Features/Info -

High frequency shelf
Sweepable Mid
Low frequency shelf

Sampled @ 24/96

Download

All Digital Parametric EQ’s are the same.

Read the entire post to fully understand the statement.

Ok now time to explain.

I know your sitting there saying but hey my Waves , URS, Oxy, UAD, Vox, blah blah sound completely different. This is why. With emulation plugins you have EQ+X. X can = Saturation, bandwidth limits, softclips, & so on. Now take away X what do you have? The EQ algorithm.
Lets look at Digital EQ types.

1. Parametric/Series – “PEQ”.
(These are the most common track EQ’s, Most channelstrip EQ’s, Most Plugin EQ’s,  Native DAW eq’s, it’s never ending. )

2. Parallel – More uncommon in the digital world. Algorithmix has one.

3. Linear phase – Mastering EQ

These 3 types will be different. But PEQ’s are the most commonly used/emulated.
You can take any respectable  PEQ and create all of the curve/phase characteristics of any other digital PEQ. It is the “X” that is the variable. The Q & Gain numerical value settings are a developer decision. You can’t compare EQ’s by matching dials & numbers. You have to use analyzers & match curves.

Digital emulations for the most part are marketing hype. If you use a fully variable PEQ like the one that comes native with your host & saturation plugins/tools. You will be able to recreate just about any classic console EQ you have heard.

Don’t just take my word for it, listen to the developers.

Read this from Algorithmix

Quote:

The truth is that with a properly designed, fully parametric analytic PEQ, every amplitude and phase characteristic of any other equalizer setup can be recreated. Of course, the contribution of distortions to the specific sound of a particular analog equalizer caused by the respective electronics has to be considered. If the distortions are ‘good’, they may make certain applications sound better.

So spend your $ on the tools that actually make a difference.

Here is an EQ example.

Everyone likes null tests right =)

So I took two supposedly “drastically different classed” Digital parametric EQ’s.
The external DSP hosted SSL Duende X-EQ, & compared it with Sonars native Sonitus EQ. You can get them to null.

The test signal was pink noise, tone & a drum mix.  FYI – Noise is far from lacking dynamics. It’s actually extremely dynamic. The full bandwidth signal gives the impression of a common static level. Use a bandpass & you will see how chaotically dynamic it is. Pink noise will stress any test much harder then a typical mastered music track. & yes it nulls with music as well.

This was the X-eq setup.

This is the Sonar EQ with the setting I tweaked to null.

To get the settings I panned the channels hard L&R and matched the frequency response. You can see the 2 overlapping lines. Blue = X-eq, Orange = Sonar. You can see single orange pixels if you look close.

This is a bunch of stereo image meters that show the lack of phase differences. I mean LACK of differences.

This is what happens if you bypass one of the EQ’s for comparison.

So whats this mean?

As I said I’ve found emulation plugins for the most part to be hype. But you might find the interface more creative, Or you might like the type of saturation the plugin uses in it’s design, Most don’t have a saturation stage.

All in all your better better off using a fully variable EQ & a saturater tool/plug-in.

But all is not lost if you have invested in a “vintage” plug-in bundle. Most plug-in bundles included compressors. Unlike EQ’s compressors come in many shapes and forms. & tools like the URS CSP with it’s input stage really can change a compressors quality/reaction.

In the end the quality variables are down to internal resolution, oversampling capabilities, & so on. There is no magic in the emulation.

—————

Other comparisons.

——————————————————————————————————————————–
——————————————————————————————————————————–
——————————————————————————————————————————–
——————————————————————————————————————————–

——————————————————————————————————————————–

I decided to take it a step further.
How close could I match the waves SSL with analog on.
So instead of using sonar & my usual URS saturation I decided to try it with all native Ableton Live plugins. At 1st I was having a hell of a time trying to match the EQ Phase. That is until I turned off Live’s Hi quality EQ mode.
Live oversamples with Hi quality on.

Here are the EQ setups.

Frequency Response with saturation.

The left measures frequency differences & the right is phase. Not bad, it’s near mono. Pretty cool for completely different tools.

..

Price = $YouDecide

————————————————————————————————-

EEQ-2 & EEQ-2H - Classic EQ.

Inspired by the 1073 this EQ is a blend of classic functionality with modern features.

Key Features.

- 3 Band with HP/LP filters.
- Shelf or Peak modes
- +/- 18db Gain
- 12/24db Filter slopes
- Extended musical width (Q)
- Band/Filter Bypass
- Usable

Download EEQ-2

Download EEQ-2H

For NAG free versions pay what want. Pay what you feel these are worth.

Price = $YouDecide

————————————————————————————————-

Dynamics/Gate -

————————————————————————————-

FFC-1 - Feed-Forward Compressor

Key Features.
NEW – External Side-Chain Input
- Detection Filters & Drive
- Key listen
- Channel Link/Unlink

Download FFC-1

—————————————-

LVA-1 - Leveling Amplifier

Key Features.
- Smooth characteristic
- Unlinked/Linked stereo image processing
- Detection Filters & Drive
- Key listen

Download LVA-1

—————————————-

FBC-1 - Feed-Back Compressor

Key Features.
NEW – External Side-Chain Input
- Detection Filters & Drive
- Key listen
- Channel Link/Unlink

Download FBC-1

—————————————-

LIM-1 - Hard/Soft Limiter

Key Features.
- Hard/Soft modes
- Channel Link/Unlink
- Classic limiter sound (Not to be confused with modern brick-wall limiters)

Download LIM-1

—————————————-

OPT-1 - Optical Compressor

Key Features.
- External Side-Chain Input
- Detection Filters
- Optical Intensity
- Key listen
- Channel Link/Unlink

Download – OPT-1

—————————————-

EXP-1 - Dynamic Expander

Key Features.
- Restores dynamics
- Fast attack capability
- Detection Filters
- Key listen
- Channel Link/Unlink
- External Side-Chain Input for creative effects.

