30 Of The Best EQ Plugins In The World

[cyphersuit]

I am still pretty interested wheter surfer eq or stillwell vibe eq will make the list.

[audiovet]

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[george [GTPS]]

If it's good mixed you wont hear if it was made with plugins or hardware. Many pro's use both. The pro sound depends on the user and not if it's soft och hardware.

Yeah, I tend to agree: while I'm super-wary of defining what the 'Pro Sound' is - it means something slightly different to everyone I'm sure, which is part of the fun - it's probably fair to say that so much music that is released now (granted, of varying quality) is either created, edited or mixed at least partially ITB, it seems pretty clear that a 'Pro Sound', in one sense at least, can certainly be achieved primarily with software. At the root you have the ability of the artist/ producer to convey something powerful and emotive, using whichever tools he or she feels are right for them (or has access to).

Dare I mention it, but in a sort of related issue, a comment on the article sparked off some thoughts about freeware vs. commercial plugins. Have a look (in the Comments section at the bottom of the page) and add your thoughts if you like.

george, you need sample pages posted from your books, otherwise no buy.

Thanks, I did have some up for the Reverb guide but forgot to re-up them when re-formatted the page/ added the Compression and EQ ones. Will correct this asap.

Part 2 of the "30 EQs..." list coming very soon...

[audiovet]

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[Daimonicon]

I would say "to get that pro sound" buy hw EQs. plugins are just digital craps for a lot of money...
For example Mercury Native - MSRP $6300.... for that price you can get 2-3 mastering grade EQs

Mercury Bundle---you mean the one where you get EVERY plug-in Waves ever made?

And you're comparing that to buying three h/w EQ's?

sure. with daw stock plugins + 3 good hw eqs you will get much better results than with any expansive plugin bundle

If it's good mixed you wont hear if it was made with plugins or hardware. Many pro's use both. The pro sound depends on the user and not if it's soft och hardware.

this is not true. when we talk about a really good mix, we talk about some character. try talking about f.e. green day sound - it is something like punk rock - very powerful and punchy. Try do the same quality mix without the real SSL console and real 1176 boxes. You can use duende, waves, urs etc. Nothing will come even close to the real deal

I'm sure if Michael Wagener, I think, mixed Green Day, could get the same punch with plugins and no one would know it was mixed with plugins.

[poshook]

I did not want to start the flame war here. I own a bunch of plugins and some hw boxes.
Plugins (especially EQs and comps) are pretty good to make some initial work or for demo projects. They are very easy to use - the main advantage.
BUT I really hate the unfair marketing about the plugin emulations (mainly just GUI emulations). You can see many respected persons from the business (owners of pretty expansive and famous hw gear) involved in this marketing who claim the things that are simply not true. A lot of customers with no experience with the real hw believe these claims and spend a lot of money for something which is far away from what it should be. That is all.

my 2cents

[poshook]

I would say "to get that pro sound" buy hw EQs. plugins are just digital craps for a lot of money...
For example Mercury Native - MSRP $6300.... for that price you can get 2-3 mastering grade EQs

Mercury Bundle---you mean the one where you get EVERY plug-in Waves ever made?

And you're comparing that to buying three h/w EQ's?

sure. with daw stock plugins + 3 good hw eqs you will get much better results than with any expansive plugin bundle

If it's good mixed you wont hear if it was made with plugins or hardware. Many pro's use both. The pro sound depends on the user and not if it's soft och hardware.

this is not true. when we talk about a really good mix, we talk about some character. try talking about f.e. green day sound - it is something like punk rock - very powerful and punchy. Try do the same quality mix without the real SSL console and real 1176 boxes. You can use duende, waves, urs etc. Nothing will come even close to the real deal

I'm sure if Michael Wagener, I think, mixed Green Day, could get the same punch with plugins and no one would know it was mixed with plugins.

What you wrote is simply not true. F.e. He uses some Summit Audio EQF-100 HW units. The same unit was modeled by softube as a plugin. I know both of them. The difference is mind-bending. The real EQF-100 does something very special with sound that no plugins or combination of plugins are able to do or closely reproduce. The sound of EQF-100 is big and rich, with tight organic bottom end and silky smooth open trebles. A lot of people bought the plugin in believing they got something very close sounding like that.

[A.M. Gold]

Dave use but after he processed the audio with Shadow Hills and bunch rack eq's for sure plugins will help after that .They are still not there ,for me digi eq's personally sounds harsh and small yet !But the knowledge progress every day so we may see unique eq's witch may sound better from the hardware as well .For sure itb is the future is much cheaper and time saving.

He has the Maag Audio rack EQ but he never stated he uses it all the time. About the only h/w he seems to stick to constantly is the Bricasti reverb.

This argument is still fairly irrelevant for the simple reason that I know for a fact he uses Metric Halo (and those are old plug-ins) EQ's on a very regular basis on tracks. He doesn't send all his tracks out through the Maag. He also uses many, many software compressors on tracks, including McDSP and UAD.

Just because he has a few h/w processors (and the Shadow Hills comp is relatively new for him) doesn't in any way mean his sound would fall apart without them.

This whole thread turned into an argument (and a reasonable one, I'm not denying that) about whether you could get a "professional" sound completely ITB now.

ABSOLUTELY you can because it's done all the time now. Can you get a sound like the tape reels for Fleetwood Mac in 1977? Of course not, but that's not the issue (unless you personally want it to be). The issue is whether you can get a current level of professionalism totally ITB, and the answer is yes.

BTW, none other than super-engineer Michael Brauer says he can't tell the difference between the UAD-2 Massive Passive and the h/w on a digitally recorded track.

[AudioGuy720]

JUST MAKE SOME DAMN MUSIC! STOP WORRYING SO MUCH ABOUT THE TOOLS AND FOCUS ON YOUR ARRANGEMENTS AND PERFORMANCES!

