This is an EQ you feel comfortable putting on all channels, it just cannot sound bad. Of course this is not a precise EQ for cutting that 208.3 Hz resonance on your acoustic guitar with a notch filter, this is a classic "sweetening" EQ. Usually I find myself boosting the bands instead of cutting, and even if you dial the high band knob to the right, it never sounds harsh.
It is practically impossible to destroy a signal with this one, that is, if you don't use the drive to get some saturation or distortion on purpose. The usage of the drive parameter is a bit unusual though, you need too boost the input, the drive and the bass band together and fine tune those parameters, but the drive sound itself is excellent and ranges from subtle saturation to nice distortion.
Regarding the Pultec style bass band I am not sure about the 20 and 30 Hz frequencies. They may be historically accurate, but I have found no use for them so far, I'd prefer an extra 80 and 120 Hz band. The mid band is the most flexible one, ranging from 150 to 4000 Hz and lets you choose between a higher and a lower Q. The hi band is the most simple one, but perfect for giving some air to muddy guitars or vocals. The high and low cuts are a welcome addition to the Pultec concept and make the plugin all in all quite versatile.
And last but not least the GUI is well-designed and good looking and guarantees a good workflow.
Read ReviewThanks fese - great little review. SonEQ is one of my favorites too! It really is "something special" on vocal tracks. I often use SonEQ on my own vocal tracks and then apply any little surgical operations with IIEQ Pro. Well, that might be a changing "dynamic". .. "dynamic" because I'm so impressed with Melda's MDYnamic & MAUtoDynamic EQs.
Charles, thank you for your kind words - as English isn't my first language, it takes some time and effort to write just a few paragraphs, and it's nice to see it's appreciated :).
I haven't checked out Sonimus' other stuff yet, but given the quality of this one I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy Sweetone one day, at $25 it's a no-brainer. Also, love the GUI.
It is not only 32-bit. It is also 64-bit, VST2, VST3, and AAX.
And RTAS in 32-bit.
For OS X, it is VST and AU.
Demo here:
Yesterday I re-discovered this great eq. I tried it on a snare and just couldn't believe what a huge difference it made.
I would like to use this topic to ask a question. Can anyone check, if their SonEQFree VST3 version allows numerical input after right-clicking on the knob e.g. BOOST or GAIN ? VST2 has that functionality, but for some reason VST3 doesn't allow it. When I right-click nothing happens. I'm using the latest 1.2.1 release x64. I'm on Windows 8.1 x64.
I confirm. The readouts pop-up on VST2, not on VST3.
I just opened a ticket to report that bug.
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Thanks a lot BlackWinny.
I emailed developer about it earlier today. So far no response. I just asked a question if that's the proper behaviour. You had better idea about reporting it as a bug. Perhaps something can be done about it. I figured that since last update was in November 2016 and plugin is free, there is very small chance he is willing to check it out.
By the way I have no idea why there is March 2018 mentioned as release date for latest version 1.2 on this website. My plugin has a date 20161123, both VST2 and VST3.
"By the way I have no idea why there is March 2018 mentioned as release date for latest version 1.2 on this website. My plugin has a date 20161123, both VST2 and VST3."
Same for my copy.
They replied to my ticket, kindly. To get some additional info. So I sent these additional info two hours ago. I'll probably get a new reply tomorrow. We'll see. But I'm pretty confident for a next update with that bug fixed.
:).
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I also received an answer from Sonimus yesterday. There is something in the works regarding VST3 support for the 2020 update. Luckily it's not a huge inconvenience and SonEQ can still be used without any glitches.
So let's wait and see... The issue with the readouts on VST3 will probably be addressed at the latest in the 2020 update.
:).
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