Heritage Audio MotorCity

Motown’s Legendary Hit-maker EQ

Heritage Audio has done it again. Acclaimed for their modern versions of classic English rack gear, the company now turns their attention across the Atlantic with the MotorCity EQualizer, a spot-on reproduction of a 1960s design built in-house at Motown Studios in Detroit. Over the course of that decade, Motown fostered a culture of incessant innovation that generated an arsenal of homegrown hit-making equipment such as the original EQs that inspired the MotorCity EQualizer. Painstakingly re-created from vintage Motown units, the MotorCity EQ is a single-channel, 7-band passive affair housed in a robust 2U chassis; hand-wired with custom-built replicas of the original discrete, mil-spec components; and fronted by a 10-gauge hand-brushed aluminum faceplate bearing a historically accurate control set complete with custom-molded Bakelite knobs.

Massive, punchy, and authoritative

Heritage Audio went above and beyond to replicate the definitive, authoritative signature sound that makes this EQ as iconic as the hit records it helped give birth to. Just like the originals, the MotorCity EQualizer is spec’d with frequency centers at 50Hz, 130Hz, 320Hz, 800Hz, 2kHz, 5kHz, and 12.5kHz. To facilitate precise settings and quick recall, each frequency has its own stepped rotary switch providing 8dB of boost/cut in 1dB increments. A master gain control with the same parameters, an in/out/off switch, and a jewel light power indicator complete the front-panel layout. Whether deployed in tracking, mixing, or as a stereo pair for mastering, the MotorCity EQ lives up to its lofty lineage. Source material takes on new life as the MotorCity EQ imprints it with a massive, punchy, radio-ready sound that blasts right out of the speakers. We would expect nothing less from an EQ boasting the legendary Motown pedigree.

The sound of Hitsville, USA

In the early ’60s, achieving heavy rotation in AM radio airplay for your 7-inch, monaural 45RPM single was the gold standard of success, and record companies were falling all over each other to have their discs be the loudest on the airwaves. At Motown’s Hitsville, USA recording studio, the company made loud into a science. Physics dictated that a record could only be so loud before the stylus would pop right out of the grooves — and record stores started returning boxes of 45s that wouldn’t track. As a result, Motown — led by chief technical engineer Mike McLean, who designed and built much of the studio’s proprietary gear in-house — explored every avenue of obtaining hotter releases while retaining trackability to maximize the impact of their music on disc. Of course, equalization plays a big role in perceived loudness, which helps explain some of the design parameters behind Motown’s storied 7-band EQs — and why these exceedingly rare units are so highly prized today.

The real deal

Meticulously researched and engineered to the exact original specifications of this iconic 1960s Motown design, you would expect the MotorCity EQualizer to pack a wallop without a hint of harshness or distortion — and that’s precisely what it does. Under the hood, the passive equalization circuit is identical to the original proprietary Motown design. One of the challenges of reproducing a vintage design is that the original parts are no longer available. So, Heritage Audio had them custom built from scratch, incorporating 100% period-correct materials, values, and tolerances. As such, the MotorCity EQ is no mere reverentially “close” copy or “improved” modern version of the original. It is, effectively, the real deal; and it's now available to studio owners for the first time ever. With the Heritage Audio MotorCity EQualizer, you can juice your recordings with the sound that helped launch countless Motown hits six decades ago.

Legendary performance and epic value

Considering the MotorCity EQualizer’s masterful sonic performance, versatility, and build quality, it’s impressive that Heritage Audio managed to bring it in at such an affordable price point. But then, that’s what they do. Founded in 2011 by engineer/producer Peter Rodriguez, Heritage Audio immediately set about designing and manufacturing equipment inspired by legendary vintage British console modules, using the same hand-wired, transformer-coupled Class A circuitry, with functionality aimed at today’s studio workflows. The company now broadens its geographic focus with the MotorCity EQ. Built to stringent tolerances, Heritage Audio gear delivers clean, problem-free audio with generous headroom and the vintage-flavored sonics we all crave. Sweetwater is proud to offer you this distinguished line of high-performance pro audio equipment.