of engineers tried to understand why some old-school recordings sound so good. Failing to understand the importance of good mic technique in a good-sounding room coupled with good engineering, they assumed (wrongly IMO) that it must be the gear that was used. Personally, I want everything in my recording chain to be absolutely clean. If I ...