We tested the Crème EQ and compressor from Tegeler Audio Manufaktur. It’s a stunning unit that adds silk and weight.
The Crème is a high-quality, Pultec-inspired, stereo mastering EQ and VCA bus compressor, designed to be the final stage on your mix bus or master bus. We’re no strangers to Tegeler Audio Manufaktur — we reviewed their MythEQ 500 — and found that any company that takes such pride in the presentation and boxing MUST be worth you knowing about.
Tegeler Audio Manufaktur is a Berlin-based company founded by Michael Krusch. They make high-grade analogue hardware, that sounds great and look cool. In fact, they have 3 units that are plugin controllable — A remote-controlled version of the Crème called the Crème RC. Crème had its 10-year anniversary last year so we thought you should know about it, so you can put it over your mixes or masters.
The Crème is very simple. Its EQ has a Low and High Boost with 6 frequencies on each, and its compressor has four ratio settings — 1.5, 2, 4 and 10 — with threshold, attack and release with gain reduction shown on dominating meter on the front.
It can be full range or it’s got 2 side chain options — low-cut 60 or 120 Hz, and a switch to change the signal path from EQ into Comp or Comp into EQ — the age-old question! We tested this unit over a mix from one of our recent favourite performances from our Live from Happy series — ‘Hello, Goodbye’ by Stevan.
On the EQ side of the unit, the Boosting goes from 0-5 — each step is 5dB — with the Low-Frequency selection from 20 to 200 Hz, and the High frequency selection from 10kHz to 24 kHz. Tegeler Audio Manufaktur actually says these are approximate values, as it’s a broadband EQ.
As mentioned before, on the compressor there’s Ratios from 1.5, 2, 4 and 10, Threshold, Attack (from .01 of a millisecond to 30ms), and Release (from 0.1 to 1.2ms) which also has an auto release where a quick and slow setting works together for a signal adaptive release time.
Zero is unity on the Output knob — so it kind of acts as a make up gain knob which of course you might want to adjust after you’ve done some compression. You can see the gain reduction on its lovely big meter. One really cool thing is that when the unit is in bypass you can still see the compression work! Neat.
On the back of the unit it’s just stereo in and out via XLR and the power via any standard IEC/jug/kettle power cable, and it’s frequency response from 20 Hz to 40 kHz.
This is a brilliant unit, and perfect for adding some final shine to your mix, or you could even record a drum parallel with it or use it on a stereo audio source.
The Tegeler Audio Manufaktur Crème comes in at 1799 Euros, which you can order from their site, or you can pick one up in Australia for just under $2800 Australian dollars.
Check out more at Tegeler.com
