ZL Eq, a free Pro Q alternative ?

[dartfordyes]

..

[muki]

In pretty good shape for being so young. It was updated yesterday.
https://github.com/ZL-Audio/ZLEqualizer ... /tag/0.3.1

still does not work under osx mojave
fails AU validation

TESTING OPEN TIMES:
COLD:
FATAL ERROR: OpenAComponent: result: -1,0xFFFFFFFF


validation result: couldn’t be opened

[LuyuLiu]

Just tried it. It's not as intuitive to use as Pro-Q3 but the features are absolutely top shelf! Very nice dynamics section. Exceptionally flexible and very good sounding. This is probably the finest free Pro-Q like alternative out there.

Usability wise it's still got quite a bit of development to be done to be close to Pro-Q3 in operation. For instance, if you select multiple filters and then change gain, it is only added to the overall gain of the filters instead of relatively controlling each bands gain.. so you can't easily select 4 filter nodes and reduce or increase their gains proportionally.

Sound wise ZL Eq sounds "cleaner" than Pro-Q3 in my opinion. Noticeable when dragging a filter node around high frequency content. It's just less "grainy" sounding around the edges somehow. Probably the filter shape is a bit different compared to Pro-Q3.

Overall this is a real winner!

Thanks for the feedback. I tried that before but found it quite tricky to deal with some edge cases, e.g., gain close to zero. As a result, I use a constant overall gain instead which is much easier. If you have any ideas in the future, feel free to leave them on Github Discussion, which is a better place for tracking those FRs and bugs.

You might want to have a look at ReEQ, a JS plugin for Reaper. It has a scaling feature that works quite well. Being a JS plugin it is inherently open source. You could replicate the logic.

https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=213501

Essentially it sets a scale variable and modifies band gain according to the variable setting through a simple multiplication. I mean, what can go wrong?

FWI, ZL Eq also has a global scaling factor that adjusts all gains proportionally. However, when you want to select several filters and adjust those gains relatively, things become much more complex. I have just checked ReEQ and it is similar to ZL Eq.

[LuyuLiu]

In pretty good shape for being so young. It was updated yesterday.
https://github.com/ZL-Audio/ZLEqualizer ... /tag/0.3.1

still does not work under osx mojave
fails AU validation

TESTING OPEN TIMES:
COLD:
FATAL ERROR: OpenAComponent: result: -1,0xFFFFFFFF


validation result: couldn’t be opened

This has been a known issue for a long time. I have tried several times on my machine & Github runners but failed to fix it. Cause I do not have a macOS 10.1x machine, I have to add the following lines to the manual:

For some unknown reason, the plugin is not compatible with macOS earlier than macOS 11

Perhaps someone familiar with CMake can compile the code on macOS 10.1x and publish a compatible version

[Funk Dracula]

I just wanted to chime in and give props to the developer (developers?).

I need a new EQ like I need a new hole in my head, but if it has more baked in functionality, a good interface and UX, and it's free, why not? I've been using it the last several days and I like it alot.

Great job!

[iTzPrime]

plugin don't worth any money anymore.
one can run an entire production with free/open source plugins...

this is what i’m saying , but people still pay companies like uhe and serum loads of cash , there just not worth it when the freeware is so exceptional now ,( the only thing i would say is there’s more quality presets for good name synths which makes people think there better than free daws )

recently i see everyone slagging off behringers vintage but are some free synths that shit ? i mean if luftrum the unfinished stockhausen etc made the presets for them we could be having a different conversation now , some things are just brandism , like Youngsters won’t wear reebok but they love nike , my reebok last just as good feel just as good , but there not cool

someone could easily make pop hits with freeware or score a movie , we are even getting quality free Daws now like Luna .
apparently the new free plug in “spot on” is better than Autotune , name me something that’s paid you can’t get for free somehow with a few little tweaks , they should bring the software prices down and put more stuff.


and the only thing about this Zl eq it doesn’t have great looks like pro q just yet ( doesn’t look bad and people will still say it’s not the same , but like a cheap tin of beans once there on toast who gives a f**k if the label was or wasn’t heinz ?

i mean i think companies still need to get paid
but £200 for a virtual thing is a ridiculous price to pay i think , when you can replace most of it with freeware and make the same quality music .

