Hit me with the best 'color' EQs and why you love and recommend them

[cryophonik]

PSP makes several "color" EQs:

https://www.pspaudioware.com/products

Select Equalizer from the Filter By: dropdown box, then demo away.

[Mind Riot]

I don't know what a color EQ is to be honest. That said I am very fond of Elysia Museq and the API 560, the one that looks like a graphic EQ.

The Elysia makes sense to me, when I do boosts and cuts I tend to get the results I expect but don't usually get doing it with a regular parametric EQ. The 560 is just tweak all the sliders and make it sound better and the result is usually more drastic on bypass than I'd expect, almost always for the better (though you want to compensate for loudness gain). Then there's the SPL EQ ranger which is basically the same thing but somehow less brutal.

The Softube Trident EQ is pretty good in this sense too, the A-range.

But for me I think the single "nicest" sounding EQ I've tried is the Vertigo one. VSE-2.

The SSL Channel Strip is certainly drastic and will push me into areas I wouldn't normally go with a paramedic. I also have to commend the SSL X-EQ for being just a really solid tool box.

I tried the MusEQ a long time ago, before I knew better, and sold it. I will happily give it another try, especially given how inexpensive everything PA is around here.

I also have the Waves API Eqs, they've served me well but I've typically used them for drum busses only. I should probably try thinking outside the box more with them.

But I've got the Lindell 50 series console and it's really good, and it has all three of the same EQs that Waves has included in it. I was trying out some guitar sounds and it was kind of ho-hum, then I slapped the 50 series on there and did some fiddling with the EQ and it made a kinda ok-ish guitar sound into a raging ass kicking monster, I couldn't believe the difference with so little effort. API EQs are something special.

[Mind Riot]

I mean...it is native now. If you subscribe to UA Spark. Or invest in the whole UAD ecosystem.

I was just using the native version in Reaper last night.

Ohhh, I didn't know UAD had gone subscription. That may be the first subscription that is actually tempting to me, but there's still too much good stuff to use out there for me to give in.

I will now do my best to stop thinking about it. Subscriptions are the work of the devil!

[Mind Riot]

Lindell Audio TE-100

https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/prod ... e-100.html

I demo'd that thing a while back and I remember it sounded lovely, but what a weird ass interface.

I'd give it another try though.

[Mind Riot]

A legitimate signal path is trying to get rid of all extraneous noise, distortion and added anything. I think too many forget that when we were all hw, we spent money upgrading mixers etc not only to get more channels but to get pristine clean and noiseless ones. The golden aim was clean. And the obsession with saturation is a bit misguided too IMO. Yes, tape saturates but only when it's run hot. And generally it was run as close to hot as possible to reduce the noise floor and...make it clean. Some will have run it hot for the saturation specifically, but back in the day I simply never came across people trying to deliberately distort their precious 8 track recordings. In fact there was lots of angst and blurb when it came in comparing DAT to quality reel-to-reels, and the really good ones compared favourably to DAT. Which means...clean. Now, the internet hype is to f**k your sound up by giving it the qualities of bad tape recordings.

Same applies to Eq. Nobody bought expensive Eqs because they were dirty.
Probably about the only thing anyone deliberately bought for distortion was distortion and valves. And really, no not everyone used valves. The big buzz about digital when it came in was LACK of distortion.

I try to be very polite with my posts and there are some gaps in my knowledge which might make me sound young, but I've actually been writing and recording since the mid '90's, starting with my band in high school. Started on a consumer cassette deck with a single mic in the center of the room just to capture our jams, then we got our hands on a used Tascam 488 and our nemesis was tape hiss.

Got worse with every take, so we practiced and practiced so we could nail our parts in as few takes as possible. And we pushed the levels as high as we could before the pres would distort, because a too quiet take would require turning up the track and thus turning up the tape hiss.

When I first encountered digital recording (through a Tascam 788 digital 8 track) I thought it was a freakin' miracle. The hiss and pushing the pres were the bane of my existence for years and now they were simply non-issues.

