Decided to open this new thread to cover all new things officially Helios and Olympic (Audio Digital Technology)

Regarding Olympic: Available for the first time since 1966 the Original Mic EQ input module from Olympic Studio One Barnes.
This module pre dates HELIOS by around four years it contains Germanium transistors and Lustraphone transformer this module has a dynamic
overload and a sound that was unique to Olympic, again proving that harmonic distortion is not a bad thing .....like good music it has to be in the right place at the right time.

This Mic EQ was used to record classic albums from the Rollings Stones, Led Zeppelin,The Who, Jimi Hendrix and many more classics, including film scores from 1966 to 1978 now available in 500 format. For more details in the New product section.


Regarding Helios: There is the new website which will have recent and forthcoming products including already the newest design since 1979. You know the brand and the many British Bands.
This equaliser is a Helios-licensed product that will be available soon from Audio Digital Technology (ADT) run by Jim Dowler, former Chief Engineer at Olympic Studios, London.
I’m hoping Jim will pop his head in using his username Crosstalk to keep us up to date and answer any technical questions you may have.

Helios RE 500 3 band active parametric equalizer
It is a three-band, Series 500 compatible equaliser with switchable Q.

If you have the appropriate rack, you can elect to use the 51X compatible connector to run the unit on ±24V instead of ±16V. The image below shows the additional edge connector at the bottom.
Visit the sites for more information.

I have the units already and they sound incredible . I’ve already talked about them in the recent Helios reissue and replica thread.

https://www.helios-electronics.com/products
https://www.helios-electronics.com/p.../re500-details

https://www.audiodigitaltechnology.com (Jim Dowler Olympic)

The Germanium 65 Mic/EQ looks groovy. Be nice to have eight of those. Look at the size of the input transformer!

Wow 8 could really get your Glyn Johns on!

Read the copy a few times on Jim Dowler's website but still unclear:

The "Olympic Mic Amp 65" mic pre section in "germanium mode" is the same as the "Germanium 65" mic section?
Would the Olympic Mic Amp 65 + the RE500 give everything that the Germanium 65 does but with the extra options of silicon mode and taking the transformer in or out (plus an extra Air band) (plus higher rails for the RE500)?
I note the Mic Amp 65 is marked for 60dB of gain while the Germanium 65 is marked for 70dB gain but there's an extra 10dB on the Mic Amp 65 on the "fader" (which sounds like an extra op amp) which might account for them actually being the same.

Just trying to have it all!

I was talking to Jim about this topic when trying to decide to get the Mic EQ or the Mic Amp first.

He explained that the Mic EQ sounds more like the original desk because it has an additional post EQ amplifier stage and is a bit dirtier as a result, while the Mic Amp doesn't have that circuit because it doesn't have the EQ section. It has the output transformer option, though, which the Mic EQ does not (the original Olympic desk also did not have an output transformer as they were apparently expecting to always be going into something else that had an input transformer, like a tape machine for instance).

So, I don't know as the two would sound interchangeable, but also not sure which would be preferable. I'd like to get the Mic Amp and the new EQ as well at some point. I initially was going to get one of each but after much internal struggle realized not having a stereo pair of the EQs would probably drive me nuts. I do believe the new EQ is not inductor based, though, so it's not the same EQ design as the Mic EQ. Sounds like it sounds very good, though.

I believe I’m going to buy another mic pre eq so I have enough to cover a drum kit.
I will then buy a new pre eq set and some of the modern eq’s.
Then I will rock.

Huge erection over these new possibilities.

It's the real Olympic Winner. Great performance

Sort of put the brakes on my spending for now, but still very interested in these offerings!

I recieved my pair of the Olympic Germanium 65 Mic EQ units today and boy do they sound great!

They're really fantastic on electric guitars (unsurprisingly) and I found it very hard to get a bad sound out of them. I'd describe the sound as very colorful and with exciting harmonic content, but not lacking in articulation. You can be aggressive with them but they never seem to get harsh.

I found that engaging the EQ even with nothing boosted seems to add some additional richness to the sound, and even very extreme EQ settings come out to be pleasant and usable sounds. At first I was a little skeptical that the mid EQ wouldn't go down far enough (it ranges from 1.2khz to 10khz), but I found that if I need to clean up a little low mid mud, the 250hz low band can take care of that easily.

Really enjoying the 4k and up range for boosting guitars and the 10khz shelf is amazing as expected (I also love it on my H2 EQ).

Also, interestingly, the H2 has no EQ frequency points that overlap with the Olympic, so they should compliment each other very well.

Very excited! I definitely would like either another pair or the Dual Mic Amp. Tough decisions...