What free tape plugin is similar to Satin? SpotOn isn't bad, but it is far from an Autotune in features.

There are hundreds of plugins where the free version is just not at the same level.

[ampetrosillo]

Chow Tape is not half bad. It's lacking the compander features but for the rest it works as intended.

[bmanic]

Just tried it. It's not as intuitive to use as Pro-Q3 but the features are absolutely top shelf! Very nice dynamics section. Exceptionally flexible and very good sounding. This is probably the finest free Pro-Q like alternative out there.

Usability wise it's still got quite a bit of development to be done to be close to Pro-Q3 in operation. For instance, if you select multiple filters and then change gain, it is only added to the overall gain of the filters instead of relatively controlling each bands gain.. so you can't easily select 4 filter nodes and reduce or increase their gains proportionally.

Sound wise ZL Eq sounds "cleaner" than Pro-Q3 in my opinion. Noticeable when dragging a filter node around high frequency content. It's just less "grainy" sounding around the edges somehow. Probably the filter shape is a bit different compared to Pro-Q3.

Overall this is a real winner!

Thanks for the feedback. I tried that before but found it quite tricky to deal with some edge cases, e.g., gain close to zero. As a result, I use a constant overall gain instead which is much easier. If you have any ideas in the future, feel free to leave them on Github Discussion, which is a better place for tracking those FRs and bugs.

You might want to have a look at ReEQ, a JS plugin for Reaper. It has a scaling feature that works quite well. Being a JS plugin it is inherently open source. You could replicate the logic.

https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=213501

Essentially it sets a scale variable and modifies band gain according to the variable setting through a simple multiplication. I mean, what can go wrong?

FWI, ZL Eq also has a global scaling factor that adjusts all gains proportionally. However, when you want to select several filters and adjust those gains relatively, things become much more complex. I have just checked ReEQ and it is similar to ZL Eq.

Yeah, but I've been talking about Pro-Q.

There you can select a bunch of nodes and scale them proportionally. Same is true for Kirchoff EQ, though there it isn't working 100% reliably.

Oh and speaking of workflow things.. would it be possible to add a simple "Invert gain" function either as a button or just a modifier key + click? This would be super useful when using the EQ as a pre/post emphasis thing with two plugin instances.

[dartfordyes]

plugin don't worth any money anymore.
one can run an entire production with free/open source plugins...

this is what i’m saying , but people still pay companies like uhe and serum loads of cash , there just not worth it when the freeware is so exceptional now ,( the only thing i would say is there’s more quality presets for good name synths which makes people think there better than free daws )

recently i see everyone slagging off behringers vintage but are some free synths that shit ? i mean if luftrum the unfinished stockhausen etc made the presets for them we could be having a different conversation now , some things are just brandism , like Youngsters won’t wear reebok but they love nike , my reebok last just as good feel just as good , but there not cool

someone could easily make pop hits with freeware or score a movie , we are even getting quality free Daws now like Luna .
apparently the new free plug in “spot on” is better than Autotune , name me something that’s paid you can’t get for free somehow with a few little tweaks , they should bring the software prices down and put more stuff.


and the only thing about this Zl eq it doesn’t have great looks like pro q just yet ( doesn’t look bad and people will still say it’s not the same , but like a cheap tin of beans once there on toast who gives a f**k if the label was or wasn’t heinz ?

i mean i think companies still need to get paid
but £200 for a virtual thing is a ridiculous price to pay i think , when you can replace most of it with freeware and make the same quality music .

What free tape plugin is similar to Satin? SpotOn isn't bad, but it is far from an Autotune in features.

