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1) The Power Switch: First things first, flip the toggle up to turn on the Mini Massive. There is no "power on LED", instead
the "Bypass" LED indicator is lit red for a few seconds as the unit warms up and stabilizes. If the "EQ IN" switch is also up,
then a few seconds later the LED changes from red to green. The Mini Massive has a "hard-wire bypass" so even when power
is off it will pass audio untouched. In fact, because this EQ is quite transparent when set flat, one of our tests is cycling power
on and off while listening for any audible change - it should be as transparent through the unit as when hardwire bypassed.
2) EQ IN toggle: This activates both sides of the EQ and is intended as a convenience feature. Of course, it is pretty easy to
bypass the two individual sections per side using the "OUT" setting (Switch#3) so one can easily use the unit as two mono
EQs. This master EQ IN switch makes auditioning and comparing the effect of the total stereo EQ extremely easy.
3) BOOST / OUT / CUT, TOGGLE. Each band has individual toggles to select whether that band will boost or cut or be
bypassed. "OUT" is a hardwire bypass for that band. Unlike most EQs, you must select boost or cut for each band. There are
several good reasons for this arrangement. First, because the boost part of the circuit is in a different place than the cut part
because it is passive, this allows us to use the same components in both sections but doing essentially opposite functions. The
conventional arrangement of a boost/zero/cut pot (baxandall) circuit was avoided to really make it passive. This switch also
allows twice the resolution of the "GAIN" pot and a much more accurate "zero". The center detent of conventional EQs is rarely
the "electrical" center of the pot so what you expect is zero is often a little EQed. This toggle allows some of us, who use dip
EQ to reduce offending frequencies to verify those frequencies in "Boost" and then switch to "Cut". Finally, it allows us to
bypass each band individually, without losing our "GAIN" pot setting rather than resetting a band to zero or bypassing the
entire EQ.
4) SHELF & BELL toggle. The two lowest (leftmost) bands can each be a special Low Shelf or conventional Bell shape. The
two highest (rightmost) bands can each be a special High Shelf or conventional Bell shape. Shelf & Bell describe the EQ's
shape. We included some diagrams to help visualize these curves. Bell curves focus their boost and cut at given frequency and
the further away we get from that frequency, the less boost or cut. The bell curves on the Mini Massive are moderately wide
and the "Bandwidth Control" does not have a lot of range and it also affects the maximum boost and cut (like a Pultec). Shelf
slopes generally boost (or cut) towards the highs or lows (thus high shelves and low shelves). These are not to be confused
with "high or low filters" which purely cut above or below a given frequency. Shelves also have gain or dB controls which
allow you to just boost or cut a little bit if desired - filters never have these controls.
The High band also has a special setting labelled BELL 2 that only operates on the 4 highest frequencies. It simply narrows
the Q for those 4 highest frequencies. This can be useful for controlling the apparent air or sweetness of the extreme highs.
One may notice the ovals marked around the 4 highest freqs and a corresponding oval around the Bell 2 setting.
It is a bit of an refinement from the Massive Passive which doesn't offer that feature and which followed a more general
philosophy of maintaining very similar curve shapes across the spectrum. While the SHELF curves on both the Massive
Passive and Mini Massive are capable of good control of 'air', it seems many users missed that idea because they generally
favor bell curves and in the case of the Massive Passive the bell Q is probably too wide for great 'air' control. The Mini Massive
includes 3 features that vastly improve 'air' control. The first is this narrower Q in Bell 2, the second is reshaped curves for
the 4 highest shelf frequencies, and the third is the incredible clarity offered by the Rapture amps along with transformerless
outputs, which extents the frequency and phase response. These features were considered important for a basic 2 band stereo
EQ more aimed at mastering than the Massive Passive was, where ironically it has seen a lot of use.
Similarly, we reshaped the 4 lowest shelf curves for more fatness, depth and punch compared to the Massivo. These new curves
might be considered more Pultec-like but are not in the strictest sense. They just offer a similar usefulness and essentially
increase the range that the bandwidth control can be effectively used for those lowest freqs. It also breaks away from the
philosophy on the Massivo of maintaining similar curve shaping across the spectrum. The Mini shifts the dip aspect of the shelf
curves more towards the low mids and mids for those lowest 4 frequencies.
It may also be worth pointing out that the shelf curves that were introduced by the Massive Passive were quite unique at that
time and while there have been imitations since, these shelves are still unique, unusual and certainly unconventional compared
to most EQs and are worth exploring and learning. Let us just say that the biggest fans of the Massive are the engineers who
quickly learned the strange shelf 'features' and those who approached it as a whole new tool, and not just a standard EQ.
5
THE FRONT PANEL
mini
BY MANLEY LABS
FREQUENCY
22
33
47
68
100
150
220
330
470
680
1K
LEVEL
0
8
20
P
B
massive
BOOST
OUT
CUT
LOW FREQUENCY EQ
BANDWIDTH
SHELF
BELL
560
820
1K2
1K8
2K7
3K9
5K6
8K2
12K
16K
27K 22
33
47
68
100
150
220
330
470
680
1K 560
820
1K2
1K8
2K7
3K9
5K6
8K2
12K
16K
27K
FREQUENCY BANDWIDTH LEVEL
BOOST
OUT
CUT
SHELF
BELL 2
SHELF
BELL
SHELF
BELL 2
FREQUENCY BANDWIDTH LEVELFREQUENCY BANDWIDTH LEVEL
BOOST
OUT
CUT
BOOST
OUT
CUT
HI FREQUENCY EQ HI FREQUENCY EQLOW FREQUENCY EQ
0
8
20
P
B
0
8
20
P
B
0
8
20
P
B
EQ IN
POWER
BELL
BELL
HZ HZ HZ HZ
1
233
446
3
4
3
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