The Muir Audio Design Morphtone EQ is a dual parametric EQ pedal designed for both guitarists and bass players. What sets it apart from a typical graphic or parametric EQ is its architecture: instead of one EQ stage, it runs two very different parametric EQ stages in parallel, and a Morph control lets you blend between them. Delicious Audio describes it as "a unique high performance dual parametric equaliser pedal designed for guitarists and bass players," with the Morph control offering "a quick and effective way to dial in a great instrument tone"1.
The pedal is custom designed and hand built in the UK, with a 100% analog signal path and true bypass (unbuffered) switching1.
The controls: the blue and red channels and the Morph knob
The two EQ channels work differently, and the Morph knob is what ties them together. The control knobs are freq, width, tone, depth, morph, and level, alongside switches for freq range, notch/peak, and an input pad1.
The blue channel is a boost-only stage. Its Tone control operates mostly on mid to low frequencies, selecting the frequency to boost, and there is no cutting on this side. Depth sets the amount of boost applied to that frequency, using a rather wide Q, meaning the EQ curve is broad rather than surgical1.
The red channel is the more flexible of the two. A lo/mid/hi toggle selects the range of frequency to be boosted or cut, covering lows, mids, or highs, so this side can both boost and cut. Its frequency ranges are1:
The upper EQ stage can be made narrow as well as wide, with a maximum Q of 32, which allows precise, surgical cuts or boosts. The lower wide EQ stage reaches a maximum tone depth of -20dB1.
The Morph control sits after the two channels and blends them to taste. At one end you get one channel's character, at the other end the other's, and anywhere in between is a mix of the two. With the Morph control and the depth control fully counter clockwise, the pedal offers up to +28dB of clean boost, which makes it usable as a straightforward boost pedal with the EQ effectively out of the way1.
Power and connections: two effects loops and battery or 9 to 18V
The Morphtone EQ runs on a 9 to 18V DC mains adapter with a rating over 50mA, or a 9V PP3 battery, which is not included. The power connector is the standard 2.1mm center plus barrel, the Boss/Ibanez style, so it works with most common pedalboard power supplies. Current consumption is 28 mA typical, and battery life is rated at 25 hours typical with an alkaline PP31.
The barrel connector is center plus (Boss/Ibanez style), the opposite polarity of some pedals. Check your power supply's polarity before plugging in.
What makes the pedal unusual on the back panel is that it carries not one but two FX loops: one pre EQ insert and one post EQ. The full jack layout is signal in, signal out, pre send, pre ret, post send, and post ret, all 1/4" mono jacks1. That gives a player two insertion points: an overdrive or fuzz placed in the pre EQ loop gets shaped by the EQ after it, while a delay or reverb in the post EQ loop keeps its repeats untouched by any EQ changes. It effectively turns one pedal into an EQ plus a simple loop switcher for overdrive, distortion or fuzz up front and time-based effects later.
Specifications
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Input impedance | 1.1 Meg Ohms1 |
| Output impedance | 100 Ohms1 |
| Input headroom | 6 to 12V pk-pk1 |
| Noise (EQ flat, 0dB gain) | -104 dB1 |
| Distortion | 0.02%1 |
| Frequency response (EQ flat) | +/- 1dB, 20 Hz to 20 kHz1 |
| Dimensions (max) | 154mm x 126mm x 59mm1 |
| Dimensions (enclosure only) | 146mm x 122mm x 40mm1 |
| Weight | 0.61 kg1 |
The wide input headroom of 6 to 12V peak to peak means the pedal can accept hot signals, such as an active bass or a line-level feed, without clipping the input stage, and running it at 18V rather than 9V increases that headroom further1.
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Questions
Does the Muir Morphtone EQ work on bass?
Yes. The Morphtone EQ is a dual parametric equalizer pedal designed for both guitarists and bass players. Its lower EQ band reaches down to 33 Hz, which covers the fundamentals of a bass instrument, and the upper channel's low range spans 33 Hz to 410 Hz, so there is plenty of control in bass territory.
Can the Morphtone EQ be used as a clean boost?
Yes. With the Morph control and the depth control both fully counter clockwise, the pedal offers up to +28dB of clean boost with the EQ flat. That is enough push to drive an amp harder or lift a solo, and the 100% analog signal path keeps the boosted signal clean.
Is the Muir Audio Design Morphtone EQ true bypass?
Yes. The Morphtone EQ uses true bypass, unbuffered, so when the pedal is off it is out of the signal path entirely. Its input impedance is 1.1 Meg Ohms and its output impedance is 100 Ohms when engaged.
Is the Morphtone EQ analog?
Yes. The Morphtone EQ has a 100% analog signal path, and it is custom designed and hand built in the UK by Muir Audio Design. Its noise floor is rated at -104 dB with the EQ flat and 0dB gain, and distortion is listed at 0.02%.
Sources (1)
- New Pedal: Muir Audio Design Morphtone EQ, Delicious Audio, 2023-03-22