Equality, Equiibrium, what have you!! EQ plugs..

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Krackle
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Equality, Equiibrium, what have you!! EQ plugs..

Post by Krackle » Tue Apr 03, 2018 4:23 pm

Sometimes I get better results (deeply IMO of course) from the Apple AU parametric EQ..sometimes not...always interesting to try to match results, A/B stuff.

EQ Plugs..a lot of them seem about the same to me..These two from DMG seem to be among the hotcakes out there..

Im demoing both and they feel pretty good..Equilibrium is obviously like the Photoshop of EQ..a big gorilla with twenty arms.

what are you guys liking and why?

Im looking for one good EQ that I can use without looking back, for the most part..I have some hardware EQ..a Sontec and 2 Speck ASC-T's (rack versions)

Honestly,, if ignoring hardware vibe..I feel i can get deeper results with some of these plugins at this point..as long as the sound i want is in the recordings I'm making, etc.

I tend to use the Hardware on the Master buss along with a compressor, and EQ everything digitally when mixing. But I'm doing this less and less these days..could be laziness..I think, more and more, I'm fairly happy with my mixes in the computer as they are. to me, going to Tape with a rich saturation level is more satisfying than the running through hardware and printing..but of course..i have to run that tape back through a converter

Anyhow..EQ..

Also interested in 'go to' compression..a good sounding utility plug..different topic.

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Re: Equality, Equiibrium, what have you!! EQ plugs..

Post by losthighway » Tue Apr 03, 2018 6:00 pm

I get a fair amount of use out of the Waves Renaissance eq, or ReQ or whatever they call it.

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Re: Equality, Equiibrium, what have you!! EQ plugs..

Post by Magnetic Services » Tue Apr 03, 2018 6:16 pm

Krackle wrote:
Tue Apr 03, 2018 4:23 pm
a big gorilla with twenty arms.
'nuff said.

But anyway... I pretty much exclusively use Reaper's stock 4-band EQ. Console EQ on the way in of course, for broad sonic strokes, but once it's in the box pretty much everything gets the same plugin. They're all the same (which is a good thing). The trick is using EQ before and after compression & effects, on various groups and the master bus, etc.

I never use those fake console channel EQs, but there is something to be said for taking your eyes off the graphic EQ and turning a digital knob instead. Frees you from what you think you should be doing, I guess?

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Re: Equality, Equiibrium, what have you!! EQ plugs..

Post by Recycled_Brains » Wed Apr 04, 2018 4:37 pm

Magnetic Services wrote:
Tue Apr 03, 2018 6:16 pm

I never use those fake console channel EQs, but there is something to be said for taking your eyes off the graphic EQ and turning a digital knob instead. Frees you from what you think you should be doing, I guess?
This has changed things for me a bit lately. Just got into the UAD stuff and am enjoying not having the graph. I tend to overthink things as it is, so adding the visual component to it can hang me up more than it should. I like the Digi EQ3 EQ though. I use that frequently for more precise adjustments.
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Re: Equality, Equiibrium, what have you!! EQ plugs..

Post by joninc » Wed Apr 04, 2018 6:03 pm

so many ....

Kush electra (kick and snare, toms)

SlyFi Axis (guitars, drums, whatev)

Maag (air band on vocals or acoustics :)

Waves: H-eq (visualizer), api 560, kramer Helios, puigtec (phattener)

Overloud 550 Gem (great grit and texture - drums guitars)

Soundtoys SieQ - surprisingly nice mids, bass...
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Re: Equality, Equiibrium, what have you!! EQ plugs..

Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Wed Apr 04, 2018 8:38 pm

i love equilibrium. it doesn't have to be a 20 armed gorilla. i keep it on IIR always, that sounds better to me than FIR and i get option anxiety with FIR anyway. my default is a 4 band parametric with 550 curves for low and low mid, 250 curves for high mid and highs. simple, and it sounds incredible.

also like the TDR slick eq, particularly the german high shelf.

with those two and a hardware bax i'm not really wanting for more.

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Re: Equality, Equiibrium, what have you!! EQ plugs..

Post by Krackle » Thu Apr 05, 2018 6:48 am

Wow..Bunch of those I've never hear of..wondering some of them are making sort of specialized noises..or sounds..emulations of old equalizers? effect/eq's?

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Re: Equality, Equiibrium, what have you!! EQ plugs..

Post by digitaldrummer » Thu Apr 05, 2018 8:46 am

usually...
Waves: SSL, Ren, API (SSL and Renaissance EQ get used the most though)
sometimes...
UAD: Pultecs, Neve 31102, Maag EQ4 if I'm adding some color too
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Re: Equality, Equiibrium, what have you!! EQ plugs..

Post by vvv » Thu Apr 05, 2018 4:17 pm

I feel compelled to post for all the rest of us who don't know all y'all are talkin' about.

I have EQ on my HW channel strips (Meek VC1Q, Eureka) that I never use, preferring to changes mics and mic position.

I do use the EQ a VC3Q that I use for DI bass, set and basically left untouched.

I will use the built-in HPF's on pre-amps, but that's it on the HW.

ITB, I use pass filters on almost everything at mix-down. After that, I may add or cut a few dB with a narrow Q on kick, or a vocal, and that's it. And I do that with the most basic EQ on the channels in my DAW, seeking clarity on a given track, nothing more.