[A.M. Gold]

JUST MAKE SOME DAMN MUSIC! STOP WORRYING SO MUCH ABOUT THE TOOLS AND FOCUS ON YOUR ARRANGEMENTS AND PERFORMANCES!

So I assume you only go to the Production and Theory forums here, then?

Why are you on the effects forum if you don't care about the tools?

I certainly think this (analog vs. digital) is still a debate worth having, but the situation is changing all the time. One thing you CAN'T accurately say now is that you can't get professional results using only plug-ins. That is a fallacy.

[kvaca]

He uses some Summit Audio EQF-100 HW units. The same unit was modeled by softube as a plugin. I know both of them. The difference is mind-bending.

I suppose youve heard exactly the same piece of hw unit Softube modeled...and compared them side by side - becouse otherwise all your comments make zero sense - so do you still have any demos from that testing? and if yes - can we listen, too? Im very curious

[george [GTPS]]

Hey everyone, the 2nd part of the list has been added to the EQ post, it's now up on getthatprosound.com.

Apologies to anyone whose impatient for the whole thing to just 'be there'. But as well as writing articles I also need to spend time 'making some damn music', to quote our friend above...
And anyway, isn't the thrill of wondering if NobleQ etc. are going to make it onto the list worth the wait... :p
Thanks for all the comments and views expressed, it's great to spark some debate, and hopefully we're providing some useful info for those of us with less knowledge or experience.

Cheers!

[herodotus]

I certainly think this (analog vs. digital) is still a debate worth having, but the situation is changing all the time. One thing you CAN'T accurately say now is that you can't get professional results using only plug-ins. That is a fallacy.

And yet you will find many who will assert otherwise, some in this very thread.

I think if the analog vs. digital debate were to assume its proper place as an academic exercise for obsessed gear heads there would be fewer problems. The problems start when some hardware proponent comes to a place like kvr and implies that anyone who doesn't use their favorite expensive gear is a 'kid' or an 'amateur' or an (insert dismissive title here).

I am sure something like this happens the other way as well, though I certainly see less of it, as I haven't frequented the Womb or Tapeop's forums for a while.

In any case, people who assert that their taste in compressors or equalizers or software or operating systems or whatever has some kind of objective validity provide ready fuel for flame wars. Anyone who has been visiting audio forums for longer than a couple months knows this and is probably counting on it to get attention, to drive page views, or just for the sheer 'fun' of screwing with other people.

[codec_spurt]

I think if the analog vs. digital debate were to assume its proper place as an academic exercise for obsessed gear heads there would be fewer problems. The problems start when some hardware proponent comes to a place like kvr and implies that anyone who doesn't use their favorite expensive gear is a 'kid' or an 'amateur' or an (insert dismissive title here).

I am sure something like this happens the other way as well, though I certainly see less of it, as I haven't frequented the Womb or Tapeop's forums for a while.

You want to get yourself over to GearSlutz mate, and tell them you use FruityLoops.

"NO, IT'S CALLED EFF ELL STUDIO NOW", cry the fan boys. Ok, get yourself over to GearSlutz and tell them you use eff ell studio then. See how long you last. First they'll accuse you of being a crack head, then a teenager, then an amateur, then some one who is simply misguided. And if you still stick to your argument, they will say 'Awww', and just pity you.


But I love to read it, I'm not slagging it off, to be clear, I think it's a great forum with as much validity as KVR. You can learn a hell of a lot there if you keep your mouth shut and your mind open. Must do that more myself, come to think of it.

It's not as bad as some forums which I won't mention. I've actually gone on there saying what a super-proffessional I am and how much I love their software and how it's changed my life, and people have laughed at me, called me a noob, and told me to stop insulting their favourite software. And If I don't like it I can get myself off over to GearSlutz. Wtf?



Ok, I lied about the last bit. But talk about cognitive dissonance. Actually, don't.

Sorry, where were we? Hardware vs Software or KVR vs. GearSlutz?

(I can see it now in my minds eye. G/f is annoyed with you not giving her enough attention. 'Round your folks place xmas time. All family there, even the ones that hate you. And your g/f huffs in her best prudish voice with her arms folded: "I don't know why you have to spend all your time 'looking' at that GearSlutz site, anyway, all evening. It's just plain wrong!". Family look at you funny, especially the ones that hate you.)






Ok, back on topic, if that's ok with you gentlemen?

EQs.

I just spent over an hour composing an email to my favourite EQ Developer. None other than Mr. MKDR-Q himself.

http://www.kvraudio.com/product/q-pack-by-mkdr

I have a handful of what most people would consider the best EQs here on KVR. Maybe not on Gearslutz, but on KVR, mosdef. But, these little discontinued beauties really are something else. You could offer me 200 quid and I wouldn't sell them to you. (So bids starting over 200 then)

In a nutshell, these EQs can be used for sound design, like a filter. They sound ridiculously good at high boosts and it's hard to find a spot that isn't sweetened up by the built in saturation. You can also use them surgically and move fast and get stuff done when you don't want to mess about. So many nice little design touches. And the built in spectrum analyser is about the best as far as I am concerned. It is fast and accurate.

I won't name the other EQs I have. They are excellent, don't get me wrong, but I just had to mention how wonderful the Q-Pack is. And also Mr. MKDR-Q himself. No longer supported officialy but he went to some trouble on my behalf to get me up and running with them on my new system.

Any one else have the Q-Pack? If so, what do you think? Is it just me, or are they really wonderful? I'm trying to talk him into updating them. Who knows? I'd be interested in hearing any real experts opinion of them.

cheers.

[ObsoleteAcc99]

well i agree besides just a couple with the top 20 so far.. i think the OP has very good taste and is pretty spot on.