Published on this website under permission from Recording Magazine, the following review is a direct quote from pages 58-59 in Recording Magazine's May 2015 issue, written by Paul Vnuk Jr.
Lightning Boy
Flux Bender Passive Equalizer
Boutique sound doesn't get much more boutique than this
Based in North Collins, New York, Lightning Boy is the very definition of a boutique audio company. A still better description might be an artisanal audio company, as it reminds me of the pro audio version of a small batch spirits distillery or cheesemaker. In the past few years Lightning Boy has brought to market products such as the Limited Edition Opti-Mu Prime compression pedal, the Ghost Box phantom power distributor, the Gravitone 30 plate reverb driver/guitar amp head, and the 1401 Stereo Microphone Preamp.
Each Lightning Boy creation is a tube-only affair, and is handmade one at a time by company founder Mike Congilosi II. Every box features point-to-point wiring and vintage construction techniques; there are no printed circuit boards or IC chips on board. Going back to the artisanal craftsman ideology, Mike uses his own blended silver-based solder, all wiring is silver plated, and he even makes his own paper-in-oil capacitors, a design that he has dubbed the "Flux Capacitor".
This month we are looking at his newest creation the Flux Bender, a Pultec-style stereo program equalizer.
Tubed, transformed, and all juiced up
The Flux Bender is a 2U rackmount device finished in a light vintage gray with etched nomenclature. All of its large white knobs and chickenhead selectors have a vintage Bakelite appearance, as does the matching Lightning Boy logo. All of the pots are made by Alps and PEC, along with Alps-designed rotary switches.
Around the back this is one of those vintage designs where the tubes are open and exposed, hidden only under metal screw-on caps. There are also balanced XLR ins and outs. There are six tubes in the Flux Bender: a balanced and matched pair of cryo-treated New Old Stock 12AT7, a matched pair of cryo-treated NOS 6X4, and a pair of NE-2 tubes.
Internally the Flux Bender uses a combination of Sowter input transformers coupled with Jensen interstage transformers, finishing out with Cinemag output transformers and inductors. The unit is a passive EQ design and makes use of a make-up amplifier of Lightning Boy's own design, which I would guess contains elements of the company's 1401 amp circuit.
There is no internal power source in the Flux Bender; it is powered by the company's external Juice Box power supply - its essentially a large exposed power transformer with a switch and a purple jewel light to indicate power-on. It's not often I can comment on how cool and artsy a power supply looks, but this is one that you might want to keep in view!
Going on a Bender
The Flux Bender is a 2-band stereo program EQ with simultaneous low and high frequency cut and boost shelving, designed primarily for use on the master mix bus. It is not a dual mono or 2-channel unit per se, offering only a single set of controls which control the left and right channels simultaneously... with one exception that we will come to in a moment.
Signal flow starts on the left with an Active/Bypass switch. This is a buffered rather than a true bypass; this means that while the EQ section can be removed from the signal path, audio will always flow through the transformers and amplifier circuit. This way you can still add some transformered analog goodness to your signal without EQing it. This has long been a favored trick of engineers - using vintage-flavored gear such as this helps to shave off some of the digital edges in modern day recordings.
The Low shelf starts on the left and, as with all passive EQ designs, there are individual and simultaneous controls for both boost and cut. The Low Shelf Boost has frequency choices of 35, 65, 80, 110, 160, and 220 Hz. The Low Shelf Cut frequencies are 35, 100, 200, 320, 380, and 470 Hz. Both the boost and cut have a 5dB/octave filter slope, but the amount of boost/cut isn't given anywhere.
Moving to the right, the high side starts with the HIgh Shelf Cut, again at 5dB/octave, at 3.5, 5, 6.8, 10, 22, and 25 kHz. The High Bell Boost features frequency choices of 4, 4.8, 5.2, 11, 15, or 22 kHz. The High Bell has one additional control labeled Flux Interaction, with markings of Focused on one side and Wide on the other. This control alters the setting/width of the slope and offers a massive 20dB boost with a 12 dB/octave slope, or a subtler 6dB boost at a 4 dB/octave slope.
Further internal specs include a -90dB noise floor, 100 kHz Frequency Response flat from 10 Hz to 22 kHz, and 0.05% THD when output volume is matched to source volume and passing a 1 kHz test signal at +4 dBu.
