MXR M170 Dual Octave Graphic Equalizer

The MXR Stereo Octave 20-Band EQ is analog graphic equalizer.  While it is a 20-band EQ in total, each of the channels has 10 bands to work with along with the master left and right output sliders.  I have used the unit both in the recording studio and in the home audio setting.  It only has RCA connections, so it can be a bit of a pain to set up if you don't have converters.  It is indeed rack mountable and will take up two rack spaces.

UTILIZATION

The make up of the MXR Stereo Octave 20-Band EQ isn't too hard to use if you know the basics of a graphic EQ and equalization in general.  Each band of frequencies is marked to make it as easy as it could possibly be.  If you know anything about EQ, I don't think you'll have too much trouble figuring out how to use this on its own, so a manual isn't a necessity.


SOUND QUALITY

The sound quality of the MXR Stereo Octave 20-Band EQ is generally good, as it does the job as advertised.  However, it isn't the cleanest sounding EQ I've ever used.  It can be used in just about any situation where you would want to equalize, as the ten bands per channel make it versatile enough to adapt to almost any situation.  In terms of outside the recording studio, it can also be used in your basic home theater set up as well, as I have used this unit in both situations and found that it has worked well for either.


OVERALL OPINION

Up until recently I owned the MXR Stereo Octave 20-Band EQ, but although I like the unit on the whole, I no longer had a real need for it.  This being said, if you're interested in a graphic EQ for your studio or home audio set up, this is a piece of gear that I would recommend looking into.  However, it is quite rare as I haven't seen too many of them around other than the one that I owned.  Although not my favorite graphic EQ out there, and I generally like using parametric EQs over graphic ones, if you come across an MXR Stereo Octave EQ I'd recommend stopping to check it out as you never know when you might see one again...