KVR Audio

vins · Post by **vins** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 1:02 pm

how would rate the eq section in sx3 compared to some other vst plugins and mainly versus free eq plugins? and which plugins would those be?

thanks.

vins

griels · Post by **griels** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 1:10 pm

I find it sounds quite harsh. I tend to use NyquistEQ, PLParEQ3 or Posihfopit instead (all freebies).

michat · Post by **michat** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 1:30 pm

griels wrote:I find it sounds quite harsh, I tend to use NyquistEQ, PLParEQ3 or Posihfopit instead (all freebies).

I don´t know the sx3 eqs, but I use sx1 and they are harsh, too! Much too resonant with high Qs!
I mostly use the eqs from battery2, but I also like NyquistEQ, Posihfopit, ParisEQ!!!

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 1:45 pm

The Cubase Eqs aren't the best in the world. They're not the worst either. TBH, I wouldn't see any benefit in using any of the freebies over SX Eq. They're all much of a muchness to me. ParisEq can sound different, but that's more as a special effect due to its limiters.

In the context of a mix, SX Eq is mostly indistinguishable from other freebies. I agree it sounds harsh boosted heavily at high Q - but the question follows...what are you doing using that kind of Eqing anyway? If the base sound is so bad that you need that type of excessive Eq, maybe you should be looking at replacing the sound source first.

Personally, I think you'd be better looking at the commercial Eqs rather thqan the freebies. That's one of the main reasons I don't use Eq boost - they're all so bland. I cut only. I'll shortly be getting a UAD card with Pultec and Cambridge Eq, so I will probably start Eqing a bit more.
If I were forced to go native, I like Eqium for the top end, and Kjaerhus Golden Eq seems pretty useful. I've not really tested out the PSP Eq (when the demo came out, I was on Win98, and it crashed the system

). URS Eq would be the other choice - but as it's PACE, it rules it out for me.

SX Eq is OK if you use it sensibly. Not good as a special effect though.

vins · Post by **vins** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 2:27 pm

thanks for that. i'll give those freebies a try and i will check out some demos of the more 'professional' plugins.

vins

griels · Post by **griels** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 3:09 pm

kritikon wrote:The Cubase Eqs aren't the best in the world. They're not the worst either. TBH, I wouldn't see any benefit in using any of the freebies over SX Eq. They're all much of a muchness to me. ParisEq can sound different, but that's more as a special effect due to its limiters.

Nyquist/Posihfopit/PLparEQ3 all sound much less harsh with even mild boosting to my ears. To my ears Posihfopit has quite a nice saturation to it, but it might be placebo

kritikon wrote:In the context of a mix, SX Eq is mostly indistinguishable from other freebies. I agree it sounds harsh boosted heavily at high Q - but the question follows...what are you doing using that kind of Eqing anyway?

Creative EQing... Or just trying to jam lots of sounds into a narrow part of the spectrum...

kritikon wrote: If the base sound is so bad that you need that type of excessive Eq, maybe you should be looking at replacing the sound source first.

This is a pretty good rule of thumb - if the spectral content of a sound is missing the frequencies you want, then no amount of conventional EQing is going to fix that. But in the context of a mix some pretty extreme EQing can happen - e.g. on acoustic guitar or piano... Admittedly more cutting than boosting.

kritikon wrote: Personally, I think you'd be better looking at the commercial Eqs rather thqan the freebies. That's one of the main reasons I don't use Eq boost - they're all so bland.

Blandness is not a big problem with corrective EQing. But yeah, for more extreme effects, it's pretty desirable. Still, Posihfopit seems to handle hi-Q boosting pretty well, and I can always add more saturation or whatever for extra character later on.

kritikon wrote:I cut only. I'll shortly be getting a UAD card with Pultec and Cambridge Eq, so I will probably start Eqing a bit more.
If I were forced to go native, I like Eqium for the top end, and Kjaerhus Golden Eq seems pretty useful. I've not really tested out the PSP Eq (when the demo came out, I was on Win98, and it crashed the system ). URS Eq would be the other choice - but as it's PACE, it rules it out for me.

Can't comment on these as I've not tried em... I've certainly heard a lot of great mixes done with UAD stuff (jdg, putte etc), although this may be more to do with the operators than the kit.

kritikon wrote: SX Eq is OK if you use it sensibly. Not good as a special effect though.

It's OK used sparingly - the harshness really seems to accumulate when used on multiple channels though I find. I definitely wouldn't use it as a special effect, unless I really wanted a 'digitally harsh EQ' effect.

martian · Post by **martian** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 8:27 pm

i find sx's Q sounds the same as waves rennaisance

, but not quite as good as standard modern day phase warping alogrithmic eqs like geq.

the thing with Q, is that it defalts to such a narrow bandwidth compared to EVERYthing else, which makes for a very bad initial impression.

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 1:50 pm

Nyquist/Posihfopit/PLparEQ3 all sound much less harsh with even mild boosting to my ears.

I've heard alot about the PLparEq things - I went over to the site to have a look, but it just led me to the PLparEq10 one - and at that price, I'll still go for UAD in preference.
Is the freebie one still available? I got the impression it was now taken down...

I guess I'll just never get to hear it in action.

Jason Brian Merrill · Post by **Jason Brian Merrill** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 1:52 pm

all host eq's arent normally that great, but sometimes good for using sparingly.

joachime · Post by **joachime** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 12:03 am

kritikon wrote:I've heard alot about the PLparEq things [...]
Is the freebie one still available? I got the impression it was now taken down...

I'm afraid it's been taken down. But it's still possible to download a fully working demo (limited to 30 days) at the site.

BTW have you heard the poshifopit?

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 1:41 pm

No...I might give it a try though.

Although it's got a daft name

Rekko11 · Post by **Rekko11** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:08 pm

I agree with kritikon here... Can't do much with Cubase EQ before nasty digital clipping/ distortion occurs.. Its a typical case of a naff soft synth such as most free ones and the ones in Qbase.. try to tweak it with a naff EQ such as the one in Qbase and the result is meganaff... Then go around downloading the freebies and find they are pretty much EXACTLY the same deal as the host plugs..

If U are lucky get your hands on something like Ozone, or Kjaerhus Golden Eq and you will notice some improvement, but you will still not be blown away.

There's no substitute for good sound source, which generally means top end soft synths/ hardware IMO

question about cubase sx equalizer