To be honest, it's taken me a long time to fully understand the whole saturation thing and why everybody's so gaga about it, but I think I get it now. I don't think people are looking to intentionally distort their tracks, that's its own thing. I think they just want warmth and power on their tracks and that's proven to be more elusive than expected, so there's all these millions of plugs that saturate in a million different ways and everybody's trying to find that one that gives them the sound in their head, just like every other aspect of pro recording and mixing.

[Mind Riot]

And for god's sake why can't we multi-quote on this forum?!?!

[plexuss]

To be honest, it's taken me a long time to fully understand the whole saturation thing and why everybody's so gaga about it...

You were likely being rhetorical, but not everybody is gaga about it. I'm not. I was. Then I did a lot of work with distortion tools (I don't use the word "saturation") and realized my music sounded better without a lot of low distortion, almost none added except that which is part of the other analogue modelled tools i Use. I prefer music with maximum dynamic range and low distortion and clipping/limiting.

[jamcat]

People wanted clean and pristine back when there never had truly been such a thing in the history of recording.

Only after we were finally able to achieve it could we really begin to assess it. And people found that we lost something along the way.

We don’t want noise, but we do want the added harmonics of a pushed transformer and the natural compression that comes from bumping up against oxide headroom.

These things project power and impart an illusion of loud.

And that’s what you should be aiming for when you use saturation. Just a hint on the most dynamic passages will do it. If you just distort everything from top to bottom instead, it ends up having the opposite effect.

[jamcat]

I did a lot of work with distortion tools (I don't use the word "saturation") and realized my music sounded better without a lot of low distortion, almost none added except that which is part of the other analogue modelled tools i Use.

That’s how I work too.
I don’t go out of my way to add distortion. I just use analog modeled channel strips and tape and let them do their thing.

[plexuss]

I did a lot of work with distortion tools (I don't use the word "saturation") and realized my music sounded better without a lot of low distortion, almost none added except that which is part of the other analogue modelled tools i Use.

That’s how I work too.
I don’t go out of my way to add distortion. I just use analog modeled channel strips and tape and let them do their thing.

*IF* I put a distortion tool on my audio it might be during mastering and I usually use it to mess with the soundstage vs adding so much distortion it becomes audible. it only takes a tiny amount, in the -80 - -60 dB range, generally speaking. Just enough to get the soundstage to start to unfold and resolve better. Sometimes it doesn't and I can't get anything better than without distortion, so then I dont use it. I tend to use AA Acquas or Kelvin for this. Most of thing I dont use anything but I more often than not use IK master tape emu, unless it sounds worse than not using. But I do find I use it slightly more than 50/50. On tracks during mixing, I rarely add distortion unless its an effect.

[licasto2]

https://www.stillwellaudio.com/plugins/vibe-eq/

You can dial in a really thick low-end on this one

[billinder33]

If you want a vintage sounding EQ that mimicks real hardware, Acustica Audio has great offerings. Pink is a pretty good channel EQ based on the API. Alternatively, get one of their pultec EQs.

If you want something nontraditional, Wavesfactory Spectre might scratch the itch. Technically not an EQ, but kind of works like one and definitely adds color. Or maybe the new Hendyamps Oven plugin. A similar concept as Spectre, but based on an analog unit, so has a hardware UI.

[RobGee]

PSP E27 is my favourite.

[AGIGA]

Lindell Audio TE-100

https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/prod ... e-100.html

I demo'd that thing a while back and I remember it sounded lovely, but what a weird ass interface.

I'd give it another try though.

Once you wrap your head around the workflow it's really easy to dial in.


And yes, also try the elysia museq..it's a great equalizer.

[Cyoon]

this thread made me look up TritoneDigital, they used to have nice color EQs, but appearantly they out of business. I didn' notice yet and can't find an announcement only either. :/

However, I like Burnley 73 a lot: https://www.kvraudio.com/product/burnley-73-by-sonimus