Sontec MES-432D9D

Name: Sontec MES-432D9D
Price: 199 USD
Author: Metric Halo

by Metric Halo · EQ · Sontec mastering EQ emulation

Not rated yet

Sontec MES-432D9D recreates the box tone and filter curves of the 1972 Sontec MES-432 mastering equalizer.

It has three parametric bands and two shelves in stereo or M/S, and sells for $199 (regular $299).

Best for: Mastering, Mix Bus, Vocals, Acoustic Instruments. Genres: all genres.

Keywords: mastering, mid/side, hardware emulation, bus processing, mix bus, low latency, resizable UI, full mix, inspired by, 70s, built-in analyzer, metering, mixing, musical, oversampling, spacious, static, vocals, zero-latency.

What it does

Sontec MES-432D9D is a Metric Halo plugin, made with Make Believe Studios and Sontec, that recreates the Sontec MES-432 parametric mastering EQ. The developers say they set out to build "a new Sontec" rather than a mere emulation, with the box tone and filter curves of the hardware.

Bands: three parametric peaking bands with switchable Q, plus a high shelf (8 or 12 kHz) and a low shelf (50 or 100 Hz).
Stereo or M/S: EQ left/right or mid/side, with linkable or unlinked channel sections.
Box tone: user control over some of the hardware's box-tone elements, separate from the EQ curves; Music Connection describes Pure Analog, Aggressive and No Analog character modes.
Modelling: the analog circuit is modelled with Metric Halo's State Space Model Extraction, according to Music Connection.
Oversampling: user-selectable up to 16x.
Bypass and analysis: per-band, per-channel and overall bypass, plus a built-in SpectraFoo analyser and metering.
Interface: large hardware-style knobs, a graphical EQ curve display and a GUI resizable up to 150%.

There is a fully functional 30-day trial. Owners of Metric Halo 3d audio interfaces also get a zero-latency +DSP version that runs on the hardware.

Source: Metric Halo product page

When to use it

Sontec MES-432D9D is the better pick when you want the specific sound of a Sontec in mastering: broad, smooth parametric moves with the hardware's box tone. Compared with the Pultec Passive EQ Collection or Manley Massive Passive EQ, it is a fully parametric design with M/S and finer band placement, rather than a passive shelving-style colour EQ. It is more coloured and has fewer bands than Pro-Q 4, and it has no dynamic EQ or spectrum-matching tools. Next to the Mäag Audio EQ4, which is built around airy top-end boosts, it covers the whole spectrum with three parametric bands.

Best for: broad, musical tone shaping in mastering and on the mix bus, including mid/side work.
Genres: any.
Look elsewhere if: you want a clean, transparent EQ with many bands or dynamic bands; Pro-Q 4 fits better.
Tip: Music Connection's reviewer used a gentle +2 dB high shelf at 12 kHz to open up a mix, and the narrowest Q to tame resonances without sounding harsh.

What producers say

The one review found was very positive, judging it a faithful and practical recreation of the hardware.

Music Connection (Barry Rudolph, 2023) named it a winner, praising the analog modelling, the large hardware-style knobs, the resizable GUI with curve display and the useful Q settings.
Usage notes: the review suggests linking channels for stereo bus work and found "the mix opened up" with a small 12 kHz shelf boost.

Music Connection review (Barry Rudolph)

Where to buy

Metric Halo: $199 (regular $299)

Tutorials and reviews

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