BaxterEQ

Powerful baxandall EQ plugin. M/S-Mode is fantastic and you also can adjust Mid and Side volume without even applying the shelves or cuts.

The only reason why I reduce one star and I can imagine this plugin isn't way more popular is because it is kind of hard to read the parameter values and specific elements are not easy to distinguish from each other, even if you get a little more familiar with the plugin.

If the developer could maybe enhance the GUI in an updated verson, I guess this plugin would be used by much more people.

Introduction
When you hear the name, or look at it's GUI, it's not difficult to understand that this EQ is based on the Dangerous BAX EQ, an EQ that is famous for it's very musical sounding EQ curves.

Is this BaxterEQ a perfect digital copy of the Dangerous BAX EQ? The answer is No, it's not, but that's also not the intention of Bootsy to make you believe it is a perfect copy. So, does it sound any good than? The answer is YES!

Specs
So, what does the BaxterEQ offer you, what makes it sound so good? Let's take a look at some of the specs:

Two Baxandall shelving filters: a LF @ 74, 84, 98, 116, 131, 166, 230 and 361 Hz and a HF @ 1.6, 1.8, 2.1, 2.4, 3.4, 4.8, 7.1, 11 and 18 kHz.

And two 2-pole Butterworth filters: a LC @ 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 43 and 54 Hz and a HC @ 7.5, 9, 11.1, 12.6, 16, 21, 28 and 40 kHz.

On top of this, you can run this dual channel EQ in either Stereo or Mid/Side.

In use
Because of the nature of this EQ, it can not be surgical at all, so for mixing duties, you will probably find a full parametric EQ to be more favorable. But on the mix buss and in mastering duties, this EQ will really show it's strength. Use the smooth as silk sounding 2-pole Butterworth filters to remove some of the low rumble and harshness and at the same time, use the two Baxandall shelving filters to add some bottom and air to your mix. Because the two shelving filters have a range from -5dB to +5dB, you hardly can go wrong here. Whatever you do, you will find out that it sounds not artificial at all, but very musical pleasing. This is all thanks to the wonderful Baxandall shelving filters that have been digitally recreated by Bootsy.

It might sound a bit limited, only having a low shelf and a high shelf filter, and this might give you the idea it's only useful if you want to alter the tone of the low and high frequencies. But when you take a closer look at the frequency choices you have, it becomes clear that you can do more than that! You could for example boost the high shelf 5dB on 2.1Khz and at the same time cut at 12.6 Khz or 16Khz for example, to really push the mid frequencies more to the front of the mix, without having to worry about added high frequencies.

The ability to run this plugin in Mid/Side mode is a very nice bonus. This makes it possible to alter the stereo imaging in a very pleasing way, to really bring your mix more to life!

Conclusion
This plugin has the famous ability to make your mixes sound finished, thanks to its fantastic sounding digital recreated Baxandall curves. And the good part: it's completely free! Isn't Bootsy amazing? Unfortunately, MAC users have to look elsewhere, since this plugin comes only in a 32bit VST plugin for Windows.

This plugin is highly recommended!