PTEq-X

The hardware EQs this Ignite plugin is based on are expensive. Notice: I said are expensive. This one plugin will do the job of three of the original hardware EQs! The "legacy" unit didn't have the midrange section; they had to create a special midrange EQ for mastering purposes. Everything you could think of to shape the tonal characteristic of a sound is all right here.

In case you're wondering, no, this is not just an appealing GUI based on a unit from the 1950s. It's designed to sound better than all the other emulations or "tribute" units floating around. This isn't some Synthedit waste of RAM and processing power. The tube sounds alone are worth downloading this VST plugin. They could have charged hundreds of dollars for this, and it's free. Get this EQ...

...no, seriously, why are you still reading this? I said, get this EQ!

Watched a YouTube video on the Pultec EQ, downloaded this plugin, boosted and attenuated the bass and treble (as they showed in the video - makes no sense, right?!) and WOW! What a difference. It's in serious danger of replacing all my 'warmifier', and tube plug-ins.

WOW - I am absolutely blown away by this! I first came to understand what a Pultec is when I watched an engineer mix a Queen track on an SSL console. When he flipped the switch on the Pultec's there was this moment of "Boom!!! - there's that elusive sound I've been trying to figure out". Since then I've been looking and looking for a software emulation that "does the thing". The only emulation I could find that "Does the thing" (more on "the thing" in a bit) was Apogee's EQP-1A. It was lush, it was liquid, it was like sex on the Master Buss and it was $300 that I couldn't fork out because of payment gateway problems. What to do?

I tried everything, I tried UAD and Acoustica and Waves and nothing. Nothing had "that sound" and nothing "did the thing" until I found this little beauty. I was surprised that a free plugin emulation was so good.

It does the low-end mix trick! Woot - finally! Hear the bass just ooze out of the speakers. Fat, round, and CLEAN (choose 30 for the Lows, attenuate the Lows to tase - about 1, then boost the lows to taste, about 2 and make sure the Bandwidth is set to 7 - this one is super sensitive in comparison to the Apogee version).

It gives you that sexy, lush, 3D "liquid sound" (switch in the tube emulation). My face melted listening to it! (Mix at 96kHz with 2X oversampling or 192kHz to REALLY hear that sexy tube go to work)

It's really good at everything else Pultec's are famous for but for me getting that 3D liquid lushness and that fat kick-*ss bass is the most important thing. I am still going to buy the Apogee (the best psychedelic sound is multi-layered) but I am so happy that I found this! It took me years to figure out what on earth a Pultec was, what it did, and most importantly how it's supposed to sound in actuality. I'm glad it didn't take me that long to find this after I understood what I was looking for.

Kudos to the developers - it's clear that they absolutely know quality both in terms of hardware and software (seriously - 64-bit floating point and oversampling in a free plugin...no words can express). Much love and respect. Thank you.

A free plugin which punch into the face of paid plugins.

You will not need to buy Pultec style EQ anymore.

Having used the real thing many years ago, I can say pretty safely that this behaves the way it should. It's a 'broad brush' approach to EQ; those expecting to find a tool to make wild, radical changes might want to look elsewhere. But for those who want a device that reliably 'nices up' signals without imparting anything extreme, this is your go-to. Hell, it's my go-to, actually...I find it winds up on my master bus all the time as an 'I don't even need to think twice'-type of choice for zeroing-in overall spectral content. It also has a few frequency settings not present on most other Pultec emulators, which is a big plus. You can't go wrong here.