That was what was kind of putting me off, was the lack of 300-350hz options for the mid band, as those tend to be the frequency points I tend to cut. I was looking for a pre/eq combo that would let me cut a bit of 300hz and add a touch of air before going into my Igs OneLa500 for tracking vocals. Might have to reconsider this pre.

Great description Man, you seem to capture all the main points. They are something special eh? Like being at Olympic 1 at a super session.

There’s no muddiness here, just pure rock n roll. Do you think Glyn Johns would have been a fan if he couldn’t achieve that clarity.

I had the same thought, but so far I am not having trouble with muddiness.

I think some of this has to do with mirror frequency effects. Like, if you've got a little bit of boost at 60 or 120 and then another boost at 10k and another somewhere in the upper mids (which is where the mids section resides), then you have a relative dip in the low mids. Or even just boosting a little bit at 5k or 8k on its own will make the low mids less problematic.

Definitely not accusing the preamp Of being muddy lol, there is probably something with my room, my mic, or even the fact my voice is pretty thick, that generally needs a small dip at about 300.

not gonna lie I think I need an lpf too…if I end up pulling this trigger I might have to get both…the mic amp and the mic eq . On the note of the mic amp, can anyone (Paul?) elaborate are on how prominent the air circuit is? Guessing its like a small shelf boost at 10k? Also can I run line level Thru this units without issue? There is no pad so it leaves me curious

I think you’ll be surprised. I can run the mic pre flat and it sounds great. Until you hear how great it is you won’t know what it covers. The eq is really powerful.

I'm gonna try and encourage Jim to appear here to answer some valuable questions. I would please ask that you treat him with the total respect he deserves. He is a minefield of information regarding Olympic Studios and current Helios/Olympic projects. You could actually kick it off gently with some questions if you like and I'll let Jim know.

I know what you mean. I also often need to cut in that area. I kind of feel like the approach to dealing with that on the Olympic would more be to add some high mids rather than cut the low mids. It seems to really excel at boosting without getting harsh.

So I did some testing of the Olympic 65 Mic Pre EQ vs an H2 Helios 5011 EQ (which doesn't have a mic pre included). I was curious how the curves might differ, etc.

The two units are not based on the same original units of course, the Olympic being the original Olympic console and the H2 being the later Helios 69, I believe.

Anyway, things of interest in terms of EQ curves:
There aren't any frequency points that are the same on the Mid control, of course, but I was curious about the shapes of things. The Olympic has a little bit tighter Q on its boosts (quite a nice bell shape) and it is actually a little bit tighter on cuts, but the H2 ultimately can cut a lot more severely (like -12ish dB vs -18dB) and it's a proportional Q, so the highest amount of cut on the H2 is more and ultimately a higher Q. It also goes lower (700hz being the lowest and a particular favorite setting) while the Olympic can go higher (up to 10k on the mids control). I like both of them a lot, myself. They are just a bit different.

The Low Frequency control is kind of in the same vein. The shape is pretty similar if you boost the same amount, but the H2 has more boost available and it becomes higher Q when you crank the boost more. Certainly a bit less gentle.

Interestingly, it seems that the cut on both is quite similar. The Olympic is not explicitly labeled as such, but I didn't get a difference in the low end when switching the frequency control on the LF cut, so I think it's the same or a similar 50hz HPF like in the H2. It works very well and sounds pleasant, even when there's a lot of cut, but something to be aware of. No need to toggle between the frequencies when cutting.

The High Shelf is a bit different between the two, but both are excellent as well. The H2 high shelf seems to be centered higher than the Olympic. The frequency response continues to rise in gain as you approach 20k on that one and perhaps beyond. It also does not extend quite as far down into the mid range. The Olympic, however, is more in keeping with the label. It seems centered around 10k as like a very wide bell/shelf and remains flat above that or rolls off a tiny bit. It also extends its boost range farther down into the midrange. Both sound great and I think can compliment one another. I'd think of the H2 more as "air."

I noticed, however, that the eq points on the Olympic are chosen such that if you boost the upper mids a certain amount (say around 5k) you can essentially transform the 10k shelf into a shelf with a lower frequency point. Very clever!

Could you post some short samples compared to other Pres/Eq's please? Wonder if they stand up to the hype

Hype?

Yeah a few short comparions clips if thats possible would be more interesting for the community as another 3 pages hype i guess.

I could give that a shot but it probably will take me a little while. I'm going to be out of town next week.

That would be really cool

If I get time I’ll try and track some room drums with a couple of mics vs something else.

Does anyone have a comparison of this two releases of the Helios MicEQ:

-audiodigitaltechnology MicEQ 500
-Iron Age Audioworks H9

???

I compared the Siemens clone from IAA with the old german original - what a hammer


Thanks, Peter

Did you buy it?