Sharing many of the same components of the widely liked FFC-1, EXP-1 is it’s reverse parter in crime.
Need to restore some dynamics to a squished mix, To much reverb on those drums tracks, or want to key trigger a synth pad off a sidechain? Check this guy out.

Download EXP-1

—————————————-

GMP-1 - Gate.

Key Features.
- Fast attack with attack smooth.
- 0% noise floor 100% reduction
- Side-Chain
- Channel-Link/Unlink (stereo operation)

Gates are widely overlooked tools. Unlike some this gate is designed to give clean fast attack with drums/bass in mind.

Download – GMP-1

—————————————-

EQ/Filters -

————————————————————————————-

FSP-1 - Filter-Shelving-Parametric-Equalizer

Key Features.
- Classic EQ functionality
- HighPass filter
- Dual Q modes

Download – FSP-1

—————————————-

GEQ-1 - 10 band equalizer

Key Features.
- 10 bands of equalization
- 13 dB of boost/cut per band
-”Proportional Q” narrows filter Q at extremes
- Q width control.

Download – GEQ-1

—————————————-

P3Q-1 - 3-Band Parametric EQ

Key Features.
- FPC mode (Filter Phase Compensation). EQ’s by nature modify the phase of the frequencies they boost/cut. FPC reintroduces the phase canceled signals from the EQ filters. This may or may not be desired depending on the EQ application.
- Hyper extended Q
- EQ IN switch for A/B comparison

Download P3Q-1

—————————————-

EQH-1 – High frequency EQ

Key Features.

- FPC mode (Filter Phase Compensation). EQ’s by nature modify the phase of the frequencies they boost/cut. FPC reintroduces the phase canceled signals from the EQ filters. This may or may not be desired depending on the EQ application.
- Hyper extended Q
- Band-pass to help select frequency to modify.
- (+/-) 30db of gain.
- 12 or 24db Filter Slopes.

Download EQH-1

—————————————-

EQM-1 – Mid frequency EQ

Key Features.
- FPC mode (Filter Phase Compensation). EQ’s by nature modify the phase of the frequencies they boost/cut. FPC reintroduces the phase canceled signals from the EQ filters. This may or may not be desired depending on the EQ application.
- Hyper extended Q
- Band-pass to help select frequency to modify.
- (+/-) 30db of gain.
- 12 or 24db Filter Slopes.

Download EQM-1

—————————————-

EQL-1 – Low frequency EQ

Key Features.
- FPC mode (Filter Phase Compensation). EQ’s by nature modify the phase of the frequencies they boost/cut. FPC reintroduces the phase canceled signals from the EQ filters. This may or may not be desired depending on the EQ application.
- Hyper extended Q
- Band-pass to help select frequency to modify.
- (+/-) 30db of gain.
- 12 or 24db Filter Slopes.

Download EQL-1

—————————————-

Peak-1 – Low frequency EQ

Key Features.
-Push/Pull style Cut & Boost.
- Slope control.
-Width control.

Download Peak-1

—————————————-

Peak-2 – Mid-Range frequency EQ

Key Features.
-Push/Pull style Cut & Boost.
-Slope control.
-Width control.

Download Peak-2

—————————————-

Peak-3 – High frequency EQ

Key Features.
-Push/Pull style Cut & Boost.
-Slope control.
-Width control.

Download Peak-3

—————————————-

LFS-1 – Low frequency Shelf EQ

Key Features.
-Push/Pull style Cut & Boost.
-Slope control.
-Width control.

Download LFS-1

—————————————-

HFS-1 – High frequency Shelf EQ

Key Features.
-Push/Pull style Cut & Boost.
-Slope control.

Download HFS-1

—————————————-

LPF-1 – Low-Pass Filter

Key Features.
-Slope control.
-Extended range mode

Download LPF-1

—————————————-

HPF-1 – High-Pass Filter

Key Features.
-Slope control.
-Extended range mode

Download HPF-1

—————————————-

SUB-1 - Low Frequency Management

Key Features.
- 0-200 hz High-Pass/ Low-Pass modes
- Filter / Shelf EQ modes
- Slope width
- Cut / Boost

Download SUB-1

—————————————-

Enhance/Color -

————————————————————————————-

SAT-1 - Saturation Enhancer

Key Features.
- Tape/Tube Models
- Flexible design to provide both subtle & extreme coloring.
- Soft-Clip Limiter
- Wet/Dry Control

Download – SAT-1

MSD-1 - Mid/Side Decoder

Key Features.
- Made to decode M/S recorded signals. (M/S Microphones)
- Mid/Side level control
- Mid/Side polarity

i/o info =
input 1 = Mid
input 2 = Side
output 1&2 = M/S mix

Download MSD-1

MSE-1 - Mid/Side Encoder

Key Features.
- Made to encode & separate stereo signals into Mid/Side information.  (Tip use both the encoder & decoder inline to process stereo content.)
- Can decrease or extract Mid/Side information. ( extract ambiance from a recording. Raise or cancel out center channel vocals.
- Mid/Side level control
- Mid/Side polarity

i/o info =
input 1&2 = stereo input
output 1&2 = M/S split or mix

Download MSE-1