Heritage Audio LANG Electronics PEQ-2 Passive Program Equalizer

Heritage Audio recently acquired Lang Electronics Inc., a professional audio company from the 1960s. The Heritage Audio Lang Electronics PEQ-2 Passive Program Equalizer is a recreation of their most desired product was the Lang PEQ-2 Program Equalizer. Not many were made, and those that have survived are carefully guarded by their lucky owners. After months and months of studying the originals, the PEQ-2 has been reborn! Notable users of the original units include Allen Sides, Andrew Sheps and Joe Chiccarelli.

Many prefer the PEQ-2 to ubiquitous Pultec program equalizers; the PEQ-2 offers a sharper, tighter response ideal for mix bus use. The PEQ-2 has nearly twice as many frequency options to choose from; 26 compared to the Pultec’s 14. The low end is infinitely more controllable as the LANG gives you the ability to boost and cut at different frequencies, unlike the Pultec. There is also a very useful 20 kHz option in the High Peak Boost section.

While having a very simple and intuitive layout, the PEQ-2 is capable of some very extreme processing all while maintaining the musicality of your signal. With independent controls for Boost and Droop (Cut) for both the High and Low bands, you can quickly transform your material in interesting, creative ways not possible on a Pultec-style EQ. Once you’ve tried shaping your mixes with a PEQ-2, you’ll wonder how you got along without one! The ability to boost and cut at the same or similar frequencies produces exciting new equalized response curves. Experimentation is key!

HISTORY OF THE PEQ-2

Lang Electronics was a New York-based company that provided a number of after-market accessories for audio gear in the 1950s and 60s, particularly the Ampex tape recorders of the era as well as a line of portable mixers. Lang provided a lower-cost, quality alternative to the OEM equipment of the day, and was successful for many years. For the modern recording studio, the most useful gear they manufactured were their passive equalizers: PEQ-1, PEQ-2 and PEQ-3. In particular, the company’s most popular product was the PEQ-2 Program Equalizer, a highly-coveted piece of audio gear that still has many devoted users to this day!

From the company's original product brochure:

"The Lang Program Equalizer combines silicon circuitry with precision networks to produce a versatile control package for correcting or enhancing deficient program material in the recording or reproducing of sound."

FEATURES:

• Authentic reissue of the impossible-to-find LANG PEQ-2
• Same Western Electric patent as the Pultec EQ, with extended functionality and sound tweaking possibilities
• Transformer-balanced Inputs and Outputs
• Stepped controls for easy recall and matching
• High Peak Boost with variable Bandwidth and 20 kHz option
• Custom inductors and tone capacitors of the same exact type as in the original
• High Shelf Cut with extended frequency choices
• Low Shelf Boost and Cut each with different frequency selections