Alchemy Audio HBE Detox EQ vs Empress ParaEQ MkII
The Alchemy Audio HBE Detox EQ and the Empress ParaEQ MkII are both pedals.
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Blended from circuit-archetype lineage, dynamic feel, tone-signal overlap and tone-vector distance — the tone vector itself is derived from editorial description text, not a measured acoustic signal, so this reflects how similarly the catalog copy describes the two, not a lab measurement. Shown only within a gear class, and only where there's enough evidence to be meaningful.40% — somewhat different
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Citation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.$249via Reverb
Alchemy Audio builds the HBE Detox EQ as a faithful clone of the HBE Homebrew Detox EQ, a rare, somewhat underrated equalizer circuit not widely produced by major manufacturers, using high-quality components including one-percent metal film resistors, Switchcraft jacks, and Alpha potentiometers to reproduce the original's tonal shaping accurately. Rather than designing an original circuit, Alchemy Audio specializes in careful recreations of classic and hard-to-find effects designs, making pedals like this accessible to players who want a specific, sometimes obscure vintage sound without hunting down an original unit or attempting to build one themselves from scratch.
The Empress ParaEQ MkII is a redesigned, more compact version of the original ParaEQ, packing the same studio-level three-band parametric equalization into a significantly smaller enclosure (roughly 2.6 by 4.8 by 1.5 inches versus the original's 4.5 by 3.5 by 1.5). It carries forward the original's core functionality with no compromises while adding meaningfully improved headroom, a 107.9dB signal-to-noise ratio and 0.03% distortion at 27V internal operation. It's aimed at players who valued the original ParaEQ's precise tonal control but wanted a smaller pedalboard footprint and better noise performance.
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Genres this gear is documented as being used in.- Metal
- Alternative Rock