Emprex ParaEq MKII Deluxe User manual

USER MANUAL
mkII
deluxe

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 Deluxe is designed to be
a tool for sweetening the tone of any instrument.
We’ve designed it 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. With
added lters and Q knobs allowing for precise
parametric control, the ParaEq MKII Deluxe allows
for ulmate tonal shaping. Oh, and the whole
package is now half the size. Who doesn’t love a
small package?!
With the Empress ParaEq MKII Deluxe, your
instrument will sll sound like your instrument, only
beer, and with more control than ever before.
- 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 Deluxe, 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
Deluxe’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 Deluxe 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 Deluxe 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 ( ): Knob fully CW. 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 ( ): Knob at 50%. 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 ( ): Knob fully CCW. 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.

HP and LP Filters
High-pass and low-pass lters are used
to remove specic bands of frequencies
from the sonic spectrum. These bands are
determined by the lter shape and the cut-o
frequency at which the lter is set.
High-Pass Filter( ): The high-pass lter
aenuates frequencies below the cut-o
frequency set by the knob, which ranges from
10Hz to 330Hz, by 12dB/octave.
Low-Pass Filter( ): The low-pass lter
aenuates frequencies above the cut-o
frequency set by the knob, which ranges from
1.5kHz to 22kHz, by 12dB/octave.

Shelving Filters
Shelving lters are used to boost or aenuate
a specic band of frequencies from the sonic
spectrum. The lters’ shape and amount of
gain/aenuaon applied determines the
lters frequency response. The ParaEQ MKII
Deluxe shelving lters are extremely gentle
and musical sounding baxandall lters.
Low-Shelf Filter( ): Very gentle slope that
boosts or aenuates frequencies below
200Hz by -15dB to +15 dB, depending on the
knob posion.
High-Shelf Filter( ): Very gentle slope that
boosts or aenuates frequencies above 1kHz
by -15dB to +15 dB, depending on the knob
posion.

Advanced Conguraon
Advanced Conguraons are used to control the
bypass and boost states of the ParaEq MKII Deluxe.
Entering the advanced conguraon: Unplug the
power from the pedal. 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 Deluxe has exited the advanced conguraon.

Frequency Region Descripons
Here’s a rundown of dierent frequencies
that should be helpful when using the ParaEq
MKII Deluxe 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.

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 Deluxe
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 Deluxe.
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.
( ) Sets the cut-o frequency of
the high-pass lter.
( ) Sets the gain/attenuation of
the low-shelf lter.
( ) Sets the gain/attenuation of
the high-shelf lter.
( ) Sets the cut-o frequency of
the low-pass lter.

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 Deluxe
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 Deluxe.
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.
( ) Sets the cut-o frequency of
the high-pass lter.
( ) Sets the gain/attenuation of
the low-shelf lter.
( ) Sets the gain/attenuation of
the high-shelf lter.
( ) Sets the cut-o frequency of
the low-pass lter.

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.

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!

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, cut some
of the lows and boost
what’s le. Boost to
the mids and cut any
shrill harmonics for a
more even frequency
response.
-15 +15 -15 +15
-15 +15 -15 +1533010
80
1.5k 22k
3k
-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 -15 +1533010
80
1.5k 22k
3k
-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

Country Humbucker
Twang
Boosng the high
mids and really
pushing that high-
shelf lter to get that
twang. Cung the
lows and highs slightly
to sit beer in the
mix.
Airy Acousc
Cuts extreme highs
and lows while
boosng what’s le of
the lows. Nice mid
boost and selecve
high removal means it
sll sounds natural.
but lighter.
-15 +15 -15 +15
-15 +15 -15 +1533010
80
1.5k 22k
3k
-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 -15 +1533010
80
1.5k 22k
3k
-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

Buery Bass
Cuts out highs and
high mids while
maintaining low end
and enough mids
to sll bite. The
result is smooth and
consistently buery.
Doom Bass
Heavily boosted low
to create a sub bass
and boosted mids
to accent high mid
response, which
creates ght lows and
fuzzy sustain.
-15 +15 -15 +15
-15 +15 -15 +1533010
80
1.5k 22k
3k
-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 -15 +1533010
80
1.5k 22k
3k
-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

Gnarly Bass Synth
Tames the piercing
frequencies from the
cranked resonant lter
so it sounds less
sharp. Bass boost
really faens up the
low end.
Underwater Black
and White
Extreme ltering with
selecve narrow band
frequency boosts to
make your intrument
sound underwater,
ickering in the light
of an old projector.
-15 +15 -15 +15
-15 +15 -15 +1533010
80
1.5k 22k
3k
-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 -15 +1533010
80
1.5k 22k
3k
-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 -15 +1533010
80
1.5k 22k
3k
-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 -15 +1533010
80
1.5k 22k
3k
-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 -15 +1533010
80
1.5k 22k
3k
-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 -15 +1533010
80
1.5k 22k
3k
-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): 22Hz - 25kHz
Total Harmonic
Distoron: < 0.05%
Noise: > 107dB
Headroom: +30dBu
Input Voltage: 9VDC
Required Current: 300mA
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 Deluxe
Go to www.empresseects.com/power for a
full list of compable power supplies.
Please note: The Empress ParaEq MKII Deluxe
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