KVR Audio

Jonny Quest · Post by **Jonny Quest** » Wed May 24, 2006 9:39 pm

As someone looking for a great software eq, the recent news about Elemental Audio's sale has disappointed me as well--for I was looking forward to trying out their products.

I have heard great things about Sonalksis EQ's and URS eq's. Also, Voxengo...unfortunately not available for Mac.

If someone who has worked with an array of software eq's could recommend one or two for a Mac (running LogicPro 7.1), it would be greatly appreciated.

Cost not withstanding, what are the best sounding eq's in your opinion? Is Waves better than UAD? Are these Roger whatever his name who bought Elemental Audio eq's worth it?

Thanks.

~jonny

friteuse · Post by **friteuse** » Thu May 25, 2006 12:29 am

I am very happy with the URS EQs. I got the A10, N12 and FullTec EQ and they're all coloring different, but in an awsome and very musical way. I use them mainly for mixing, for mastering there's often the need of a precise, not too much coloring EQ (depends, though), what can't be done well with the collection I have from URS.

I also got the Sonalksis EQ, this one I use more to 'restore' signals, i.e. cutting unwanted frequencies etc. But I would not really recommand it for mastering.

I dont know the Waves SSL EQ, but from what I have heard, it must be great. Waves Qx and Renaissance EQ on the other hand aren't worth the money imho, esp.if you have Logic with its channel EQ.

Mastering is a thing, where I don't use native EQs. I prefer the one from the System 6000, also the EQ3 from Digidesin (ProTools). It may be worth it to have a look at the MasterQ from PSP for a native solution.

Jonny Quest · Post by **Jonny Quest** » Thu May 25, 2006 12:43 am

friteuse wrote:I am very happy with the URS EQs. I got the A10, N12 and FullTec EQ and they're all coloring different, but in an awsome and very musical way. I use them mainly for mixing, for mastering there's often the need of a precise, not too much coloring EQ (depends, though), what can't be done well with the collection I have from URS.

I also got the Sonalksis EQ, this one I use more to 'restore' signals, i.e. cutting unwanted frequencies etc. But I would not really recommand it for mastering.

I dont know the Waves SSL EQ, but from what I have heard, it must be great. Waves Qx and Renaissance EQ on the other hand aren't worth the money imho, esp.if you have Logic with its channel EQ.

Mastering is a thing, where I don't use native EQs. I prefer the one from the System 6000, also the EQ3 from Digidesin (ProTools). It may be worth it to have a look at the MasterQ from PSP for a native solution.

Thanks so much--exactly the kind of comparisson/info I am seeking

defjamm · Post by **defjamm** » Thu May 25, 2006 2:35 am

http://www.pspaudioware.com/

the psp neon hr is great. you can use it for mixing, for mastering.

@native mastering eqs: on pcs, there are quite some excellent nowadays. algorithmix, refined audiometrics, psp.

jones-y · Post by **jones-y** » Thu May 25, 2006 3:15 am

hydratone. its a very color-ish eq, good for mixing. I tried the sonalksis demo and i find it to be a good mix eq for those times when you want a nice sound without quite as much character as hydratone.

I also own valvetone, which has a very nice high shelf filter.

Jonny Quest · Post by **Jonny Quest** » Thu May 25, 2006 4:25 am

defjamm wrote:http://www.pspaudioware.com/

the psp neon hr is great. you can use it for mixing, for mastering.

@native mastering eqs: on pcs, there are quite some excellent nowadays. algorithmix, refined audiometrics, psp.

I own many PSP products. Good suggestion. Is it highly coloured, like the Pultec types?

Jonny Quest · Post by **Jonny Quest** » Thu May 25, 2006 4:29 am

jones-y wrote:hydratone. its a very color-ish eq, good for mixing. I tried the sonalksis demo and i find it to be a good mix eq for those times when you want a nice sound without quite as much character as hydratone.

I also own valvetone, which has a very nice high shelf filter.

Yes, heard good things about these as well. How colourful? The GUI looks very retro/stomp boxy rather than "techy"-- is this indictaive of its sound in any way?

I don't mind a coloured eq for mixing.

jones-y · Post by **jones-y** » Thu May 25, 2006 4:54 am

Hydratone and valvetone are based dynamic convolution.

they sound gooey and oh so analog. The Hydratone is based around samples from Focusrite 110, Avalon 737, Amek 9098, and (Im not sure about this last one) SSL eq's. It can sound warm and chunky or smooth and buttery. But its always gooey analog through and through. (whatever that means - lol, it sounds goooood)

Valvetone? I'll let Damon from TTD say it:

The actual unit we sampled is a Grommes G5M mono tube mixer from 1962. It's a rare, ALL tube (tube rectifier, etc) point -to-point mil-spec wiring, transformer balanced, mono mixer with mic, phono and line inputs but bass and treble EQ.