The last two knobs are the only independent Left/Right controls on the box. Each one offers 8 dB of output boost to compensate for extreme cuts. I will note that this is not as extreme as you may expect 8 dB to be in a traditional volume sense. The signal, when turned all the way up, was subtly fuller vs. merely louder, although turning the controls fully counter-clockwise does cut the signal completely.
Bending the flux out of it!
I started with the Flux Bender on my studio's master bus, where the unit pretty much lived for most of my time with it. Overall I would describe it as a nicely flavorful box balanced with wonderfully clean fidelity. While it is capable of adding extreme thick gobs of low end or even glass-shattering highs, the general tone of the box is direct and honest rather than overbaked.
If you have read any of my past reviews of boxes like this, you will know that I am not a fan of processors or even microphones that try too hard to sound "vintage." Instead, I prefer devices that are built with vintage-style components and specs that simply sound classy and good, like a vintage piece probably sounded new back in the 1950's and 1960's. This box is definitely the latter!
As with most program EQ boxes, in regular use subtlety wins the day; I found that sculpting the tone gently yielded the best results. The power of a passive EQ is all about how you choose both the boost and cut frequencies at the same time, where they intersect, and how they interact. In my workflow, I would adjust tones just to the point where I could hear the boost or cut become obvious, and then pull it back a hair and gently tweak to taste.
The one area that got me into trouble was the low end. It's impressive! If you love a big bottom, and especially if your room is equipped with a quality subwoofer, this is one of those boxes where the low frequencies just sound massive and awesome. Be warned though, that the lows can get out of control; they will need to be checked for translation on other systems.
Outside of stereo bus work, the Flux Bender sounds great on the drum bus. I even got great results sacrificing one channel and using in mono on kick drum and bass guitar.
Conclusion
This is one impressively fine-sounding box. It adds a nice analog blend of thickness, punch and clarity to any mix or master. Moving back to the boutique/artisanal side, however, quality of this magnitude with this level of construction detail comes with a price to match. Buy a handcrafted messenger bag, top-shelf low-batch bourbon, or a custom tailored suit, and you will know of what I speak.
The Flux Bender sells direct from Lightning Boy; once you place your order, Mike will build you one. It's not cheap by any measure, but its asking price is actually in line with most boutique boxes of this style and ilk, and it has a sound that sets it apart from any other Pultec-style EQ I've heard.
Price: $5000
Each Lightning Boy creation is a tube-only affair, and is handmade one at a time by company founder Mike Congilosi II. Every box features point-to-point wiring and vintage construction techniques; there are no printed circuit boards or IC chips on board. Going back to the artisanal craftsman ideology, Mike uses his own blended silver-based solder, all wiring is silver plated, and he even makes his own paper-in-oil capacitors, a design that he has dubbed the "Flux Capacitor".
This month we are looking at his newest creation the Flux Bender, a Pultec-style stereo program equalizer.
Tubed, transformed, and all juiced up
The Flux Bender is a 2U rackmount device finished in a light vintage gray with etched nomenclature. All of its large white knobs and chickenhead selectors have a vintage Bakelite appearance, as does the matching Lightning Boy logo. All of the pots are made by Alps and PEC, along with Alps-designed rotary switches.
Around the back this is one of those vintage designs where the tubes are open and exposed, hidden only under metal screw-on caps. There are also balanced XLR ins and outs. There are six tubes in the Flux Bender: a balanced and matched pair of cryo-treated New Old Stock 12AT7, a matched pair of cryo-treated NOS 6X4, and a pair of NE-2 tubes.
Internally the Flux Bender uses a combination of Sowter input transformers coupled with Jensen interstage transformers, finishing out with Cinemag output transformers and inductors. The unit is a passive EQ design and makes use of a make-up amplifier of Lightning Boy's own design, which I would guess contains elements of the company's 1401 amp circuit.
There is no internal power source in the Flux Bender; it is powered by the company's external Juice Box power supply - its essentially a large exposed power transformer with a switch and a purple jewel light to indicate power-on. It's not often I can comment on how cool and artsy a power supply looks, but this is one that you might want to keep in view!
