Wes Audio ngTube EQ

Have Wes Audio achieved the perfect union of analogue processing and digital control?

Wes Audio’s ng (‘next gen’) products always manage to impress me: it seems that every time one of these devices has come to my studio for evaluation there’s been a few interesting new features that make their digitally controlled analogue circuitry that much more convenient to use in a modern studio setting. In recent years it’s been a case of evolution more than revolution, but for their latest release, the ngTube EQ, they’ve made some significant strides, and created what I can say with confidence is the most appealing analogue processor I’ve used to date. If money were no object it would definitely remain in my studio.

Since I last reviewed one of the ng‑series devices, not only have Wes further developed the plug‑in remote control side of things (more on that below), but they’ve also progressed the front‑panel user controls, taking advantage of touch‑responsive knobs, short and long button presses, onboard memory and a miniature but clear and crisp LCD screen, to deliver some incredibly cool features that I’ve not previously seen on analogue outboard. There’s way more to this thing than the ability to save and recall settings with your DAW session, even if that remains a big part of the appeal.

Tubey Or Not Tubey

That really is the question! As a dual‑channel, passive, four‑band, inductor‑based parametric EQ, the analogue circuitry that lies at the heart of the ngTube EQ is not dissimilar in concept to that in Manley’s famous Massive Passive. Despite its name, though, the ‘tube’ (valve) stages in this device are optional: you have, at the push of a button, the choice of a ‘clean and clinical’ electronically balanced output, or a more characterful valve‑plus‑transformer output stage. In the latter configuration, the Output knob controls amplification based around JJ‑Tesla ECC81 (12AT7) and ECC82 (12AU7) valves, which means it determines how hard the signal hits the Carnhill output transformers, and thus how much character is imparted to the signal by transformer saturation. The pad is placed post‑transformer, allowing you to set the final output signal level. Cleverly, the current output mode is indicated on the hardware by a change in the colour of the backlit controls (green for clean, red for warmth) so you’re never in any doubt about which setting is selected.

Before the signal reaches those output stages, it first flows through Wes’s familiar THD processor, which can be bypassed or set between 0 and 100 percent, to give you yet more control over the signal coloration. It then passes through bypassable active high‑ and low‑pass filter stages and the passive inductor‑based four‑band parametric EQ, which I’ll explore in more detail below. At the time of writing, the otherwise excellent and hugely informative PDF manual offered conflicting advice about the order in which these sections appear: a signal‑flow diagram suggests the filters are between the THD stage and the parametric bands, while some words elsewhere suggest they come after the EQ bands.

The THD section, which definitely comes first, has been thoughtfully integrated: as you turn this knob clockwise to add harmonics, the signal level flowing into the EQ stages inherently increases, so it also influences the sonic contribution of the inductors. But the output is then automatically attenuated to compensate for that increase in level, so the user experience is simply one of turning the knob one way for more ‘grit’, and turning it the other way to dial things down. Also worth noting is that the THD knob is a touch‑sensitive push‑turn encoder, and is used to access some secondary functions; more on those below.

First Among Equalisers

The high‑pass filter can be set to 12 or 24 dB/oct slopes and almost anywhere from 12 to 300 Hz; being a digital control it’s not technically continuous, but with about 80 steps, the resolution is fine enough that you perceive it as such. The low‑pass filter offers the same slopes and steps, and the turnover frequency can be set from way down at 6kHz to a stratospheric 50kHz, so all bases are covered. Bypassing the filter is a simple matter of pressing and holding the push‑turn frequency knob.

Moving on to the parametric EQ, each of the four bands is identical, other than for their centre frequencies. They can each be switched individually to operate either as a bell or a shelving band, and have gain, frequency and Q (bandwidth) knobs. As with all the knobs on this device, these turn continuous rotary encoders rather than pots, and their status is indicated with a circle of LEDs — a particularly elegant arrangement similar to that described in my SOS November 2021 review of the ngBusComp, whereby LED brightness, not just position, is used to give a very precise indication of the setting.

These bands have two (globally switchable per channel) gain modes, ±15dB and ±5dB, which is a fantastic touch: for traditional EQs of this type, manufacturers sometimes offer a dedicated ‘mastering edition’ with a smaller gain range for finer control and, depending on the model, perhaps other features such as switches in place of pots. With Wes’s approach, there’s simply no need for separate mixing and mastering versions: you can access either configuration in the same product. In ±15dB mode, you already have very fine individual gain steps of 0.25dB, which is still fine enough to be automated by your DAW without audible artefacts, but allows you to make bigger changes on the hardware quickly and easily. Switch to ±5dB and each step becomes an alternating 0.08 or 0.09 dB — marginally better than the 0.1dB claimed in the manual, and more precise than any stepped analogue EQ I’ve encountered previously.

The gain knobs have secondary and tertiary functions too. A double‑push on any band’s gain knob inverts its gain, turning a boost into a cut or vice versa. This makes it easy to sweep to identify a problem frequency and then nix it. Neatly, each band can also be bypassed with a single push of its gain knob, and pushing it in and holding for a couple of seconds resets it to unity gain. These ‘hidden’ functions are clearly described in the manual, and while it can take a short time to grow accustomed to them it’s a really neat way to accommodate so much control on an analogue device, without the front panel feeling cluttered or too different in use from a traditional analogue device.

The bandwidth for each band can individually be set to Q values (in the default constant‑Q mode) from a tight‑ish 4.0...