The high shelf on the Valvetone has to be heard to be believed. And the low shelf is tight, never flabby. And did I mention that it sounds soooo analog?

Lots of people do, however, have problems with the fact that they're Pluggo plugins. I haven't had any roblems yet, but I'm no longer an upgrade-wave rider so that may explain that. Do a search on their names, you'll come across a few pretty long threads with a lot of praise. I stick em on everything except the master bus.

Assi · Post by **Assi** » Thu May 25, 2006 5:03 am

Jonny Quest wrote:
jones-y wrote:
How colourful?

Very colourful. You can actually control the amount of colouration. To me these don't sound like plug ins anymore. When i first checked the demos it thought: "Wow, one can actually boost frequencies and it still sounds great. These can even add a special something".

They're based on IR Technology and derive from vintage gear like Neve and API and they manage to capture the vibe.

Two downsides maybe: First: They're real CPU hogs. You probably wan't them on more channels than your CPU might manage. That means that you probably need an efficient "bread and butter" EQ as well that can be used on lots of tracks.
Second: They're based on the Pluggo format which for some poeple seems to be a problem. I don't care about that. Pluggo works pretty good for me. You have to install the free pluggo runtime but then they integrate as well as any other VST, i think. It's just that you have to rely on two companies when it comes to maintenance...

You should check out the demos.

Edit: BTW, i don't find these techy at all for the reason that the individual bands have a really good grip. You can turn the knobs, hear what they do to the sound and rely on your instinct/hearing. Doesn't matter what you do they don't mess up the sound..

friteuse · Post by **friteuse** » Thu May 25, 2006 7:12 am

defjamm wrote:http://www.pspaudioware.com/

the psp neon hr is great. you can use it for mixing, for mastering.

@native mastering eqs: on pcs, there are quite some excellent nowadays. algorithmix, refined audiometrics, psp.

Completly forget this one... Neon might even be better for mastering than MasterQ, because of the linaer phase mode. I didn't check it yet, but now I know what I will do in the next days

feyshay · Post by **feyshay** » Thu May 25, 2006 4:35 pm

I think Master Q is great for mixing and Neon HR great for mastering. I love Eqium, but the price from Roger!!! I was not thrilled about Hydratone, although I wanted to be. You'll need ILOK for demoing Neon HR. If/when you do demo the HR version, don't forget to change your buffer size (as recommended in the manual--page 6) at LP/higher resolutions--otherwise CPU consumption will be too high. A lot of people don't understand that requirement. The LP will not give delay compensation--you'd have to do that manually if you want to run it in a track (versus on the Master). However, Neon seems very usable as an equalizer on tracks.

Jonny Quest · Post by **Jonny Quest** » Thu May 25, 2006 5:54 pm

friteuse wrote: Neon might even be better for mastering than MasterQ, because of the linaer phase mode. I didn't check it yet, but now I know what I will do in the next days

When you do, if you have a chance, let me know how they compare to your URS products.

I too have a lot of demo'ing to do

Thanks for the thoughts.

~jonny

Ocean Zen · Post by **Ocean Zen** » Thu May 25, 2006 6:08 pm

www.tritonedigital.com Check out the Hydratone demo, It's gorgeous and has a unique fire knob for exciting sizzle.

A bargain at $149

Jonny Quest · Post by **Jonny Quest** » Thu May 25, 2006 6:13 pm

feyshay wrote: I love Eqium, but the price from Roger!!!

If you can tell, is the RN version of Equim now called "Uniqueli-zer" or "Frequalizer" or neither? PSP Neon and Master Q ain't cheap either. Which delivers the best quality regardless of price?

I was not thrilled about Hydratone, although I wanted to be..

No doubt you've read some of the praises of this product--in what ways did this fall short of your expectations and/or pale when compared to other products?

The LP will not give delay compensation--you'd have to do that manually if you want to run it in a track (versus on the Master).

Is the delay caused because of processing time needed to perform linear phase operations? And as such this would cause one track with Neon running in LP mode to be out of sync with a duplicate track not using Neon in LP mode?

As a note--Waves also offers a linear phase EQ/compressor product (LinEQ) -- how does this compare to some of the products discussed here?

Many thanks for your thoughtful replies.

Jonny Quest · Post by **Jonny Quest** » Thu May 25, 2006 6:17 pm

Ocean Zen wrote:www.tritonedigital.com Check out the Hydratone demo, It's gorgeous and has a unique fire knob for exciting sizzle.

A bargain at $149

Definitely will do this. I don't know what this Pluggo issue will mean in terms of ease of set-up (especially within LogicPro) But with so many glowing reviews from KVR'ers, I must demo for myself.

Best mastering EQ and mixing EQ for Mac