PSP Datamix a567

If you’ve never heard of the Datamix console that wouldn’t surprise me — relatively few were made — but at least one of them earned its place in history. The one installed at The Record Plant studio in New York was used on many classic recordings, including tracks made by Jimi Hendrix working with engineer Eddie Kramer. For example, check out our SOS November 2005 Classic Tracks article on the making of ‘All Along The Watchtower’, which was recorded on that very console. PSP’s Datamix a567 plug‑in models the three‑band EQ of the original console, and adds a variable drive control that affects the amount of saturation at both the input and the transformer‑based output stages of the mixer.

As was common with consoles of that era, the EQ section wasn’t nearly as elaborate as you might find on some of today’s desks, but it did have a distinctive sonic character — that’s what you’re buying into here. Set out with three dual‑concentric controls, the inner knobs set the degree of cut or boost, while the outer ring switches between frequency settings. The low control covers 15 to 480 Hz, with the mid covering 310Hz to 3.08kHz, and the high 1.5 to 14 kHz. A Sharp button changes the Q of the high band for a tighter response, and all three bands are switchable in 11 steps with ±16dB of cut or boost available for each section. The filter Q changes depending on the selected frequency but there’s an Alt button (not present on the original) that fixes the Q setting independently of frequency. Each band has an on/off switch, and the drive control, which has a ±30dB range, has an LED that glows according to how much saturation is being applied. A separate output control sets the overall output level.

Along the bottom of the GUI is a row of 10 buttons, and the first selects an average filter response. Analogue EQs are notoriously ‘approximate’ when it comes to dealing in frequencies, so the final button provides EQ tuning that corresponds to the control settings. The eight number buttons in between allow the user to emulate the filter variations (due to component tolerances) of eight different console channels, with a centre‑detented slider to adjust how much variation should occur between the left and right channels when used in stereo.

Eddie Kramer has endorsed this plug‑in as behaving like the hardware. He says of the original that the input could easily be overloaded, which he found useful for some sounds, and that the EQ also had a fairly ‘forward’ sound to it. He’s also mentioned that some settings have to be used carefully, but the reward is a great guitar sound, a glossy high end that flatters cymbals, and a useful presence that works well with pianos and horns as well as guitars.

...it does have an endearing character that can be utilised when you need something a bit special.

I’d say that description is pretty much spot‑on: while the Datamix a567 may not always be the first choice when you need some general‑purpose EQ, it does have an endearing character that can be utilised when you need something a bit special. And in today’s musical landscape that could be anything from hip‑hop to guitar bands.