New linear-phase EQ - SplineEQ

[Spitfire31]

One simple way to improve readability might be to

1) Tweak sharpness and contrast of the current model (some PSP plug-ins use even smaller numbers, but they are sharp, black and against a light background = much easier to read)

and

2) Add a separate, very clear precision readout of the control that currently has focus, between the controls and the preset box (à la SKNote plug-ins).

/Joachim

[damstraversaz]

about the analyser, some suggestions:

1 without latency
2 the possibility to choose the transparency of the grid
3 the possibility to choose colors etc.
4 maybe a sort of treshold detection feature

best,
Damien

[A_SN]

…It would be better to have smaller knobs and just a display below them, although there are problems with that too. As it is you can't really make the font larger without ending up having some cases (like the frequency to 20000) of the display without it going out of bounds.

"20K" instead of "20000"?

I'll look around for models.

/Joachim

No, that wouldn't work with non-round numbers like let's say 19876 Hz, even writing "19.8K" is as long as "19876".

I guess that would make sense to have an area in the interface dedicated to giving information about the knob, like some sort of display.. I'd just like to see what's the best compact implementation out there that gives all the information you need (as in, not like most plugins which have tiny knobs with no values at all indicated anywhere). As it is I think my knobs are too big while the display is too small.

about the analyser, some suggestions:

1 without latency
2 the possibility to choose the transparency of the grid
3 the possibility to choose colors etc.
4 maybe a sort of treshold detection feature

best,
Damien

1 not possible, unless you sacrifice frequency resolution, which would kind of ruin it, or unless you use look-ahead delay, but I strongly doubt anyone wants a visualiser that adds much delay to anything.

I suppose we're talking about a standalone visualiser here, right? What colours would you want to choose from anyway? Isn't there already enough choice? And what do you mean by threshold detection feature?

[damstraversaz]

first, sorry for my bas english.
for the colors ,there is choice. I use all the differents colors of SplineEQ, and I was surprised to note that's some visualisations was better than others ( at least for me), depending of the source material. for exemple , in my opinion, the first color choice is perfect for a cello, and the last choice for drums. So I suppose that the possiblity to choose the spectrum, may be useful.

I was thinking to a vst format.
sorry for the confusion about the threshold detection. I was an unclear and stupid idea.

It was just suggestions not statements, as I wrote before, I really like the analyser of SplineEQ, as it is now my first EQ choice

Damien

[A_SN]

first, sorry for my bas english.
for the colors ,there is choice. I use all the differents colors of SplineEQ, and I was surprised to note that's some visualisations was better than others ( at least for me), depending of the source material. for exemple , in my opinion, the first color choice is perfect for a cello, and the last choice for drums. So I suppose that the possiblity to choose the spectrum, may be useful.

I was thinking to a vst format.
sorry for the confusion about the threshold detection. I was an unclear and stupid idea.

It was just suggestions not statements, as I wrote before, I really like the analyser of SplineEQ, as it is now my first EQ choice

Damien

I think that the difference in colours has to do with how bright different colours are perceived. Against a black background green seems brighter than red or blue so it emphasises the mid range of frequencies, whereas on a white background red and blue seem darker so it emphasises the low and high frequencies. Maybe I should add another colour setting where it would be all just the same colour, as to make it more neutral. Green on black looks good, not sure about what it would be on a white background although by my current logic it would be the invert of green which would be purple.

[A_SN]

I've just released v1.0.6. The only change is that SplineEQ remembers all your settings (visualisation, resolution/delay and limiter settings) even across hosts.

[Integratron]

This is my go-to EQ. Very easy and extremely versatile!

[faun2500]

Well, I was considering going on working on it and adding lots of features (like M/S support and who knows what else) to make a much fancier version of SplineEQ, but it seems that the consensus is that I'd have more success doing something more original. Just wondering though, how should I best implement the M/S thing, by having a mid curve and a side curve, separate?