Going on a Bender
The Flux Bender is a 2-band stereo program EQ with simultaneous low and high frequency cut and boost shelving, designed primarily for use on the master mix bus. It is not a dual mono or 2-channel unit per se, offering only a single set of controls which control the left and right channels simultaneously... with one exception that we will come to in a moment.
Signal flow starts on the left with an Active/Bypass switch. This is a buffered rather than a true bypass; this means that while the EQ section can be removed from the signal path, audio will always flow through the transformers and amplifier circuit. This way you can still add some transformered analog goodness to your signal without EQing it. This has long been a favored trick of engineers - using vintage-flavored gear such as this helps to shave off some of the digital edges in modern day recordings.
The Low shelf starts on the left and, as with all passive EQ designs, there are individual and simultaneous controls for both boost and cut. The Low Shelf Boost has frequency choices of 35, 65, 80, 110, 160, and 220 Hz. The Low Shelf Cut frequencies are 35, 100, 200, 320, 380, and 470 Hz. Both the boost and cut have a 5dB/octave filter slope, but the amount of boost/cut isn't given anywhere.
Moving to the right, the high side starts with the HIgh Shelf Cut, again at 5dB/octave, at 3.5, 5, 6.8, 10, 22, and 25 kHz. The High Bell Boost features frequency choices of 4, 4.8, 5.2, 11, 15, or 22 kHz. The High Bell has one additional control labeled Flux Interaction, with markings of Focused on one side and Wide on the other. This control alters the setting/width of the slope and offers a massive 20dB boost with a 12 dB/octave slope, or a subtler 6dB boost at a 4 dB/octave slope.
Further internal specs include a -90dB noise floor, 100 kHz Frequency Response flat from 10 Hz to 22 kHz, and 0.05% THD when output volume is matched to source volume and passing a 1 kHz test signal at +4 dBu.
The last two knobs are the only independent Left/Right controls on the box. Each one offers 8 dB of output boost to compensate for extreme cuts. I will note that this is not as extreme as you may expect 8 dB to be in a traditional volume sense. The signal, when turned all the way up, was subtly fuller vs. merely louder, although turning the controls fully counter-clockwise does cut the signal completely.
Bending the flux out of it!
I started with the Flux Bender on my studio's master bus, where the unit pretty much lived for most of my time with it. Overall I would describe it as a nicely flavorful box balanced with wonderfully clean fidelity. While it is capable of adding extreme thick gobs of low end or even glass-shattering highs, the general tone of the box is direct and honest rather than overbaked.
If you have read any of my past reviews of boxes like this, you will know that I am not a fan of processors or even microphones that try too hard to sound "vintage." Instead, I prefer devices that are built with vintage-style components and specs that simply sound classy and good, like a vintage piece probably sounded new back in the 1950's and 1960's. This box is definitely the latter!
As with most program EQ boxes, in regular use subtlety wins the day; I found that sculpting the tone gently yielded the best results. The power of a passive EQ is all about how you choose both the boost and cut frequencies at the same time, where they intersect, and how they interact. In my workflow, I would adjust tones just to the point where I could hear the boost or cut become obvious, and then pull it back a hair and gently tweak to taste.
The one area that got me into trouble was the low end. It's impressive! If you love a big bottom, and especially if your room is equipped with a quality subwoofer, this is one of those boxes where the low frequencies just sound massive and awesome. Be warned though, that the lows can get out of control; they will need to be checked for translation on other systems.
Outside of stereo bus work, the Flux Bender sounds great on the drum bus. I even got great results sacrificing one channel and using in mono on kick drum and bass guitar.
Conclusion
This is one impressively fine-sounding box. It adds a nice analog blend of thickness, punch and clarity to any mix or master. Moving back to the boutique/artisanal side, however, quality of this magnitude with this level of construction detail comes with a price to match. Buy a handcrafted messenger bag, top-shelf low-batch bourbon, or a custom tailored suit, and you will know of what I speak.
The Flux Bender sells direct from Lightning Boy; once you place your order, Mike will build you one. It's not cheap by any measure, but its asking price is actually in line with most boutique boxes of this style and ilk, and it has a sound that sets it apart from any other Pultec-style EQ I've heard.
Price: $5000