Maag Audio AIR BAND

The AIR BAND has been a cornerstone for the Maag Audio line since the early 90's. It was originally conceived when Mr Cliff Maag needed to update his console. As Maag Notes on an article on their website:

"The original NTI EQ3 was a six-band EQ with fixed frequency bands. However, while each of the first five bands could be boosted or cut, the final Air Band could only be boosted."

Now available on all Maag gear, the AIR BAND is a Boost only Shelf that is selectable between 2.5kHz, 5kHz, 10 kHz, 20kHz, and 40kHz. This shelf allows you to add life and presence to your audio, without a phase shift. 

In the article on the Maag website, Mr Cliff Maage states the origins of the AIR BAND being:

"The Air Band on our EQ, you’d think it was born in the EQ, and I’m gonna surprise you, it wasn’t. Where the Air Band was born, when I started out I had a C12, an original C12, and then I had a Boulder Preamp, and I had an LA-2A.

Unbelievable vocal chain.I learned what open sound and air was like because of that vocal chain. So now, my console lacking being able to bring that out in other microphones. Maybe a U87 for instance. Kind of an edgier sound. You couldn’t open up the high end. Especially my ribbon mics I couldn’t. - So I built a new preamp. And in the process we ended up with some patents based off of a new way of looking at doing the microphone preamp that we built. It’s the one that we have now even."

It is always interesting to learn the history about how something came about, and the recording studio is filled with tons of these stories. Whether it is the idea for a song, a (Bob Ross like) "happy accident" that made a unique part of a song, or the need that led to the designing of a new piece of gear or feature. The story behind the Maag Audio AIR BAND is very cool, and the AIR BAND is undoubtedly a highly regarded part of the great Maag line.