Drawmer MQ-1 and MQ-2 — A Mix Product of the Week

New York, NY (January 24, 2025)—Notable in the cavalcade of new product announcements from NAMM are two Drawmer 500-series units inspired by the classic Motown EQ and hand-built in the UK. (Drawmer is distributed in the US by the TransAudio Group.)

The MQ-1 is a single-slot, mono, 7-band, proportional Q equalizer. The company says the curves of its bell filters are “akin to the renowned ones used in the illustrious Detroit studios of the 1960s.” The MQ-1 offers 10dB boost/cut knobs at the following frequencies: 50 Hz (Sub Bass), 130 Hz (Bass), 320 Hz (Low Mdrange), 800 Hz (Midrange), 2 kHz (Upper Midrange), 5 kHz (Presence), and 12.5 kHz (Brilliance).

Other controls include a master Gain control and a hard-wired Bypass switch. A bright red button labeled Crush activates a harmonic-saturation circuit adapted from the Drawmer 1971 rackmount EQ.

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Characterized as a “fixed time-constant, auto-gain makeup compressor,” the Crush process increases in intensity the harder you hit the MQ-1’s input. Drawmer says, “CRUSH fattens up the bass, adds presence to the mids, and brings a delightful shimmer to the top end.”

The MQ-2 is a 2-slot unit featuring a stereo version of the same EQ as the MQ-1 plus a stereo compressor. The latter is program-dependent; that is, it changes its envelope based on the dynamic characteristics of the incoming signal. A single knob, labeled Compress, controls its amount.

Like the MQ-1, the MQ-2 offers buttons for activating the Bypass and Crush circuits. It also features an Order button, which controls whether the EQ or Compressor is first in the signal chain.

The MQ-2 also features an 8-segment LED bar graph Gain Reduction meter and a dual 8-segment LED bar graph VU meter.

The MQ-1 will sell for $349 and the MQ-2 for $539. The press release doesn’t specify when the units will start shipping. Get more information on the new units on the TransAudio Group website.