About Equalization - Hartke TX600 Owner's Manual

About Equalization

The Hartke TX600 Bass Amplifier gives you enormous control over shaping the sound
of your bass, using a process called equalization. To understand how this works, it's
important to know that every naturally occurring sound consists of a broad range of pitches
(frequencies) combined together in a unique way. This blend is what gives every sound its
distinctive tonal color. Actually, it's hard to make the TX600 EQ sound bad.
The TX600's EQ section is a tone
stack equalizer. The tone stack EQ
is a fixed bandwidth EQ. It is a little
different than normal boost and
cut hi-fi bass and treble controls as
there is no theoretical "flat" setting.
When the three knobs are at their
center (12 o'clock) position, the response is set to a preset equalization curve that has
been tailored for the bass guitar. The TX600 EQ controls are somewhat interactive, since
electronically, the BASS control feeds the SHAPE control, which feeds the Treble control.
You should experiment with the EQ knobs and your particular bass to dial up the best
sound.
The SHAPE and FREQUENCY knobs apply an adjustable notch (scoop) filter to the
specified frequency area, so that you can customize the effect of the EQ curve that best
complements your particular bass instrument. As the SHAPE knob is rotated clockwise
the depth of the notch increases. Moving the FREQUENCY control clockwise causes the
notch filter to be applied to higher frequencies, while moving the knob counterclockwise
causes it to be applied to lower frequencies.
In addition to the EQ knobs, the TX600 also includes a BRITE switch. The BRITE switch
adds an overall boost to the high-end frequency response. This button works in conjunction
with the GAIN knob (similar to the Loudness button on a stereo). As you raise the GAIN,
the overall boost is diminished. When the GAIN is set to "10" (turned fully clockwise),
the BRITE switch has no effect on the audio.
In many instances, the best way to deal with equalization is to think in terms of which
frequency areas you need to attenuate, as opposed to which ones you need to boost. Be
aware that boosting a frequency area also have the effect of boosting the overall signal;
specifically, too much low frequency EQ boost can actually cause overload distortion,
or even harm a connected speaker. In general, if you're going to apply a fair amount of
low frequency EQ boost, it's a good idea to keep compression on, if only to protect your
speakers from potential damage.
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