EQ 73 and EQ 81 New T-RackS Custom Shop classic British EQ models released

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

As far as these processors being just "OK" I know YMMV and that's your opinion to which you are entitled, I do see a vast amount of people here and elsewhere feeling they are far better than just "OK"... Like the sentiments from a single forum thread elsewhere:

"Very impressed IK. Never heard an itb eq do this kinda stuff before."
"Ohhh my goodness [sic] it sounds so right on bas [sic], drums, guitars etc. that its almost stupid"
"these sound great"
"they sound is amazing"
"Actually i like the eq on the plugin much better than the hardware"
"I actually prefer the 'air' the 73 added more than my Clariphonic HW unit....which nothing has beat yet."
"Must agree that these 2 IK Eq's are top notch and for ITB Eq, they're now my go to."
"Great job! I'm replacing my old V-Series with them in some sessions and there is a marked improvement"
"Great work IK. Every plugin coming better and better.. Those two are amazing."
"Really rich, meaty EQ. The Q is amazing when used with the input drive... the lows, low-mids and mids + input drive ... holy smokes."
"These guys do have a legacy, like it or not."
"...this IK 1073 works like magic on distorted guitars"
"...comparing to AlexB's Nebula 1073.... and trust me this is THE MOMENT I've been waiting for... I think it may be beat."
"These EQ's are amazing!"
"I 100% concur with your rave reviews. These things are going to replace Nebula for at least Neve, if not for the processing of EQing altogether."
"I am not going discredit other people opinion - but usually it's a hype with these products. At least for me. Well this one isn't just hype. I will probably buy it. It does have such nice weight and pleasant tone. Really it is special. Wow."
"very impressive plugins, the most musical and organic 1073/1081 emulation up to date"
"I'm under the impression that once again, ik multimedia just kick the competitor asses!"
"there is a tone and sheen added to them which really speak about these EQs. Really silky smooth and full of weight."
"Best IK release to date IMHO."
"Wow, I'm speachless. The EQ73 sounds surprisingly good, reminds me of how good the Comp 670 is (until now it was, in my opinion, the best thing in T-RackS). I like it better than AlexB 73eQ for Nebula, no doubt."
"You managed to make the best plugin EQs ITB ever IMHO. I am speechless. These two wipe the floor even with Nebula renditions. They make other Neve clones sound like joke. And thank you for avoiding the concentric knobs as these make no sense ITB, just do the handling cumbersome. This is by faaaar your best release which highly surpasses everything UAD has ever done in the EQ land. These do have a weight that is expected, do have silky smooth highs and superb midrange. I don't know how you did it, but you definitely did. Benchmark for all the other EQs from now on IMHO."

We didn't say any of that. The users did.

[Ultrasonic]

The one page is a news piece at http://www.ikmultimedia.com/news/promos/?item_id=3895 that right on the landing page (which is atypical for a news piece) states clearly:

No Peter. Its not and you know its not.

This is exactly the type of thing im talking about....and taking the opposite stance when its clearly on the site this way, is the very type of thing that leads to skepticism. Theres the home page add right there. SHOULD people go on to the next page and read it all? Yeah probably. Do they? Well, i think everyone and especially IK knows the answer to that. Much in same way that you didnt read my whole post or you wouldnt have went on to say exactly what i said you were going to say.

"Very impressed IK. Never heard an itb eq do this kinda stuff before."
"Ohhh my goodness [sic] it sounds so right on bas [sic], drums, guitars etc. that its almost stupid"
"these sound great"
"they sound is amazing"
"Actually i like the eq on the plugin much better than the hardware"

Again, its been said once, people dont put much stock in whats being said at GS. A lot of them are amateurs that desperately want to be perceived as working audio engineers. For the most part, people will always feel like anything they spent their money on is "great"

Im sure there ARE things that they like about the EQs, but ive come across too many folks that -think- they have it all figured out but usually dont. Do you think that all of the ones making these claims have the monitoring to back it up? I think you are being a bit naive if you are using those words for anything other than to sell more products.

i know you work hard and treat most with respect. I respect your interaction on the forums, but you have to admit, im not the first to feel that some of these tactics are questionable. There are other discussable issues, but Ive spoken my piece and will leave it at that. I just hope someday you see or acknowledge what others are talking about.

[soulata]

I've tried the new EQs they're ok. They're not going to make a difference in my mixes over my other software EQs. Its really more about the choices you make. The saturation may add something slightly different, but nothing to worry about for me...but then i dont often reach for an EQ because i want to distort my signal...nor throw some type of saturation on every channel, in hopes that it will make my mix shine.

No no Ultrasonic, you're getting it all wrong. these are "erection correction" EQs, pure magic from the -3hZ to infinity and beyond

Seriously, I don't know why people get overexcited about EQs, the guys in the trenches that are getting the work done are doing it with what they have and are doing it well because they know what they're doing. A good EQ is fine, but there are many.

k

[radio12]

Although i find the neverending attacks whenever ikmultimedia releases something new no longer funny, repeated over and over, i have to admit that i would prefer a more solid price policy, why don`t you ask for half the price and stop these extra offerings?
I bought the precision compressor a few months ago for the full price, and now i would get it for free if i buy one of the new eqs.
Maybe i`ll buy the 81 anyway and get the white channel or the echo for free, things i don't really need, or i wait for a better offer.

