Very occasionally, a design is so correct from the very start that it needs
little or no development over many years.
The Klark Teknik DN360 has been in continuous production for seventeen years
with only one minor design revision, and is still the most popular analogue
graphic equaliser on the planet.
With over 30,000 units shipped worldwide to date, DN360 has achieved ubiquity
in pro-audio circles. So why is it so enduringly popular? Like all KT units it
is well designed and engineered to very high standards so will handle continuous
road use with only minimal service. They are also very consistent, so engineers
using units sourced locally all over the world will get the same response every
time.
But perhaps most important of all is the way they sound - it's notoriously
difficult to describe sound, but talk to anyone that prefers DN360s to any other
graphic and they will use words like 'musical' 'smooth' 'responsive' and 'great
sounding'. Primarily this is because we use proportional-Q filtering, where the
'Q' value of the frequency increases as the cut or boost increases. This
provides a flowing response at low cut / boost values, but also accurate
frequency control at higher values.