PTEq-X

A great EQ for broad, non-surgical applications. I find PTEq-X to be a useful tool in mixing guitars and for vocal treatments, as well as a handy addition to my mastering chain. If you're looking for an EQ that allows you to cut or boost exact frequencies, you may want to look elsewhere. But, for adding growl to your heavy guitars, or removing nasally frequencies from a vocal performance, PTEq-X is your go-to.

I have spent many hours testing and comparing the Ignite PTEq-1a EQ plug-in with other Pultec-style EQ plug-ins. I first matched the control settings on the PTEq-1a to various settings on other plug-ins, which included: (1) Pushtec 5+1A, (2) Noble-Q, (3) Noble-Qex, (4) SonEQ, (5) TDR VOS SlickEQ, and (6) NI/Softube Enhanced EQ in order to evaluate the tonal characteristics and qualities of the PTEq-1a. At least three (3) different setting sonic ranges were used in my evaluation for all the EQ plug-ins tested. I accurately matched all the plug-ins in this test and carefully listened through my system using both Neumann KH120A studio monitors and Sennheiser HD 25-1 II professional headphones. The audio test material included a combination of female vocal tracks, and nylon and steel string acoustic guitar tracks. In summary, the tonal qualities of the PTEq-1a could identically match that of the Noble-Q, Noble-Qex, Enhanced EQ and TDR VOS SlickEQ for the wide range of settings tested. Although the GUI is on the small side and less elegant to that of the purchased products, you certainly don't need to spend any money to obtain the same excellent results with the PTEq-1a. I could not get SonEQ to identically match the tone/quality settings of the other plug-ins in this comparison, as SonEQ is just somewhat different, but nevertheless excellent. However to my surprise, the Pushtec 5+1A EQ plug-in was somewhat magical in this comparative test exhibiting certain "air-like" qualities above all the rest. On the flip side, the Pushtec 5+1A was complicated and timely to set up and does not have an output gain control making it even more difficult on recorded tracks without ample headroom. Conclusion: you should most definitely have a copy of the Ignite PTEq-1a plug-in in your studio arsenal.