It's not a religious position, mine, and prob'ly as much outta laziness, but I find it more efficient to use compression, panning, gain-rides and FX than EQ. "Option anxiety" - that, too.
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Re: Equality, Equiibrium, what have you!! EQ plugs..

Post by drumsound » Mon Apr 16, 2018 10:58 pm

I feel like I have too many plugin EQs and that I don't have one I'm totally in love with. I may like the free TDR Slick EQ best. I use the Waves API in spurts. I'll dig them for a while and then I'll leave it alone. I really like the tone of the McDSP AE400 even if I'm not using the dynamic aspects. I recently bought the Sonimus StonEQ4000 and got the Overloud APIish guy when they were giving it away. I haven't had a lot of opportunity to use the last two. I really need to dive into them. For guitars especially, I like the Waves HLS Helios channel.

Reading this I feel like a total scatterbrain. I might just go back to only using the stock PT EQ (which isn't a bad EQ, BTW)

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Re: Equality, Equiibrium, what have you!! EQ plugs..

Post by Nick Sevilla » Tue Apr 17, 2018 6:41 am

To me, it all depends on what sort of "coloration" aka distortion I want the equalizer to do.

A few times I'll use the Avid EQ III, which is super clean, and follow it or precede it with a URS Saturation plug in.

Otherwise, I am a HUGE fan of the Neve 1081 and 1073 flavors of EQ. Each company makes a slightly different one, so I have several companies versions.

For a harder distortion EQ, I love the Scheps' 1073 from Waves. That can get nasty quick. Just change the input from line to mic, see what I mean.

For really good clean EQ, I prefer the Massenburg MDW EQ5. Truly a great plug in.
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Re: Equality, Equiibrium, what have you!! EQ plugs..

Post by KennyLusk » Tue Apr 17, 2018 5:25 pm

I recently went on a big search for a nice clean EQ that didn't have phase issues and didn't muddy up the original signal just by being plugged in. No, all EQ's are not the same.

The only plugin I purchased was the Waves Helios Kramer HLS Channel. I wan't looking for color but the Helios thing just sounded so nice I had to have it. Its a very interesting plug where the first thing you notice is what it does to the mids. It pushes the mids forward in such a smooth and flattering way that to me sounds really cool. You can also Trim the mids if you want. Boosting lows sounds really nice and cutting lows never sounds too drastic. You can cut or boost at a fixed 10K which is perfect for vocals (boosting) and perfect for acoustic instrument (rolling off). The Input and Output controls increase the beautiful "console" sound the Helios was known for and it was worth the purchase.

The cleanest EQ I found in my price range turned out to be Free. The 2S EQ by 2nd Sense Audio is perfect for when you don't want to interfere with the hard-earned detail and character of your source, nor do you want to hear any phase issues. There is something smooth or sweet about it, but its done in a flattering way. More than enough bands for my use and I love it on acoustic guitars and hand drums. Excellent control over Q. the 2S EQ is everything I was looking for and it ended up being Free. Crazy.

The only other EQ I kept also turns out to be Free, but very impressive. TDR VOS Slick EQ from Tokyo Dawn. It is a color module but does a good job at not muddying up the signal. 4 different flavors to engage: American, British, German and Soviet. The saturation feature is useful sometimes and there is also a feature that emulates different Output stages that is really useful. I've used it on a few acoustic guitar rhythm tracks and background vocals.
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Re: Equality, Equiibrium, what have you!! EQ plugs..

Post by permanent hearing damage » Wed Apr 18, 2018 1:35 pm

for clean, i really like the brainworx v3 eq. helps find problem frequencies easier and i don't find it coloring things.

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Re: Equality, Equiibrium, what have you!! EQ plugs..

Post by ashcat_lt » Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:26 pm

Magnetic Services wrote:
Tue Apr 03, 2018 6:16 pm
I pretty much exclusively use Reaper's stock 4-band EQ.
If by this you mean ReaEQ, that's all I ever use myself, but I do kind of object to your referring to it this way. ReaEQ can have as many bands as you want. I'm sure there's a limit, but I've never hit it. Each of those bands can be any of 8 different types and they're all fully parametric. Of course all of the parameters are automatable, but Reaper also has a built in envelope detector which can make any parameter in any plugin into a dynamic effect. So, basically, it's a swiss army knife that is easy to use and quite clean and transparent and extremely efficient in terms of CPU usage. To call it a "stock 4-band" is selling it way short.

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Re: Equality, Equiibrium, what have you!! EQ plugs..

Post by Magnetic Services » Fri Apr 20, 2018 9:00 am

ashcat_lt wrote:
Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:26 pm
If by this you mean ReaEQ, that's all I ever use myself, but I do kind of object to your referring to it this way. ReaEQ can have as many bands as you want. I'm sure there's a limit, but I've never hit it. Each of those bands can be any of 8 different types and they're all fully parametric. Of course all of the parameters are automatable, but Reaper also has a built in envelope detector which can make any parameter in any plugin into a dynamic effect. So, basically, it's a swiss army knife that is easy to use and quite clean and transparent and extremely efficient in terms of CPU usage. To call it a "stock 4-band" is selling it way short.
Holy shit my life just changed. Honestly did not know you could add bands! Four is usually enough, but I do sometimes find myself wishing for a fifth. I'm mostly a "set and forget" EQ-er, but I'll have to look into the envelope detector. That sounds nifty.

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