Empress Effects ParaEq MKII User manual

USER MANUAL
mkII

Introducon
When we released our original ParaEq back
in 2009, it quickly became a favourite among
musicians who were searching for something
more than the typical oversimplied controls
found on most Eq pedals. Now, based on
our users’ valuable feedback, we’ve taken
everything great about our original ParaEq and
made it even beer.
The Empress ParaEq MKII is designed to be a
tool for sweetening the tone of any instrument.
We’ve designed the ParaEq MKII to give
musicians a powerful, musical, high quality Eq
in a conveniently small package. The signal path
is comprised of the highest quality components
chosen for their transparency, powerful tone
shaping capabilies, and low operang noise.
We’ve increased the headroom to 27V, similar
to rack-mount equipment, to ensure clarity of
sound no maer how hot the signal. Oh, and
the whole package is now half the size. Who
doesn’t love a small package?!
With the Empress ParaEq MKII, your instrument
will sll sound like your instrument, only beer.
- Jason Fee

Sample Applicaons
General Sweetening: Perhaps you really
like the tone of your guitar but nd it could
be a lile brighter with more high end
detail. With the ParaEq MKII, adding a small
boost in the range of 3 kHz to 5 kHz with a
wide Q will add a bit more detail, while sll
retaining the sound of your instrument. In
a similar manner, adding a wide Q boost to
the low frequency range will warm up your
instrument’s sound.
Tone Correcon: Say you’ve set your amp
up in a venue and nd that the acouscs of
the stage are making it sound too boomy. By
cung some of the frequencies in the low
mids (200Hz– 600Hz) with a medium width Q,
you can minimize the negave eects of the
room acouscs on your sound.
If you nd your guitar isn’t cung through
the rest of the band, you can boost the
upper mid frequency range (1kHz–4 kHz)
instead of simply turning up the volume of
your amplier, which could lead to you just
drowning out the rest of the band.

Sample Applicaons
Feedback Zapping: With a DI’ed acousc
instrument, playing live at stage volumes
can somemes be a nightmare. Feedback
through monitors can quickly ruin a great
performance. By using the ParaEq MKII’s mid
and hi frequency bands and narrow width Q
sengs you’ll be able to cut the frequencies
causing the feedback while retaining much
of your instruments sonic signature. The
narrow width Q seng ensures the range
of frequencies being reduced is very small,
prevenng your instrument from sounding
dull or muddy.
Distoron Enhancement: Having the ParaEq
MKII before your amplier lets you use it to
shape your distoron sounds in radical ways.
For example, if you want the treble of your
signal to distort a lile more you can boost
the high frequency band before it reaches
your amplier. This lets you add a lile sonic
slicing capability to your sound without
muddying up your boom end. The boost
control on the ParaEq MKII is a great way to
push an already cooking tube amplier into
musical overdrive.

Q Controls
The Q is a measurement of how much the Eq
band aects a range of frequencies.
Tight or Narrow Q ( ): This seng is best for
aacking problems. For example, if you have
an acousc instrument feeding back, a ght Q
will allow you to cut the oending frequency
without aecng the frequencies around it.
Medium Q ( ): This seng is great for
general tone shaping. Most equalizers in
instrument ampliers are medium Q. Try
using this seng to cut frequencies in the
300Hz-400Hz range if your amp is sounding
a lile muddy, or boosng in the 1kHz-5kHz
range if your guitar is a lile dark.
Wide Q ( ): Wide Q sengs are best
when you want a really transparent change to
the signal. For example, boosng at around
100Hz can add a bit of warmth, and a lile
boost in the 3k range can add detail and
denion, all while retaining the original
tone.

Frequency Region Descripons
Here’s a rundown of dierent frequencies
that should be helpful when using the ParaEq
MKII to achieve a specic end result.
Electric Guitar
80Hz – 150Hz: Boosng can add a subtle
warmth and bigness to the sound. Cung can
bring down any rumble you’re experiencing.
150Hz – 400Hz: Cung in this region can
remove a bit of mud, and boosng will bring
out the warmth.
400Hz – 800Hz: Cung in this region can
make the sound more prisne. Boosng will
add an aggressive edge to the sound.
800Hz – 2kHz: Boosng in this region will
bring out the twang in your sound. Cung
will create a rounder, less aggressive tone.
Above 3kHz: Boosng in this region can add
brightness and sheen. Cung in this region
can minimize noise and reduce harshness.

