Unlike most EQs that employ high-gain, low-noise chips to convey a sense of clinical accuracy, the Radial Q4 is all about adding analog character to the signal path. This is achieved using 100% discrete parts throughout to produce the unique class-A circuit architecture. With this approach, you will encounter a slightly higher noise floor, a little bit more distortion and of course, overdriving the Q4 will occur more rapidly as you push it beyond it’s intended working range. But these are the very characteristics that one looks for when recording with vintage audio devices. Yet even with this in mind, the Radial Q4 still manages to deliver less than 0.01% distortion and better than 90dB signal-to-noise. This is truly impressive given the nature of this unique EQ design.