KVR Audio

DuX · Post by **DuX** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 9:47 pm

No OS with the same results? That sounds great, mystran!

I was never fan of OS, but rather use higher frequency to work with, so I work at 96k all the time. I get better sounding results that way even when I downsample the track later on.

I also analysed the Dust EQ with VST analyser, which I usually do with all plugins, just to check for what's going on behind the curtains, and I really like what this new one look like in it, too, aside from how it sounds like, of course.

I think I might use it [far] more from now on.

+ it's so easy to work with it. It's just like a great console EQ strip. Perfect.

mystran · Post by **mystran** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 10:25 pm

DuX wrote:No OS with the same results? That sounds great, mystran! I was never fan of OS, but rather use higher frequency to work with, so I work at 96k all the time. I get better sounding results that way even when I downsample the track later on.

I also analysed the Dust EQ with VST analyser, which I usually do with all plugins, just to check for what's going on behind the curtains, and I really like what this new one look like in it, too, aside from how it sounds like, of course.

If you look at the phase-plot you might notice that it curves a bit (on the log-frequency scale of the analyzer) with respect to ideal.. but that's just because VST analyzer can only compensate integer latency...

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Adding to this post to avoid useless bump: there's another "beta-bug" with regards to the high-pass.. it should block DC but it only attenuates about 120dB.. also fixing that "real soon now"

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Urgh.. there is now basically one more issue to fix, before I can push a new version..

Halma · Post by **Halma** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 7:47 am

DuX wrote:...it's so easy to work with it. It's just like a great console EQ strip. Perfect.

This. Exactly. Second that. +1

I am used to cs's (itb & otb) and this one really acts like one of the ideal ones. Everything at a glance, no bullshit. Plain and funky in sound. Easy to use. I am sold on it since I raised the midbell gain knobs once for only 1db with 3oct width and got some astonishing musical results! Perfect. My bread'n'butter eq.

Regards
Sebastian

mystran · Post by **mystran** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 11:28 am

Ok, updated the beta (see http://www.signaldust.com/files/eq-beta.zip still) because frankly I've looked at analysis plots so much in the past few days that I can't objectively test anything..

But.. it should work, and compared with previous beta-build (new one has version tag 1.5.11):

- now includes a 64-bit build (which appears to work)
- fixed high-pass (should properly filter DC again)
- output gain is no longer active in bypass mode (was an accident)
- relaxed high-frequency fit a tiny bit (pretty theoretical change, really)
- slightly more aggressive GUI redraws (still not very aggressive, but might improve responsiveness a bit)
- optimized parameter updates (still not optimal, but should be much better)
- improved internal gain-staging a bit (not sure how much this matters in practice)
- switched FIR strategy.. tried to reduce noise when changing parameters, not sure if it's too successful, but doesn't seem to hurt CPU so whatever..

Please let me know if there's any new problems. If none are found within an unspecified amount of time, I'll probably make that build the "new stable" unless I get an irresistible urge to break it again.

There's probably a whole lot less bugs in that version than the "current stable" anyway..

DuX · Post by **DuX** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 11:43 am

Whoa, downloading, thank you!

I always loved how nice sweeping the mids with narrow Q sounded with this EQ. I took the opportunity to compare it to some other EQs and it turns out that Dust EQ is definitely in my top 3 for how it sounds. Nice phase response, too!

No problems so far in Reaper x86, Win XP SP3. Smoothly working controls and picking the frequencies.

Kingston · Post by **Kingston** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 1:37 pm

64bit seems to work fine in cubase 5, no glitches or bugs. I didn't have time to do a full "sound" evaluation.

There is one usability snag, it would be nice to have a "band mute" button. Since each section is neatly arranged in their own boxes, there would be plenty of room for a button like that. I somehow kept looking for a button like that constantly. It would speed up workflow and not distract overall usability.

DuX · Post by **DuX** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 4:01 pm

Agreed, Kingston. Great idea if mystran could pull that one off. Just a tiny bypass button for every band wouldn't really cram up the GUI, but it would speed up the workflow. Taking it a bit further, maybe bypass buttons could save some CPU also? There's no way you need all the bands all the time in all the tracks.

mystran · Post by **mystran** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 9:00 pm

The lack of band-bypass (like much of the other inflexibility) is actually somewhat of a design decision. I'm not totally confident whether it's a good one, but it's supposed to encourage people to trust their instincts and resist the urge to check and double check and fine-tune and check again. It's been working for me at least. Though I sometimes do wish there was a bypass for the filters, since you can't really set those to flat, so they always color a bit. But that's kinda the point; it's like analog with "some unavoidable side-effects".

