MusicRadar

Massive Passive is great for adding some top-end sparkle.

View in gallery

• Review

Manley Labs does nothing by halves, and its Massive Passive (aka Massivo) is an amazing piece of engineering that takes a Pultec-style passive EQ as its starting point and runs with it.

The result is a stereo 4-band passive EQ (in a parallel configuration) with high- and low-pass filters, an all-valve gain make-up stage and transformer-balanced outputs.

Each band can be switched to cut or boost (20dB maximum in bell mode) and can work as either a bell or shelf - both can be modified using the bandwidth. Frequency selection is notched (11 frequencies per band), and there's considerable frequency overlap across bands. The parallel EQ design means that if you EQ the same or similar frequencies in two bands (for example), the gain doesn't 'double up'.

This brings us neatly to the bandwidth/gain interaction. In a typical 'constant bandwidth' EQ, gain levels may influence bandwidth, but not vice versa. With this unit, the bandwidth does affect the gain, and you'll only get the maximum 20dB gain when the bandwidth is at its narrowest. At its widest setting, gain will max out at 6dB (2dB for the 22Hz to 1kHz band).

In shelf mode, adjusting the bandwidth takes the slope from a typical shelf to a shape with a reverse bell around the frequency point (called a shelving overshoot). So, boosting in shelf mode with maximum bandwidth produces a marked bell dip (6dB) at the designated frequency.

Mastering option

As well as modelling the standard Massive Passive, Universal Audio has also included the Massive Passive Mastering Version as an extra plug-in. This hardware variation came about in response to demands for a more easily recallable and stereo-friendly unit. So, notched bandwidth and gain controls were added.

Just like the original, gain is dependent on bandwidth, so one notch is not a fixed amount of gain, but the notches do help in like-for-like recall situations.

So why the need for a software version? Well, Manley made some other changes. First up, the maximum gain was reduced to 11dB, allowing for more accurate settings. Next, the filters are at different frequencies (12, 16, 23, 30 and 39Hz high-pass; 15, 20, 27, 40 and 56kHz low-pass) and offer a slightly flatter shape up to the knee point. Finally, the master gain trims offer less gain overall (-2.5dB to +2.5dB) and are also properly detented in 0.5dB steps.

In use

While we wouldn't call the Massive Passive surgical, it's still very powerful, particularly with narrow bandwidths. In use, we particularly liked the bell shape for boosting low and low-mid frequencies and combining these with the high-pass filter worked well on bass guitar and acoustic guitar. Similarly, for top end sparkle the bell shape delivers a classic Pultec-style lift.

What's most surprising is the shelf. The bandwidth control turns this from a gentle, broad enhancer to a more extreme beast altogether, and boosting with maximum bandwidth gives a big scoop with a steep shelf just above. This is great for adding 'air' when set to 16, 12 or even 8.2kHz, but the sharpness can be very obvious at lower frequencies.