Not separate, maybe just a switch for individual bands (Stereo-default, L, R, Mid, Side)

You are going to update it aren't you? I just bought it and was hoping you would be working on it.

Nothing major though, its a good EQ but as people have mentioned it is BIG. I don't think I will ever ever ever need a 60db boost! 60db cut maybe but not that much boost.

Also, I can barely see the green text in the buttons, any chance of just having black or something?

I would like to be able to 'zoom in' to the range around +12db gain so I can make precise adjustments. Again, the rest of the screen above that is wasted on me

Really liking this EQ though and choose it over a few others that I was comparing it to.

For me ease of use is very important. I like to just load the eq and have my lpf set in one quick drag. Thats what I can do with this eq.

[faun2500]

However I looked long and hard and I couldn't find a single linear phase EQ for less than $89, unless they were free. Can you give any names for ones below $89? I really didn't think there were any.

DDMF $29
And truth be told DDMF have something of a cult following right now (Myself included) not only because of the prices but because of the good support and great features.
I am not saying DDMF is better in any way than yours at all, just answering the question

Waves used to have a cult following too.

Support is something that is important too. Blue cats have great support D16 group has a very easy to manage website and user area.

Personally, I have just replaced my DDMF eq with splineeq.

[faun2500]

Very interesting EQ. The visualisation screen somehow suits me really well, even though I've been living with "normal" kind of analysers for years and years. It is useful and quicker to pinpoint the right frequencies. I have read the whole thread and I'll tell you my opinion on some things that others haven't mentioned. I have a pretty good 4 core PC running XP x86 SP3. So called, DuXP, I don't know why. I'm running EnergyXT and Reaper hosts. It works well with both of them, however, the zipper noise I hear when I move the bands is really not pleasant. I know I can get rid of it buy adjusting the "delay", but it doesn't look good when you start it that way. Probably the default preset should be a little different? So we don't get a zipper noise with the first preset when you move the bands? The second gripe that I noted immediately is only of cosmetic nature - the numbers are really hard to see even from a little distance from the monitor. The contrast between the numbers and the button background is far too low, and the numbers are too small. Also, what someone mentioned - we should be able to choose the range from -+6dB, over -+12dB etc. and the GUI is definitely too big, actually too tall, without any real need to be so tall. Only if you're making -78dB boosts and cuts, of course. But I think I needed that on just a very few occasions, and it usually is between -+6dB for mastering, and -+12dB for mixing.

I also find it weird that the limiter is turned off at -60dB, and turned on at 0dB. That's confusing as actually it should be in reverse. I don't know what that parameter should represent? If it's a limiter threshold, then it should work like I said - turned off at 0 and fully turned on at -60dB. However, that's too big of a threshold range for a limiter... so I still wonder what that button does. When you put a threshold on limiter at -60dB all you get is square signal full of distortion at -60dBFS. Could you explain how the limiter works, and what does that button do?

Otherwise, this EQ has made me a bit excited, which is very hard these days. Not with the sound, which is clean, but mostly with quite original and useful visualisation, and flawless, smooth GUI, except for the crackling/zipper noise when you move the bands... it should probably handle the audio buffers somewhat more gracefully?

Keep doing the great work! This EQ is a great, great value for money, and I might easily become accustomed to this kind of visualisation... it makes great sense for mixing, not so much for mastering, but it is helpful, too, and it all works smoothly - that says a lot about your programming skills. Really nicely programmed , except the buffers . Moving the bands should use a little less CPU, I think, and CPU usage should not jump so much as it can mean a world of difference when mixing. It can mean a difference between a nicely sounding, or crackly sounding project, when you work at 70% or more of constant CPU usage.

I'm going to keep an eye on this one! Thank you so much for an almost fully functional demo. One can really use it in mixes and mastering, and I think a lot of people could become "addicted" to it this way, as they can actually use it in their projects, and when they do... it's very hard to get away from buying it.