Frequency Region Descripons
Bass Guitar
30Hz – 80Hz: The sub-bass region. Be careful
when boosng in this range; your speakers
might not be happy if you boost too much.
80Hz – 150Hz: The bass region. Boost and cut
in this region to change the amount of bass in
your sound.
150Hz – 500Hz: If your bass sounds too
muddy, try cung in this region. If it needs a
lile warmth, try boosng in this region.
500Hz – 900Hz: Boosng in this region can
add mid-range growl to your tone. Cung in
this region can make things clean and prisne.
900Hz – 3kHz: Boosng in this region can
bring out aack. Cung in this region can
help create a rounder tone.
Above 3kHz: Cung can bring down the
noise without much eect on the signal.
Boosng can add a sense of air and space.

low freq, mid freq, high freq:
Selects the center frequencies
around which you’d like to boost or
cut for each band.
bypass stompswitch: When the LED
is shining, the ParaEq MKII eect is
applied to the signal. When o, the
eect is being bypassed (true and
buered bypass available. See
advanced conguration).
low q, mid q, high q: The q
switches determine the range of
frequencies aected by the
equalizer on each band.
Wide q ( ) will aect a wide
range of frequencies around the
selected frequency. q ≈ 1 aects
about 1.5 octaves
Medium q ( ) will aect some
frequencies around the selected
frequency. This is a good place to
start for overall tone shaping. q ≈
2.5 aects about 2/3 octave
Narrow q ( ) will only aect a very
narrow range of frequencies around
the selected frequency. q ≈ 4
aects about 1/3 octave
There is a q control for each of the
three frequency bands available on
the ParaEq MKII.
gain: Determines the amount of
boost or cut applied to frequency
band. At the 12:00 setting, there is
no boost or cut applied. The range
of boost or cut available for each
frequency band is -15dB to +15dB.
Controls at a Glance
boost: Controls the output level. It
is a clean boost, perfect for
providing gain before an eects
chain to minimize noise or to
overdrive the input of a tube amp.
The available boost ranges from 0
dB to +30 dB and is toggled on/o
with the boost stompswitch.
boost stompswitch:
Toggles on/o the boost section of the unit. When the
LED is shining, the boost is applied to the signal.

low freq, mid freq, high freq:
Selects the center frequencies
around which you’d like to boost or
cut for each band.
bypass stompswitch: When the LED
is shining, the ParaEq MKII eect is
applied to the signal. When o, the
eect is being bypassed (true and
buered bypass available. See
advanced conguration).
low q, mid q, high q: The q
switches determine the range of
frequencies aected by the
equalizer on each band.
Wide q ( ) will aect a wide
range of frequencies around the
selected frequency. q ≈ 1 aects
about 1.5 octaves
Medium q ( ) will aect some
frequencies around the selected
frequency. This is a good place to
start for overall tone shaping. q ≈
2.5 aects about 2/3 octave
Narrow q ( ) will only aect a very
narrow range of frequencies around
the selected frequency. q ≈ 4
aects about 1/3 octave
There is a q control for each of the
three frequency bands available on
the ParaEq MKII.
gain: Determines the amount of
boost or cut applied to frequency
band. At the 12:00 setting, there is
no boost or cut applied. The range
of boost or cut available for each
frequency band is -15dB to +15dB.
Controls at a Glance
boost: Controls the output level. It
is a clean boost, perfect for
providing gain before an eects
chain to minimize noise or to
overdrive the input of a tube amp.
The available boost ranges from 0
dB to +30 dB and is toggled on/o
with the boost stompswitch.
boost stompswitch: Toggles on/o the boost section of the unit. When the
LED is shining, the boost is applied to the signal.

Frequency Region Descripons
DI’d Acousc Guitar
35Hz – 100Hz: Cung in this region can help
reduce rumble.
100Hz – 200Hz: This range is primarily responsible
for the boominess of your acousc guitar. Cung
or boosng here can help with low end projecon.
400Hz – 500Hz: Boosng in this range can bring
out warmth. Cung in this range can help remove
mud in your sound.
500Hz – 4kHz: This broad slice of the sonic
spectrum is where most of your acousc signal
lives. Boosng here will make your guitar sound
more aggressive, while cung will help mellow it
out.
4kHz – 8kHz: The brightness of your acousc lives
in this region. If your instrument sounds like you’re
hearing it through a wall, boost in this range.
Cung in this range will remove harshness.
5kHz and Above: Boosng in this range will bring
out air in your sound, and cung will reduce noise.
Beware of feedback though!

