EQ Plugins

[vignesh.vijay]

Hi All ,

I was just doing some research on EQ Plugins . Which would you guys prefer with respect to EQ plugins ?

There are a few which interested me :

1) Fabfilter Pro-Q
2) Waves Mercury Native Bundle
3) Waves API 550A EQ
4) Voxengo GlissEQ
5) Native Instruments Enhanced EQ


Please also let me know if you guys have any personal favorites other than the above mentioned


Thanks

[cyphersuit]

Pro q

[Burillo]

Sonimus SonEQ Pro
Sonimus Sweetone
i also like the Softube's Summit Channel EQ

Also, "Waves Mercury" isn't an EQ. It's "everything and the kitchen sink" collection by Waves that includes lots of EQ's (and probably includes the API EQ you mentioned). You may have meant something else.

also, depends on which type of EQ you want. i use the three i mentioned when i just need "an EQ" (Sweetone is a tilt, the other two are 4 band parametrics), but for surgical stuff i use the T-RackS EQ.

what price range are you looking at?

[djanthonyw]

Have you considered EQuilibrium?

[DubLifeSD]

You can't go wrong with either Pro-Q or EQuilibrium.

[chokehold]

I recently compared many EQs to ReaEQ, which is my usual go-to EQ currently, using the phase-reversal method.

Turns out I can null Pro-Q with ReaEQ down to something around -80dB, as I could with many others like Equality and that free blue one with the one big knob. The Kuassa EVEs and Overtone 500 were the most "disappointing" in the list as far as my initial expectations go. Looked so special outside, but are both so common inside.

What that basically means for me: as far as the DSP goes, I could most certainly not tell them apart in a full mix.

The only thing really setting them apart and making each one preferable over the others in certain cases is their workflow.

While ReaEQ and Pro-Q distract my enthusiasm by showing me curves, always making me think "nah, that's too much boosting", I could use the Kuassa and Overtone by ear which made me a lot more comfortable with boosting frequencies. No problem dialing in massive amounts of that *click* to a metal kick drum with the EVEs, or instantly putting that "nosey" sound on guitars in a mix with the 500.

But ReaEQ and Pro-Q have analyzers and curves, making it really easy to instantly pinpoint problem areas and base frequencies or uneven harmonics by eye. A great help when cleaning up things!


So in other words - no one should (!) prefer any single EQ for all tasks, but much rather prefer single EQs for single tasks.

I know very well that asking is easier than actually demoing, but you should honestly try out the most interesting ones for yourself. You'll find out very quickly which EQ lets you do best what you want to do.


I for myself will stick to ReaEQ, as the sonic difference to Pro-Q or Equality is way too marginal (-80 dB...) to justify spending that much money on something that's, IMHO, not as quick and easy to control as ReaEQ is.

The Overtone has a strange "inertia" or something to its knobs, as has Waves' SSL bundle, meaning that the faster you move your mouse - the further the knob will rotate. A total turn-off for me, because it slows down my (!) way of working enormously. Also, I object their (IMHO) false advertising about their "own modeled analog filters" or whatever it was, when it is evident that they do nothing different than any other digital EQ. Finally a vertical EQ ... and it has to be a bummer. Pity.

The Kuassa EVEs however, even though their frequencies are "off" and they don't do anything special (no saturation, analog hiss, nothing, just plain digital filter), always gave me instant gratification when I put them on kick or snare drums, at least to give them some shape and *snap* to start with.


This is all just my personal and very subjective opinion as an end-user with a certain set of requirements. Chances are high that you work under totally different circumstances than I do, so what works for me might not work for you - et vice versa.

YMMV, so once again I advise you to try the interesting ones yourself, rather than accepting all this dickwaving about "Brand X makes the best Y".

$0.02

[metamorphosis]

I like Izotope's Alloy eq for para-work, for broadband stuff I like Maag EQ, vibeeq and 1973. They do all have a different sound, and are quite different to work with. Not a fan of soneq, sounds like plastic. Nice side-effects though.

[paterpeter]

There are many fully parametric, "clean" EQs out there. It comes mostly down to features and usability/workflow. Sound-wise there probably isn't much difference in this class of EQs.

Pro-Q is certainly great, no question. I have it and like it a lot. Great workflow, nice visuals.
If you want more features, check out eg Melda MDyamicEq or Melda MAutoDynamicEQ. Those are really packed with features (dynamic EQing, many different filters, great vizualisation, oversampling, very light on the CPU) and Vojtech - the developer - is a really customer oriented guy. Maybe even the free MEqualizer is enough for your day-to-day EQing needs.

When it comes to "character"-EQs, hardware-emulations, and other types of EQs, there are more differences. With more or less work, the frequency responses of those can be emulated by fully parametric EQs in most cases, but those EQs often have a streamlined workflow. With few knobs you can dial in just the right modification. Also, some of those change the sound in additional ways (saturation). I'm no real expert in those EQs, though, so if you're looking for something specific, someone else has to help

[ZenPunkHippy]

FabFilter Pro Q or DMG Audio's Equilibrium:

http://dmgaudio.com/products_equilibrium.php

Peace,
Andy.

[Arrested Developer]

I was just doing some research on EQ Plugins .
1) ...
2) Waves Mercury Native Bundle
3)...
4) ...
5)...

Sorry, but this kind of post somehow irritates me.
You are doing "some research" on EQ Plug ins.
And while doing this "research" the fact doesn't irritate you, that the "Waves Mercury Native Bundle"-EQ costs around
4.500 Euros?
And your research didn't reveal the fact that the Mercury-EQ in fact is a huge bundle of lots of plug ins?

If you want an answer to your question:
if you are really willing to "spend" about 4.500 Euros on a Software you oblivously do not understand completely, maybe go for some youtube tutorials on EQ-ing. If you know what you're doing with your EQ it's not that important which one you use. You can achieve absolutely fantastic results without spending thousands of Euros.

[HcDoom]

Pro-Q or EQuilibrium for clean and detailed work. For color SonEQ Pro.

[Mister Natural]

If you happen to be using LIVE - EQ8 is both versatile and transparent . . . oh, and it's free

[Sparky77]

Voxengo GlissEQ is a nice EQ for the money as are most Voxengo plugs.

EQuality is my favorite go to because it can do what most other EQs can do and better.
It is worth the time and energy to learn it.
Also the demo is a full 30 days so you can really get to know it.

[Robmobius]

You can't go wrong with either Pro-Q or EQuilibrium.

Pretty much this, but I'd also mention Flux Epure and Sonimus ProEQ.

[superscan]

Much like the other posts, what is your use case?

It's always good to start with your DAW.

GlissEQ is a good dynamics EQ, there are others to consider there too.
EQuick,Equality and Equilibrium are the family of EQ's that go from light duty to as deep as you can go. I recently demoed this one and verified from DMG that the Equilibrium presets (EQuick and Equality) are indeed those plugs/presets so you get 3-in-1 value (including the light CPU hit that go with them).

I love eye candy as much as the next guy, but the sound is what your music is after. Demo everything that suits your use cases and don't short change your DAW.