Lindell Audio TE-100 v1.1.1 WiN

For some time, hardware equalizers had to each be developed with a specific purpose in mind, requiring engineers to combine different EQ types in one signal chain in order to achieve the frequency response they needed on any given source. They would have to accept the necessary evil of the resulting phase and intermodulation distortion when treating these sounds. When released in 1961, the Klein & Hummel UE-100 Universal Equalizer changed all that.

This all-tube minimum phase EQ used six discrete filter modules to create a collection of band-pass filters that could create dynamic curves for any application from source mixing to vocal tracking to mastering. While some earlier UE-100s were used to transparently filter out junk low and high frequencies when printing to tape and vinyl, it quickly became commonplace to take advantage of the unique pushbutton frequency selection; this provided an easy way to not only recall settings, but also alter them on the fly while recording a performance. The UE-100 became known for its musically warm curves and precise response, offering a myriad of possibilities for treating frequencies by boosting and/or cutting across the spectrum to shape sounds “like a Pultec on steroids.”

That tube-powered universal sound and innovative behavior from K&H is now available to you in plugin form. The Lindell TE-100 is an exacting emulation of all the sweet and savory frequency treatment offered by the original hardware EQ. Right down to the pushbuttons on the interface and the all-tube filter bypass, the TE-100 re-creates this piece of German audio history with immaculate realism. Only now, a stereo pair won’t cost you $10,000.