Advanced Conguraon
Advanced Conguraons are used to control the
bypass and boost states of the ParaEq MKII.
Entering the advanced conguraon: Unplug the
power from the ParaEq MKII. Plug the power back in
while holding down both the boost and bypass stomp
switches. The LEDs should ash momentarily to
conrm that you are in the advanced conguraon.
Modifying the advanced conguraon: To toggle
between true bypass and buered bypass, use the
bypass stomp. The bypass LED will display which
mode you are in:
Bypass LED o = true bypass (default)
Bypass LED on = buered bypass
To toggle between normal bypass mode and
independent bypass mode use the boost stomp
switch. With independent mode you can apply boost
without having the equalizaon engaged. This makes
it almost like having a separate Eq and boost pedal
each with their own bypass switch.
Boost LED o = normal (default)
Boost LED on = independent
Exing the advanced conguraon: Hold down both
the tap and bypass stomp switches. The bypass LEDs
will blink momentarily to conrm the ParaEq MKII has
exited the advanced conguraon.

Quickstart
Sin’ in the Mix
Low cut to leave room
for bass and drums in
the mix. Mid boost at
the guitar’s sweet
spot. Cung those
pesky shrill high
frequencies.
Distoron Tamer
To tame high gain
distoron, slight
cut to the lows and
boost to the mids and
highs. Sharpens the
frequency response to
sound less “at.”
-15 +15 -15 +15-15 +15
250
600 2k
5k
low freq mid freq
low gain mid gain
high freq
bypassboost
high gain
3k
1k 20k
7k
35
80 300
500
boost
low q mid q high q
mkII
-15 +15 -15 +15-15 +15
250
600 2k
5k
low freq mid freq
low gain mid gain
high freq
bypassboost
high gain
3k
1k 20k
7k
35
80 300
500
boost
low q mid q high q
mkII

Airy Acousc
Evens out the
frequency response.
Cuts high highs and
low lows with a slight
mid boost. Sll sounds
natural, but lighter.
Buery Bass
Pulls out higher
resonant frequencies
while maintaining low
end and maintaining
enough mids to sll
bite.
-15 +15 -15 +15-15 +15
250
600 2k
5k
low freq mid freq
low gain mid gain
high freq
bypassboost
high gain
3k
1k 20k
7k
35
80 300
500
boost
low q mid q high q
mkII
-15 +15 -15 +15-15 +15
250
600 2k
5k
low freq mid freq
low gain mid gain
high freq
bypassboost
high gain
3k
1k 20k
7k
35
80 300
500
boost
low q mid q high q
mkII

My Sengs
-15 +15 -15 +15-15 +15
250
600 2k
5k
low freq mid freq
low gain mid gain
high freq
bypassboost
high gain
3k
1k 20k
7k
35
80 300
500
boost
low q mid q high q
mkII
-15 +15 -15 +15-15 +15
250
600 2k
5k
low freq mid freq
low gain mid gain
high freq
bypassboost
high gain
3k
1k 20k
7k
35
80 300
500
boost
low q mid q high q
mkII
-15 +15 -15 +15-15 +15
250
600 2k
5k
low freq mid freq
low gain mid gain
high freq
bypassboost
high gain
3k
1k 20k
7k
35
80 300
500
boost
low q mid q high q
mkII
-15 +15 -15 +15-15 +15
250
600 2k
5k
low freq mid freq
low gain mid gain
high freq
bypassboost
high gain
3k
1k 20k
7k
35
80 300
500
boost
low q mid q high q
mkII

Specicaons
Input Impedance: 1MΩ
Output Impedance: 100Ω
Frequency Response
(-3dB): <5Hz, >40kHz
Distoron: <0.02%
Signal-to-Noise: >108dB
Headroom: +30dBu
Input Voltage: 9VDC
Required Current: 300 mA
Power Input
Connector:
2.1mm Barrel
Connector
Height (enclosure
only): 1.5”
Height (including
controls): 2.5”
Length: 3.5”
Width: 4.5”
Weight: 1lbs
-
+

Powering the ParaEq MKII
Go to www.empresseects.com/power for a
full list of compable power supplies.
Please note: The Empress ParaEq MKII
requires at least 300mA of current to funcon
properly. Any power supply rated at 9V DC,
supplying negave p polarity and at least
300mA of current should work.
Legal Stu
FCC Compliance
Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits
for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits
are designed to provide reasonable protecon against harmful interference
in a residenal installaon. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate
radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with
the instrucons, may cause harmful interference to radio communicaons.
However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a parcular
installaon. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or
television recepon, which can be determined by turning the equipment o
and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or
more of the following measures:
- Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
- Increase the separaon between the equipment and receiver.
- Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit dierent from that to
which the receiver is connected.
- Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
Modicaons not expressly approved by the manufacturer could void the
user’s authority to operate the equipment under FCC rules