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SonEQ
SonEQ by Sonimus is a Virtual Effect Audio Plugin for macOS and Windows. It functions as a VST Plugin, an Audio Units Plugin, a VST 3 Plugin and an AAX Plugin.
Product
Version
1.2
Product
Version
1.2
Effect
Formats
Copy Protection
None
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SonEQ is a digital equalizer that takes parts from some vintage gear and combines them. SonEQ has 3 bands, bass, middle and treble. Also, SonEQ has a pre-amp section.

Features:

  • 3 band Equalizer, Low, Mid, High.
  • 2 Musical Filters, High-Pass Low-Pass.
  • Preamp stage with bass booster.
  • 64-bit floating point precision.
  • Up to 192kHz sample rates supported.
  • Mac Intel AU/VST, Windows 32 VST.

Latest User Reviews

Average user rating of 4.25 from 4 reviews
SonEQ

Reviewed By Drytowel [all]
February 15th, 2021
Version reviewed: 1 on Mac

Crazy free plugin, I really enjoy using this one, it's a kind of Pultec eQ, generous bass and lovely trebbles .

Also working with apple silicon M1 macs.

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SonEQ

Reviewed By fese [all]
April 20th, 2013
Version reviewed: 1.1 on Windows

This is an EQ you feel comfortable putting on all channels, it just cannot sound bad. Of course this is not a precise EQ for cutting that 208.3 Hz resonance on your acoustic guitar with a notch filter, this is a classic "sweetening" EQ. Usually I find myself boosting the bands instead of cutting, and even if you dial the high band knob to the right, it never sounds harsh.

It is practically impossible to destroy a signal with this one, that is, if you don't use the drive to get some saturation or distortion on purpose. The usage of the drive parameter is a bit unusual though, you need too boost the input, the drive and the bass band together and fine tune those parameters, but the drive sound itself is excellent and ranges from subtle saturation to nice distortion.

Regarding the Pultec style bass band I am not sure about the 20 and 30 Hz frequencies. They may be historically accurate, but I have found no use for them so far, I'd prefer an extra 80 and 120 Hz band. The mid band is the most flexible one, ranging from 150 to 4000 Hz and lets you choose between a higher and a lower Q. The hi band is the most simple one, but perfect for giving some air to muddy guitars or vocals. The high and low cuts are a welcome addition to the Pultec concept and make the plugin all in all quite versatile.

And last but not least the GUI is well-designed and good looking and guarantees a good workflow.

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SonEQ

Reviewed By FarleyCZ [all]
March 18th, 2012
Version reviewed: 1.1 on Windows

I LOVE when some free plugin kicks a**es of big payware. :) Have already few of them, rewieved few and probably will keep doing this, becouse I can't afford pretty much nothing else. :D

This EQ is example of that. So musical. I swear I heard character it adds in one YT tutorial where they gloryfied some Softube emulation.

In usual cases, especially with acoustical instruments, all you want to do really is low/high cut them and do little simple boost anyway, so I can't tell I don't miss something featurewise, parametric EQ is still parametric EQ, but as far as usability goes, you won't be limited that much. Hey, hear the sound, see missing pricetag! That's the main thing here! :)

Distortion is graeat. Really cool sounding. As always you need to watch out not overdoing that. Freeware plugins sometimes tends to behave crazy when overdriven too much, but can't tell here yet, didn't test it that long.

I usually cut basses too much so I didn't like it on (synth) basses too much. Could be different with acoustic though. But its great for all different leads, plucks, stabs, can imagine it on vocals too. Everything you can imagine runing through the Pultec in your dreams, you can run it trough this with good results. :)

Point down as a dev-poke, couse I'd love to see much more from them, seems like they know their way around DSP. :)

Loving it, love it too, download it and be happy! :)

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SonEQ

Reviewed By AudioGuy720 [all]
March 12th, 2012
Version reviewed: XP/Vista on Windows

Really this plug-in has ZERO reviews? It was just voted as the best free EQ plug-in so far in 2012 at http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=339180 .

This plug-in features 64-bit floating point processing, 3 EQ bands, high and low pass filters and a "preamp stage". It reminds me a lot of what a Pultec-type plug in can do, limiting you to two shelving filters with coarse selectable frequencies and a mid-band filter with a fine selectable frequencies (150 Hz to 4 kHz) and a high Q (bandwidth) toggle.