Anyway, I've been considering it, and I'll probably keep considering it, but the current GUI really is pretty tight in terms of fitting additional controls that wouldn't be terrible to hit with a mouse... so I don't know. From CPU point of view, it'd be totally irrelevant since the bulk CPU cost is shared by all the bands (the actual per-band IIR-filters are really cheap in comparison).

There's also the possibility of another EQ plugin though.

Anyway thanks for the feedback, it's being taken into consideration.

Kingston · Post by **Kingston** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 11:24 pm

I have console filled with channel strip parametric EQ's for those "instinct" decisions. Since the idea of dust EQ is to mimic some of that I will have to point out the obvious but game changing difference: you are limited to a single mouse to tweak all the knobs in a plugin. With hardware knobs and buttons you have two hands and immediate touch feedback, don't even have to look. It may seem like this allows better "instinct" decisions, but it's only an illusion due to the superior user interface.

Tweaking a plugin is very clumsy at best in comparison. In order to get even remotely close to this kind of usability a plugin GUI needs all the shortcuts and ease-of-use utilities it can fit.

A.M. Gold · Post by **A.M. Gold** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 11:26 pm

Either that or needs to be mapped to a control surface.

Kingston · Post by **Kingston** » Sun Jul 28, 2013 1:04 pm

A.M. Gold wrote:Either that or needs to be mapped to a control surface.

Not even a control surface - mostly endless rotaries - can match the tactile feedback of even a cheap analog EQ. Not only do we have well defined min/max, but also a center detent. This allows full usability *with* feedback without even looking. Try that with a control surface. Now that we have perfect digital sound, these seemingly small differences are the only thing that separates "intuitive" or "instinctive" decisions from "non-intuitive".

mystran · Post by **mystran** » Sun Jul 28, 2013 4:11 pm

Kingston wrote:
A.M. Gold wrote:Either that or needs to be mapped to a control surface.
Not even a control surface - mostly endless rotaries - can match the tactile feedback of even a cheap analog EQ. Not only do we have well defined min/max, but also a center detent. This allows full usability *with* feedback without even looking. Try that with a control surface. Now that we have perfect digital sound, these seemingly small differences are the only thing that separates "intuitive" or "instinctive" decisions from "non-intuitive".

Actually in my plugins, there's a short-cut for "center detent" sort-of.. that's what it was designed for anyway... namely you can press right-mouse button while dragging to reset to center. In most cases the factory settings for default positions (double-click) are also the neutral position, but the "right-while-dragging" center snap works in all cases.

[edit: I agree it's not quite the same as a real "center detent" but it's the best I could come up with]

If there's something I'm really bad at, it's writing documentation for all the little features (currently the most obscure one is probably pressing ctrl-alt-shift while loading a plugin, which will temporary disable sub-pixel font-rendering so you can make "CRT compatible" screenshots).

camsr · Post by **camsr** » Sun Jul 28, 2013 7:15 pm

I was going to comment on control surfaces, but decided that's better for another thread.

bk · Post by bk » Tue Jul 30, 2013 7:39 pm

This is an interesting EQ. The best way I can describe it is that it is gentle in everything it does. Seems most useful for musically sculpting a sound rather than surgical precision. Even at high Q settings it seems less harsh than other EQs. I tried replicating the response of the Lowpass in GlissEQ, and I simply couldn't do it. Not exactly sure what you're doing, but I like it!
Thanks for the update!

tico-tico · Post by **tico-tico** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 7:54 pm

Win7 SP1 x32 + Reaper + sforzando + dust eq (actually anything from Signaldust) = crash on my system

Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: reaper.exe
Application Version: 4.4.0.0
Application Timestamp: 517c0642
Fault Module Name: atioglxx.dll
Fault Module Version: 6.14.10.11318
Fault Module Timestamp: 4ebb3dc2
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 00cf7440
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.2
Locale ID: 1049

Edit: I mean Dust Eq v1.0.5.1

Dust Equalizer