[hibidy]

IK threads are frustrating. The various camps have all these rules about what you can/can't say and when you can/can't say.

So their great, I'm glad to hear it, I'd expect nothing less. They are too much though and the BOGO did kinda get my hopes up a bit. (edit IMHO, don't want to fuel the fires anymore )

Why can't someone just understand that instead of thinking you are picking on the company for saying that?

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

That is a short blurb on our home page, one would typically click the "Read More" since they can't even get to the "Buy Now" buttons from that blurb directly anyway and I'd think people would look at the details of a promotion and even more so for the products themselves. And I did read your entire posts, and still disagree. We give people all of the information and tools to make an informed purchase (hopefully they actually demo the plugins too). Not to mention if anybody felt "fooled' we have people on staff that - gasp - help people daily with any concerns of this sort and have in many cases refunded appropriately or otherwise made the customer happy.

Also, people could say the same about opinions of people on KVR too... But sorry to contradict but Gearslutz has a lot of folks there that have respected opinions too and the only people that I find are doubting the opinions of the users of that forum as a whole are a couple of people here. Same goes the other way. Funny that. Maybe that makes opinions null? Someone should post a graphic of that, stat.

If you, or these people you mention you know, have been "fooled" by this promotion please provide your ticket number or details of your interaction with IK that was not satisfactory and I'll gladly look into it. Otherwise it seems a bit blown out of proportion to me, and your negative opinion of something you feel IK is doing is affecting your overall opinion and I'm sorry if that is the case but I'm willing to help if you have an actual problem with something.

That said, have you actually contacted anybody to clarify that short blurb? Would you like me to? Or did you just want to complain about it being something evil we're trying to do on a forum and not affect change just fan the typical flames in an IK post on KVR. I'm with hibidy, they are frustrating.

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

Why can't someone just understand that instead of thinking you are picking on the company for saying that?

If you are addressing me, first I'd appreciate if you did so directly so it was clear but also I don't think anybody is picking on the company - someone is alleging they know people that were mislead by something that I showed is clearly not misleading. On top of that, we handle cases where someone was not clear on the terms of a promotion directly and satisfactorily so of course I'd assume those issues were reported. If they were not handled to someone's satisfaction, I'd like to know. Alleging we're doing something nefarious may not be picking on the company but I'm surely going to clear it up. If there are no true documented cases of what is being alleged with these users that feel duped, then we can move on. If there are, and we have not taken care of them in a satisfactory manner I'm offering to help.

Edit - since this is no longer about the plugins but the promotion, those interested can find the details (hopefully clearly stated) here: http://www.ikmultimedia.com/trbogo

[hibidy]

I WASN'T directed at "you". That's the problem with IK threads.

What can/can't be said AND WHEN is a mystery to me. I'm tired of trying to explain it. I really don't think anyone actually cares to understand my points.

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

I WASN'T directed at "you". That's the problem with IK threads.

What can/can't be said AND WHEN is a mystery to me. I'm tired of trying to explain it. I really don't think anyone actually cares to understand my points.

Gotcha. Well I care to understand, I just didn't! My bad, I addressed a point that didn't exist. I can't even throw a cat picture in as a distraction in good conscience either. Also, you didn't quote me so I should have used that as a deciding factor and assumed the opposite instead of Felix Ungering the thread. /old guy reference

[hibidy]

One of the things I was thinking about was that some people might be thinking "bad timing" for the BOGO. What's the FIRST THING people are going to think when they see it? Lemme guess, goes something like this.......

OMGFINGCOOLICANGETBOTHEQ'S!!!!!!11111111!!!!1

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

Well, I understand people being excited but hopefully they at least take the time to demo these and see how great they sound on their own material and in that time they also give a full reading to the details of the sale they are interested in that is related to these plugins On the first point, I hope people are still trying and using these as they are among our best work yet and really do sound fantastic.

[Masr]

I feel that you in IK really got to understand many deeper issues involved with the EQ coding. I wonder if you ever consider to revisit some of your older offerings - especially calrec and pultec EQs. I believe that these two could be still one step better (softer, punchier and more 3D sounding).

[Masr]

I know that the marketing reasoning goes usually like this: "Lets make some new emulations of the same products and lets have the old ones still available for less money". Then we end up with many different emulations of the same product, some better, other worse (at least Waves typically does it - placing a name of a well know mixing engineer on the "new" plugin). But I'd say "less is more".

So, for example, if you ever decide to improve the pultec, discontinue the old one and allow a small fee upgrade path to the previous users. Honestly, I'd rather have just a couple of really good emulations than bunch of "old-and-not-so-good" plugins. Please, do not duplicate the crazy approach of Waves with hundreds of plugins (some really inferior, IMHO). Keep improving the old ones as you get more and more experience with coding. Make your pride in the best emulations currently available, not the best emulations of past. You have the potential to become the company of "the best emulations only", as you proved with these two EQs.