There are hundreds of plugins where the free version is just not at the same level.

https://www.sageaudio.com/articles/top- ... on-plugins


and i dunno whether they are 64 bit but theres a lot here


https://hiphopmakers.com/best-free-tape ... st-plugins

it’s irrelevant if there exactly the same , i can get the same warbling tape retro lo fi effect for free

let’s be real most people that buy loads of plug ins are the home musician that like to look and play with toys , a good synthwave producer once told me that synth1 is every bit as good as some top synths but if it doesn’t have a bunch of top presets by top top designers like diva has or Omnisphere , no one will touch it with a barge pole, similarly no one would
touch those with a barge pole without presets unless you really knew what you was doing , in all aspects of our life we succumb to brandism , nike is better than reebok etc etc , but in all
that what we actually fail to look at is the quality of the shoe , i haven’t tried saturn to compare but i just download the uad machine essentials thingamabob and it does some of those nice out of tune sounds nice . look at baby audio vhs how many knobs has that got ! how much ! lol it’s not all about the features.

[dartfordyes]

ignore me i’m tired and irritable today but yeah there’s enough good free quality out there , even Uhes synths if you wanna bit if Uhe zebra Cm , the free plug in that’s like serum i forget what u call it i don’t use it , analog obsession fx , reviews have said spot on sounds a lot more natural than auto tune , and melodyne essential can be got for peanuts you can even get it on plug in boutique for one months sub or offer someone $5 for it here or on knobcloud , low cost and free is where it’s at , i once bought diva and a few preset packs i loved the presets i bought didn’t know how to use the synth very complicated and when it’s baked down to waveforms i can’t tell the difference but i sold that years ago , and the only uhe plugin own now is zebra cm and the presets are amazing , still complicated but i mostly tweak the presets as there already stunning because there by quality designers , not like the people that done the presets for behringers vintage , i got uhes polymax for free that is a synth i can program , but if something has an amazing preset bank i will just tweak that .

the free stuff is getting amazing now
Luna is a daw like pro tools with a premium instrument , uad wanna charge you £199 for some extra plug ins i swear they have a couple away for free lately i can just use all the waves freebies that i have accumulated , so we can also add in stuff that has been free because even if it isn’t free now you can get that stuff for $5 dollars on kvr or knobcloud so it might as well be free .

[LuyuLiu]

Yeah, but I've been talking about Pro-Q.

There you can select a bunch of nodes and scale them proportionally. Same is true for Kirchoff EQ, though there it isn't working 100% reliably.

Oh and speaking of workflow things.. would it be possible to add a simple "Invert gain" function either as a button or just a modifier key + click? This would be super useful when using the EQ as a pre/post emphasis thing with two plugin instances.

A quick update: The proportional gain change feature is available in pre-release 0.3.2. And I also preserve the original feature. When you drag with the left-mouse/right-mouse button, the gains will change proportionally/the same value.

The invert gain is not included though. AFAIK, the modifier key is very tricky in some DAWS (and the most reliable cmd/ctrl has been occupied).

[ampetrosillo]

A feature request (that I feel all plugins should have): a help function a la TDR plugin. You press the ? button and tooltips show on each control.

[LuyuLiu]

A feature request (that I feel all plugins should have): a help function a la TDR plugin. You press the ? button and tooltips show on each control.

I don't like a long text description within a tooltip. I would suggest reading the manual, which is user-friendly on most phones, pads, and computers.

[sinkmusic]

Latest version (0.32) is flagged by Avast ("FileRepMalware Misc" detected), and can't be installed. Is it a false positive?

[LuyuLiu]

Latest version (0.32) is flagged by Avast ("FileRepMalware Misc" detected), and can't be installed. Is it a false positive?

From the manual:

Please note that all installers have not been notarized. You should decide whether to trust the installers from the provided link. Alternatively, you can build the plugin from the project source code.

Some EV certification companies charge thousands of dollars per year, which seems like robbery to me