DMG EQuilibrium

[DaveGamble]

Trident A-range I have schematics for (http://www.waltzingbear.com/Schematics/ ... hannel.pdf) but I'm not convinced that it's super-exciting as EQs go. Convince me otherwise and the results are inevitable.

The other unit, you rather famously can't get schematics for, and a lot is said, often in a raised voice, about how the unit has special magic, that could never be modelled by anything digital.
What I do know, on the other hand, having seen, say, Langevin schematics about, is that they have extremely capable designers, and that it's based on the original Pultec design (which, of course, is based on the Baxendall), so odds on, the design is very simple and clean. As a Passive design, it would be PERFECTLY amenable to analysis (the point of something being passive is that there's perfect linearity and zero distortion). Of course, I'm well aware of the chances of ending up with a 40th order xfer function, but I have my ways...

Dave.

[schnapsglas]

Trident A-range I have schematics for (http://www.waltzingbear.com/Schematics/ ... hannel.pdf) but I'm not convinced that it's super-exciting as EQs go. Convince me otherwise and the results are inevitable.

The other unit, you rather famously can't get schematics for, and a lot is said, often in a raised voice, about how the unit has special magic, that could never be modelled by anything digital.
What I do know, on the other hand, having seen, say, Langevin schematics about, is that they have extremely capable designers, and that it's based on the original Pultec design (which, of course, is based on the Baxendall), so odds on, the design is very simple and clean. As a Passive design, it would be PERFECTLY amenable to analysis (the point of something being passive is that there's perfect linearity and zero distortion). Of course, I'm well aware of the chances of ending up with a 40th order xfer function, but I have my ways...

Dave.

Trident A is... exciting because it is near-extinct?

Are you OK with emulating emulations? I would actually like that. I wonder if that's unethical, but I wonder how it is different from modelling hardware.

Anyway, a great job. I thought this would be a failure but I didn't see this coming. I would like it if I could also get phase diagram on the graph as well, it would make messing with allpass easier...

EDIT: oh, and I LOVE the harmonic filter. Any chance you could really make it really sharp with more parameters? If we could have that dynamic as well... drool...

[Satch1]

Hi Dave, first of all, congrats and thankyou to you and Krzysztof for the release of EQuilibrium, which I've just purchased and am very excited about.

Unfortunately though there's a couple of issues I've come across.
I'm trying to go through the setup wizard but after choosing my preference on the 1st page and clicking next, the 2nd page just layers on top of the 1st. So instead of just seeing the 2nd page, I now see both pages on top of each other, making the text very hard to read. When I get to the 3rd page I can't make out the text at all.
I then tried going into the setup screen to configure my settings but when I try to open the GUI tab my host crashes every time. Also when I drag the setup screen about it creates copies of itself in the knobs and readout area of the UI.

I'm on WinXP 32bit running the latest version of Reaper and also FL Studio 10.09. The same thing happens in both hosts.

Cheers,
Mark

[billcarroll]

Hi Dave, first of all, congrats and thankyou to you and Krzysztof for the release of EQuilibrium, which I've just purchased and am very excited about.

Unfortunately though there's a couple of issues I've come across.
I'm trying to go through the setup wizard but after choosing my preference on the 1st page and clicking next, the 2nd page just layers on top of the 1st. So instead of just seeing the 2nd page, I now see both pages on top of each other, making the text very hard to read. When I get to the 3rd page I can't make out the text at all.
I then tried going into the setup screen to configure my settings but when I try to open the GUI tab my host crashes every time. Also when I drag the setup screen about it creates copies of itself in the knobs and readout area of the UI.

I'm on WinXP 32bit running the latest version of Reaper and also FL Studio 10.09. The same thing happens in both hosts.

Cheers,
Mark

I think Dave posted a fix for this issue here:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/new-prod ... ium-4.html

[Satch1]

Hi Dave, first of all, congrats and thankyou to you and Krzysztof for the release of EQuilibrium, which I've just purchased and am very excited about.

