KVR Audio

DJMaytag · Post by **DJMaytag** » Sat Dec 27, 2014 10:41 pm

I hate to ask a dumb question, but I can't say I've ever had any desire to pick up ANY vintage EQ or emulation plugin. I like the flexibility of the EQ's I have (FF ProQ2 & Renaissance EQ are my most used EQ's), and a lot of vintage EQ emulations seem to be very limited - notably ones with fixed frequencies.

Is there something I'm missing???

Burillo · Post by **Burillo** » Sat Dec 27, 2014 11:38 pm

There's nothing you're missing. Like them? Use them. Din't like them? Don't use them.

I can speak for myself though. For me it's primarily about two issues: curves and workflow.

Regarding curves, some EQ designs are legendary for a reason - the filter curves sound "musical", i.e. the affected frequencies are those that people tend to use the most (because those EQ's were concieved with exactly this goal in mind) . Hence, these EQ's simply sound good for almost anything you ever encounter. They don't give you everything, but they give you the most common, and are expertly designed to be good at it as well.

Regarding workflow, consider them a shortcut of sorts. It's perfectly possible to replicate a "vintage" EQ curve using a flexible EQ like Pro-Q, but this requires knowledge of those actual curves. It's much easier to just turn up the gain knob at 10K and let tge design do its magic.

Plus, some prefer various limitations that you get with such EQ's - limited frequency range, stepped controls, etc. I tend to find myself in this camp more and more. There's no rationale behind it - some just find it intimidating to have the freedom to do anything you want, as it may send you down the dark path of endless tweaking.

Some also use those EQ's as color/distortion boxes, but i tend to stay on the cleaner side.

Sluga · Post by **Sluga** » Sat Dec 27, 2014 11:41 pm

Curves that can't be that easily recreated

audiosabre · Post by **audiosabre** » Sun Dec 28, 2014 12:04 am

DJMaytag wrote:FF ProQ2 & Renaissance EQ are my most used EQ's

Waves wrote:Featuring real-time EQ graphing, vintage-modeled filter curves, and extended internal headroom, the Renaissance Equalizer is a versatile paragraphic EQ with warm, analog-style sound.

What's the big deal with Ren EQ?

djshire · Post by **djshire** » Sun Dec 28, 2014 6:08 pm

Post this same thread on GS, I just want to see how hilarious that thread will be

B.A.Tech. · Post by **B.A.Tech.** » Sun Dec 28, 2014 6:25 pm

Analog vs Digital.

el-bo (formerly ebow) · Sun Dec 28, 2014 6:29 pm

what the others said, but it's also quite a revelation to work without graphical representation....just tweak, and listen

Sampleconstruct · Post by **Sampleconstruct** » Sun Dec 28, 2014 6:40 pm

el-bo (formerly ebow) wrote:what the others said, but it's also quite a revelation to work without graphical representation....just tweak, and listen

Actually I sometimes do this as an exercise, switch off the graphic display in e.g. ProQ 2, then tweak the signal just using my ears, switch graphic display back on to verify how accurate I edited the signal (concerning cuts and boosts).

Fritze · Post by **Fritze** » Sun Dec 28, 2014 9:06 pm

DJMaytag wrote:I hate to ask a dumb question, but ...

That's not a dumb question.

DJMaytag wrote:Is there something I'm missing???

This is your problem: Insecurity. This is normal. 50million people are yelling that you need this and that and that even the Beatles/Stones/Sinatra wouldn't have been able to sound the way they did without it. The truth is that a top notch audio engineer like Clearmountain, CLA, Pensado, Puig, etc could create a top notch sounding mix with the tools that you have at your disposal right now.
My suggestions: Learn the frequencies and what they do in the signals you're using. I've got 2 tools for that and I can recommend them: Train your Ears EQ Edition and Tune by earplugins.eu. The latter is free but really good, too.
Then learn what your EQs can do to those frequencies. And if you then miss something or if GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) is setting in you are well equiped to make a well educated decision about that shiny-cool-hot-vintage-etc EQ.

DJMaytag · Post by **DJMaytag** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 12:31 am

djshire wrote:Post this same thread on GS, I just want to see how hilarious that thread will be

What's GS?

DJMaytag · Post by **DJMaytag** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 12:40 am

DJMaytag wrote:Is there something I'm missing???

This is your problem: Insecurity. This is normal. 50million people are yelling that you need this and that and that even the Beatles/Stones/Sinatra wouldn't have been able to sound the way they did without it. The truth is that a top notch audio engineer like Clearmountain, CLA, Pensado, Puig, etc could create a top notch sounding mix with the tools that you have at your disposal right now.[/quote]
When it comes to EQ, I'm quite fine with what I have (I'm VERY happy with the Pro-Q 2) and actually DON'T feel any desire for any other EQ's for my setup, not even the Pultec emulations that are as low as $10 right now.

I've been doing audiophile sound as far back as 23 years ago, and had an 8 bus analog board as far back as 15 years ago (before bowing out of audio production for a while.) I'm pretty familiar with frequencies and Q factors, and usually have pretty specific ideas about how I want things to sound, and some of these vintage EQ emulations don't serm flexible enough to do what I want. That's where I get list on what's so special about EQ's.

That said, my GAS focuses on compressors for mastering, modulation effects, and more synthesizers.

jinotsuh · Post by **jinotsuh** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 1:10 am

DJMaytag wrote:What's GS?

Greatly Superior - well at least in there own minds, that's just the impression I have got, of course not all.

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/

Fritze · Post by **Fritze** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 7:25 am

DJMaytag wrote:I'm pretty familiar with frequencies and Q factors, and usually have pretty specific ideas about how I want things to sound, and some of these vintage EQ emulations don't serm flexible enough to do what I want. That's where I get list on what's so special about EQ's.

That said, my GAS focuses on compressors for mastering, modulation effects, and more synthesizers.

Hehehe... Everything cool man. Yesterday I watched an interview with hans zimmer where he said that even after +100 soundtracks he still has the insecurity if he is good enough for the job. So i have no prob with such things. But yeah it's officially uncool to talk about the own boundaries. That's where my drift about your question "if you miss something" came from.

I don't think you're missing anything with the limitations of vintage eqs. The only thing that is interesting to me about them is their nonlinearities. So i would only use them as sweetening boxes.

Hermetech Mastering · Mon Dec 29, 2014 10:42 am

djshire wrote:Post this same thread on GS, I just want to see how hilarious that thread will be

This place is just as bad.

I don't have any vintage EQs but I have two hardware EQs that are both based on vintage circuit designs. (TC Pullet and DM Bax). Haven't found any plugins that replace them yet, and I have EQuilibrium and SlickEQ GE etc. They just sound good and are easy to use, what's not to like?

Kaboom75 · Post by **Kaboom75** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 7:13 pm

A proper vintage EQ emulation adds some mojo to the sound and they have very simple controls normally no analyser which makes them more fun for being creative . The freq that are boosted a lot get some saturation and other nice musical thingy. The really old ones are good for really fattening up a bass sound or kick.
The subtle more modern ones are great for anything.

If you have your mix and tone perfected but just want to clean it up a bit you are best using a clean EQ which only does curves with no saturation or pre amp emulation.

What's the big deal with vintage EQ's?