Cheers!

That's strange, there really shouldn't be any zipper noise. I made a point to make sure there wouldn't be any and people have told me that it's all smooth. I'd like more information on how you get that zipper noise. Anyway it should take at least twice as much CPU when changing bands because the same piece of sound has to be processed once with the old EQ, again with the new EQ then the two must be blended together to have a smooth transition to the new EQ. Maybe the zipper noise comes from the fact that you're running out of CPU power? What kind of processor do you have? And what Resolution/Delay settings do you use?

As for the limiter it seems that lots of people are confused about what it does. Unlike limiters used for aesthetic effect which operate below 0 dB this limiter is to prevent any samples from going above 0 dB which is why the range is 0 dB to +60 dB and not -60. So +60 dB is off because no sample can possibly be above +60 dB.

As for the size of the GUI, well you're right, but I felt I kind of had to go with a one size fits all approach. But I will add a knob to choose a zoom, and when I do I guess I can make the GUI shorter vertically if that's what people want (it probably is).

And I'm glad you like the visualisation. I'll soon add an optional more classical analyser curves feature, it would be nice to design curves while having such an overlay as a guide.

I agree with everything written here (I think).

The limiter threshold is backwards. 0db should be off (or 0db) and any minus number should be bringing the limiter threshold down.

[faun2500]

Tried the free version for about 20-30 minutes, and ... I'm not "hating", I just don't see the use in this EQ.

With Spline EQ, you don't select the frequency you wish to cut or boost, but you use the splines to "draw" curves around them.
To boost or cut a frequency range, you have to arrange 2 splines around the center frequency you wish to change, which then doesn't only affect the frequency you wish to change, but also affects everything between the two splines' "base points" and the next higher or lower "base points" of other splines.

You have to become somewhat of a spline-arranging artist, and you have to "think between the frequencies you want to change", to efficiently reach the boosting/cutting you wanted to make in the first place, and when time is money (which in the music biz it always is) that's just unintuitive, time-consuming and counter-productive.

I don't agree with this. Not every thing is abput money!

But it is a new and refreshing and creative EQ. There are plenty of SAME SAME eqs, you only need one of them. But this is another one to add.

[A_SN]

I agree with everything written here (I think).

The limiter threshold is backwards. 0db should be off (or 0db) and any minus number should be bringing the limiter threshold down.

But... I just explained the thing about the limiter in the very post you quoted. Why would you want a threshold below 0 dB? What use would that be in SplineEQ? You're supposed to have sounds that go up to 0 dB, right? So why would you want to limit that?

Tried the free version for about 20-30 minutes, and ... I'm not "hating", I just don't see the use in this EQ.

With Spline EQ, you don't select the frequency you wish to cut or boost, but you use the splines to "draw" curves around them.
To boost or cut a frequency range, you have to arrange 2 splines around the center frequency you wish to change, which then doesn't only affect the frequency you wish to change, but also affects everything between the two splines' "base points" and the next higher or lower "base points" of other splines.

You have to become somewhat of a spline-arranging artist, and you have to "think between the frequencies you want to change", to efficiently reach the boosting/cutting you wanted to make in the first place, and when time is money (which in the music biz it always is) that's just unintuitive, time-consuming and counter-productive.

I don't agree with this. Not every thing is abput money!

But it is a new and refreshing and creative EQ. There are plenty of SAME SAME eqs, you only need one of them. But this is another one to add.

Yeah, and chokehold merely misunderstood how to do notch filters with 3 points instead of 2.

[LAGinz]

I'm sure I'm missing something here, but I can't figure out how to load the presets I downloaded from the Spline web site into the free version. The manual talks about using a "U" and a "V" button. I don't even see those buttons. BTW, it's otherwise working well in Studio One 2.

[A.M. Gold]

I thought he said preset loading doesn't work in the free version.

[LAGinz]

) Ok, must have missed that one!