Unfortunately though there's a couple of issues I've come across.
I'm trying to go through the setup wizard but after choosing my preference on the 1st page and clicking next, the 2nd page just layers on top of the 1st. So instead of just seeing the 2nd page, I now see both pages on top of each other, making the text very hard to read. When I get to the 3rd page I can't make out the text at all.
I then tried going into the setup screen to configure my settings but when I try to open the GUI tab my host crashes every time. Also when I drag the setup screen about it creates copies of itself in the knobs and readout area of the UI.

I'm on WinXP 32bit running the latest version of Reaper and also FL Studio 10.09. The same thing happens in both hosts.

Cheers,
Mark

I think Dave posted a fix for this issue here:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/new-prod ... ium-4.html

Fantastic, thanks very much pal. All is well now

[Compyfox]

I had the chance today to take a closer look at this EQ at a friends place. And I must say, I'm massively impressed.

EQuilibrium sure is an update to EQuick and EQuality. And I really hope to scratch together the funds for such an EQ this time.

I like the "grouping" and sorting design - it's straight forward. I like the thing that I have ton of filters at my disposal, something I miss with a lot of other EQ's. It can be linear phase, the system is easy to understand with L/R and M/S, you have M/S faders for narrowing and widening the stereo field, etc.


Though there are a couple of things I'd love to see improved:
1) I miss the drop down menu like with EQuality to chose from Digital EQ to Linear Phase. Currently that's only available through the settings

2) I was told that the initial setup (with CPU usage, screen size, etc) is only "once", and you can't redo that unless you know(!!!) what does what in the preferences.

3) I'd love to see a button on the GUI to switch from screen preset 1 (i.e. small for mixing) to screen preset 2 (large, for master EQ/mastering).

4) I could be mistaken, but the CPU is insanely high on 96kHz. Though this could be due to the buffer size of 8k (apparently, wrong clicked on initial setup).



Else... yeah...
I worked with a lot of EQ's lately. FabFilter Pro-Q was my favorite so far (especially since AIXcoustic's Electri-Q seems to be abandonned), but this might change.

I will still use 4-7 band parametric EQ's like the British EQ by Nomad Factory, or BootEQmkII, maybe even the Pultec or what else is on my HDD. Whatever does the job.

But while fine-tuning and mastering, I need a brutally spot on and versatile EQ. And so far, EQuilibrium takes the cake. It's not much more compared to Fabfilter, but enough to say "you know what, funk that - let's go with DMG".

I only hope this EQ might integrate well with my BCR2000. But this is a thing to test on my rig, maybe next month.



I'd love to actually get both EQuick and EQuilibrium, if there will be a suitable bundle price. Through if there are screen/setting presets available for quick switching of the EQ's modes and usability, then I don't need EQuick anymore.

Definitely good job, you got my interest.

[Aiynzahev]

I'd like (if this is not available already):

To assign short cuts for various things such as

a) Toggle between graph or no graph (knobs only)

b) Cycle through types of whatever band you are working with.

Also the elliptic EQ is giving me a huge 20hz bump when set to 18dB. Not at any other setting though.

Also if the red light is on does that mean the plug-in is actually clipping?

[schnapsglas]

I'd love to actually get both EQuick and EQuilibrium, if there will be a suitable bundle price. Through if there are screen/setting presets available for quick switching of the EQ's modes and usability, then I don't need EQuick anymore.

Great way to remind Dave not to make EQuick obsolete
I think we almost had him, but now the opportunity to move completely to EQuilibrium is gone

(To be honest, I don't see the need for EQuality. Some might, but I always preferred EQuick, and now that EQuilibrium is out, I would like to have both. EQuick still has its uses.)

[3ee]

Wait a sec, I don't understand why ppl want both because Equilibium seems to take EQuick's place 99%

AFAIK, you can optimize EQulibrium to look and act like EQuick with the same CPU usage... the only subjective difference being that the new one sounds better. + it has more options if needed.

EQuality "seems" obsolete too now.

The only reason I see them to stick around in the future is that they provide a cost effective alternative.

