Whew…. Talk about a stinker. For all the hype they’ve been doing on this plugin. This is definitely one of the worst sounding things on everything I tried it on. Vocals, drums, bass…
I’ve spent more time correcting the moves it made. This is definitely not the AI savior they make it out to be (not that anyone expected it to be). Only ones ears will be able to do that.
I’ll stick to Pro Q4, Gullfoss, and SmartEQ
https://www.waves.com/plugins/curves-aq
Waves: Curve AQ
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- KVRAF
- 2575 posts since 25 Apr, 2009 from gone
I've tried it today.
It succeeded into making a slightly better curve (1/4) for a mix, and that's where the story ends. Nothing magic, no buttons to control things that could make it even better (actually there are buttons but I didn't get anything impressive from them). Just a slightly better sounding EQ curve... that I chose myself.
I think I don't really get the thing there. I'm afraid I'd do better than this in exactly the same amount of time. And I wouldn't have to choose between 4 curves then, because I know what I'm doing.
The feeling of randomness is deep here.
It succeeded into making a slightly better curve (1/4) for a mix, and that's where the story ends. Nothing magic, no buttons to control things that could make it even better (actually there are buttons but I didn't get anything impressive from them). Just a slightly better sounding EQ curve... that I chose myself.
I think I don't really get the thing there. I'm afraid I'd do better than this in exactly the same amount of time. And I wouldn't have to choose between 4 curves then, because I know what I'm doing.
The feeling of randomness is deep here.
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- KVRAF
- 1894 posts since 8 Jan, 2022
I think it's cool.
Tried it on a female vocal and it gave me 5 possible EQ curves and I could see where they could be used even if they weren't my preference. But I did pick one that worked.
Tried it on Drums and had the same experience. Five possible approaches and all of them would have made sense in certain contexts. Again I picked one that made most sense to me.
There's a lot of control over the result like a slider that allows gradual control over static vs Dynamic and two different amounts for cutting and boosting.
Tried it on a female vocal and it gave me 5 possible EQ curves and I could see where they could be used even if they weren't my preference. But I did pick one that worked.
Tried it on Drums and had the same experience. Five possible approaches and all of them would have made sense in certain contexts. Again I picked one that made most sense to me.
There's a lot of control over the result like a slider that allows gradual control over static vs Dynamic and two different amounts for cutting and boosting.
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- KVRAF
- 8037 posts since 28 Dec, 2015 from Atlantis Island
Included in Mercury bundle 
https://sonograyn.bandcamp.com/music Experimental Ambient
https://martinjuenke.bandcamp.com/music Alternative Instrumental
https://martinjuenke.bandcamp.com/music Alternative Instrumental
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- KVRAF
- 3645 posts since 6 Aug, 2009
i demo'd it this morning, and am not impressed (i do use curves EQ often). i tried it on a mix, a vocal, a piano, and a string section. in each case, i did better on my own.
it's a great idea, but (for me, anyway) it needs to do better.
it's a great idea, but (for me, anyway) it needs to do better.
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https://upstatebrooklyn.com
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chemical coffee chemical coffee https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=726304
- KVRer
- 21 posts since 28 Nov, 2024
Definitely not for classical instruments. Can't say for vocals or electric instruments. Pro Q 3 does a better job than that with minimal tweaking.
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- KVRian
- 921 posts since 7 Sep, 2014
Indeed!..TS-12 wrote: Wed Apr 09, 2025 3:14 am Waves, not thanks. There are much better "semi-auto-EQs" that also don't require update plan
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simon.a.billington simon.a.billington https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=341278
- KVRAF
- 2589 posts since 12 Nov, 2014
I've gotten some good results out of this. Not all of it was ideal, but nothing can ever be 100% perfect 100% of the time AI, human or otherwise. It would be foolhardy to think so. I think that's why they gave sidechain options so AQ can weigh its decisions against the context of the mix, which is an important element.
But going beyond that the plugin also gives you extra control to compliment or even circumvent AI decisions. You can manage its cuts and boosts globally and/or regionally, plus there is also the custom eq nodes where you can use it like a regular vanilla eq. On top of that there is also the tilt, offset, attack and release controls.
If I can't get a good sound out of this, then I must be doing something wrong.
But going beyond that the plugin also gives you extra control to compliment or even circumvent AI decisions. You can manage its cuts and boosts globally and/or regionally, plus there is also the custom eq nodes where you can use it like a regular vanilla eq. On top of that there is also the tilt, offset, attack and release controls.
If I can't get a good sound out of this, then I must be doing something wrong.