SonEQ, according to its manual models "A550 y PulEQP". I believe this was a translation error and it means that, from what I gathered researching this plug-in, the low shelf models a Pultec EQP-1A and the high shelf models an API 550 equalizer. The low shelf has both boost and attenuation, just like a Pultec.

The preamp/drive control simulates analog tube distortion. You control the amount of saturation with the input/output controls. The preamp circuit is post-EQ and it can be disabled with the on/off toggle switch.

There is also a "WOOW" control. It enables an all-pass filter which you can read more about here: http://www.uaudio.com/blog/allpass-filters/ There is also a "Drive" knob available.

Unfortunately the fine frequencies cannot be typed in however a control-click drag results in precision control for exact numbers.

This plug-in works particular well on bass guitar, snare and kick drums. It is a great addition to any plug-in collection because it gets results. It has a good analog quality to it in that you can push it hard and it still sounds really good! I'm surprised it's free! The manual is also rather well-written (although the English translation is a little off here and there) and I definitely recommend reading it, especially for it's preamp level suggestions. So grab it while you still can.

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Comments & Discussion for Sonimus SonEQ

Discussion
Discussion: Active
Brother Charles
Brother Charles
23 April 2013 at 3:18am

Thanks fese - great little review. SonEQ is one of my favorites too! It really is "something special" on vocal tracks. I often use SonEQ on my own vocal tracks and then apply any little surgical operations with IIEQ Pro. Well, that might be a changing "dynamic". .. "dynamic" because I'm so impressed with Melda's MDYnamic & MAUtoDynamic EQs.

fese
fese
28 April 2013 at 2:29pm

Charles, thank you for your kind words - as English isn't my first language, it takes some time and effort to write just a few paragraphs, and it's nice to see it's appreciated :).

I haven't checked out Sonimus' other stuff yet, but given the quality of this one I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy Sweetone one day, at $25 it's a no-brainer. Also, love the GUI.

BlackWinny
BlackWinny
26 March 2018 at 5:35pm

It is not only 32-bit. It is also 64-bit, VST2, VST3, and AAX.

And RTAS in 32-bit.

For OS X, it is VST and AU.

Demo here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Wqvp20K_8

michal.ochedowski
michal.ochedowski
13 November 2019 at 12:55pm

Yesterday I re-discovered this great eq. I tried it on a snare and just couldn't believe what a huge difference it made.

I would like to use this topic to ask a question. Can anyone check, if their SonEQFree VST3 version allows numerical input after right-clicking on the knob e.g. BOOST or GAIN ? VST2 has that functionality, but for some reason VST3 doesn't allow it. When I right-click nothing happens. I'm using the latest 1.2.1 release x64. I'm on Windows 8.1 x64.

BlackWinny
BlackWinny
13 November 2019 at 2:45pm

I confirm. The readouts pop-up on VST2, not on VST3.

I just opened a ticket to report that bug.

THIS POST HAS BEEN REMOVED

michal.ochedowski
michal.ochedowski
13 November 2019 at 3:07pm

Thanks a lot BlackWinny.

I emailed developer about it earlier today. So far no response. I just asked a question if that's the proper behaviour. You had better idea about reporting it as a bug. Perhaps something can be done about it. I figured that since last update was in November 2016 and plugin is free, there is very small chance he is willing to check it out.

By the way I have no idea why there is March 2018 mentioned as release date for latest version 1.2 on this website. My plugin has a date 20161123, both VST2 and VST3.

BlackWinny
BlackWinny
15 November 2019 at 6:16pm

"By the way I have no idea why there is March 2018 mentioned as release date for latest version 1.2 on this website. My plugin has a date 20161123, both VST2 and VST3."

Same for my copy.

They replied to my ticket, kindly. To get some additional info. So I sent these additional info two hours ago. I'll probably get a new reply tomorrow. We'll see. But I'm pretty confident for a next update with that bug fixed.

:).

THIS POST HAS BEEN REMOVED

michal.ochedowski
michal.ochedowski
16 November 2019 at 4:44am

I also received an answer from Sonimus yesterday. There is something in the works regarding VST3 support for the 2020 update. Luckily it's not a huge inconvenience and SonEQ can still be used without any glitches.

BlackWinny
BlackWinny
16 November 2019 at 1:44pm

So let's wait and see... The issue with the readouts on VST3 will probably be addressed at the latest in the 2020 update.

:).

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