[The Main Event]

Still no one answered my question:
Does the Analyzer use CPU, if the GUI closed?

And what's the difference between the eq modes (550, 4k, ox1,...)? Only the Q or does it add harmonic distortion or stuff like this?

[Compyfox]

Wait a sec, I don't understand why ppl want both because Equilibium seems to take EQuick's place 99%

AFAIK, you can optimize EQulibrium to look and act like EQuick with the same CPU usage... the only subjective difference being that the new one sounds better. + it has more options if needed.

And this is the thing:
We can pretty much agree that EQuality is fairly limited, though it's still a great 7 band EQ.

EQuick and EQuilibrium don't give each other much indeed, if EQuilibrium is setup to "small" and basically only the DMG filters are used.


But... if you want to use EQuality for both channel use, a bus EQ and maybe even (if you have the CPU power) as mastering EQ on the summing bus, you constantly have to go through the preferences and change things as needed.

If EQuilibrium had a mode where you can switch between saved preferences, say two three sets, then EQuick is completely obsolete. You only have to setup EQuilibrium once, then forget it and focus on your presets.


Until then, both EQs have their uses as earlier mentioned. Switching between a low profile EQuick for channel stuff and a higher profile EQuality for bus and mastering is just simpler than constantly reaching for the settings panel.

At least in my opinion. In the end, it's Dave's decision what to do. But this would be a major selling point "for me".



Then again, I also have other FR's like:
- Harmonic EQ mode (like the Steinberg one in Nuendo and Wavelab, or to some extend, even Melda Production's MEqualizer)
- maybe a Sonogram as Analyser as well
- a dynamic EQ mode (hey, I can dream!)
- a GUI overlay, where it tells you which frequency are corresponds to what (like in AIXcoustic ElectriQ, or MeldaProduction MEqualizer, much like the interactive frequency chart by IRN Online Resources).

I'm sure there will be more to come, the more I have the chance to play around with it.

[Amon1973]

Wait a sec, I don't understand why ppl want both because Equilibium seems to take EQuick's place 99%

If I'm not mistaken (please correct if I'm wrong), EQuilibrium does have M+S, M and S functionality as a global mode, whereas you can select those modes on a per-band basis with EQuick.

This makes EQuick still worth having in my opinion.

[Krzysztof Oktalski]

1) I miss the drop down menu like with EQuality to chose from Digital EQ to Linear Phase. Currently that's only available through the settings

This is why we improved preset handling and added selectional load. If you setup your presets as you would like them, these things aren't an issue. There is no specific modes any more, because of the degree of customisation you have, but it doesn't take any longer to grab a preset and only load the DSP, this way you have much more choice about what modes you can access.

2) I was told that the initial setup (with CPU usage, screen size, etc) is only "once"

Who told you that?? Not true. Click Setup -> Setup Wizard (bottom let of the setup pane).

3) I'd love to see a button on the GUI to switch from screen preset 1 (i.e. small for mixing) to screen preset 2 (large, for master EQ/mastering).

Once engineers setup their presets and learnt to use the selective load buttons, these requests stopped.

4) I could be mistaken, but the CPU is insanely high on 96kHz. Though this could be due to the buffer size of 8k (apparently, wrong clicked on initial setup).

Read the manual a bit first, get acquainted with the settings, if it still feels high, send all info to Dave, including the preset.

It's not much more compared to Fabfilter

That's maybe the harshest thing anyone has said about it so far.

if there are screen/setting presets available for quick switching of the EQ's modes and usability, then I don't need EQuick anymore.

There are, but it's just as easy to customise it yourself and have your own presets.

[Krzysztof Oktalski]

Hey Satch,

There's a bugfix version due hopefully today, it contains a few fixes including the problem that you had. The version you've got now was a temporary fix for XP users - the new version is much nicer.

[Krzysztof Oktalski]

I'm sure there will be more to come, the more I have the chance to play around with it.

Nearly everything you've mentioned is in EQuilbrium already (apart from dynamic and overlays). This is true of both of your posts, if you have a look at the manual or website you'll get more of an idea of what it's about.