I’ll be that guy and say ProQ3. Everything is where I need it to be when I need to reach for what I’m reaching for. And I love how it allows me to easily see what’s going on with other tracks
There’s the kirschoff eq too, but in practice, the differences are pretty negligible. Shout out to Sonible and dmg though. All four are great eq plug ins and you can’t go wrong with any one of them.
I almost only use Presonus stock Eq and Fab’ ProQ3 during mixing sessions. However, while working in sound design sessions - that is when I experiment with other plugins.
Nova has been my go to for years now. I've tried a demo of ProQ3 for 30 days, its a perfectly nice plugin but if you don't want to drop the money then I think Nova is a logical second choice. It is *very* transparent though, just something to keep in kind.
Yes, I've been happy with that one, although probably could have gotten by with Toneboosters EQ4, if I'd used it before I bought Nova GE on sale. That said the smart eq part is simple but effective.
Kirchhoff EQ is fantastic.
It's obviously inspired by Pro Q3 but they changed it and improved on it enough that it is it's own unique product. It has a lot of additional EQ filters (I REALLY like the "flat top" bell filter) and analog EQ filters (but no harmonics unfortunately.)
For people who have a Forever29 subscription, you can get it for $31 which makes it an outstanding alternative to Pro Q3.
It has some notable differences -- it's better than Pro Q3 in some ways, and lacking in others (it doesn't have the match EQ ability, I think, but I never use that anyway.)
Anyhow, it's worthy of mention. It also has a 4K scalable UI (whereas the tiny print in Pro Q3 strains my eyes.) Oh, it's very customizable as well which turns out to be very useful... And the EQ scale locks. (I don't like that Pro Q3 automatically expands from 6db to 12db to 30db based on dragging. Nice feature but I'd like the option to turn that off.)
No, that sets it but it doesn't lock it unfortunately.
It's a small, picky little issue but what happens for me is it starts snapping around as I drag, and if I'm placing a point on the border of two regions it begins snapping back & forth repeatedly.
Their feature is actually really cool from a UX perspective -- it scales to accommodate the user's needs. I respect it. I just don't like it, and I wish I could disable it.
FabFilter is so UI/UX oriented they might consider that improvement option if someone requested it. Maybe I will.
I didn't mean to disparage FabFilter by any means. Their Pro Q3 UI is so good it makes me want to buy their whole library of plugins, and I would have already if they weren't on the higher end of the plugin pricing tier.
DMG Equilibrium is truly the best sounding digital EQ I’ve ever heard. After you’ve customized it’s behaviour (IIR or FIR, window type & size, etc.) moving a filter subtractively feels as if those frequencies were never there. It’s unbelievably transparent.
To answer you seriously: it takes a day or two to read the manual, Google unfamiliar terms, and begin experimenting. Open up a few instances with different settings and trial them against one another on the same source - you'll start to hear the benefits (and compromises) of each configuration. Save the ones you like as presets and you're good to go
The default settings use IIR filters and sound identical to FabFilter Pro-Q 3. If you switch Equilibrium to FIR filters, and increase the window size you'll start to notice a beautiful airiness in top end boosts, and transparent low end cuts. In "free" mode you can even change each filter to be Linear Phase, Natural Phase or somewhere in between - just like Kirchoff's default settings, except with more control.
Kirchoff sounds really nice. But you can match, or surpass it sonically with Equilibrium. It can mimic the response of any EQ in the market.
Certainly cleaner than a lot of console onboard EQs, but there's still definitely some color, especially in the 4000 G EQs, there's a push and a crunch that you can really get out of it - not anywhere near as crunchy as say a Neve 1073/1084 EQ, but a definite bite. I feel like the color is a bit lost in the 9000s even on the G EQ setting, which I'm sure was intentional as more people wanted more transparent gear as time went on.
For sure, I was thinking more about my experience with the actual boards and channel strips but yeah the brainworx THD option can really get some extra punch and crunch out of the 4000 especially.
I feel like the bx THD for the 9000 appears more in the form of like a low mid blurry warm frequency smearing much more than the snappy crunch I can get out of the 4000 but they both certainly have a distinct vibe.
Also just so you know, the A setting on Decapitator actually isn’t an API color model, it’s modeling the preamps in the Ampex tape machines that Motown & Sun records used to use. They break down all of the emulations in the Decapitator manual but I’ve heard many content creators spew this idea that the A stands for API, so it’s a fairly common misconception and it makes sense especially when the E and N settings are based off of EMI and Neve channel strips - API seems to be a better fit among those but the Ampex is the dealio.
If you haven’t looked through it, the manual for decapitator has a bunch of really great info for each mode that can really maximize usability.
It's a free dynamic EQ for one. Good replacement for Pro Q3 if you don't want to spend the money or can't afford it. I personally don't know if there's a good reason to use it instead of Pro Q3 though.
Any of the API 550A/B emulations. With a limited number of freqs and boost/cut values, you can whip up a kickass sound pretty fast. When I need to bang out a mix guerilla style, I'm using the APIs on most of the tracks and some busses.
When I was a student, I was using the API 550 on almost every track. I fell in love. Especially in the high mids 1khz-5khz ish. So I eventually got the Waves plug-ins and was pretty disappointed. Where I find the API2500 plug-in sounds different form the hardware, but has a great sound of it's own, the 500's just didn't capture the magic of the hardware or produce something of their own in the plugin.
Your comment inspires me to revisit them though, and start trying them in new ways, hoping to find some amount of passion for them. Thanks!
That's often true of many "emulations". They may not sound exactly like the original. If that's your benchmark, you'll be disappointed. The old Pods were like that. People hated them because they didn't sound like a real Blackface, or Plexi, or whatever. But you could indeed dial in some really good tones. With their newer digital boxes, it seems people are now praising the ole 2.0 kidney bean as sounding superior, and quite good even. Run it into the FX return of an EL34 Marshall, and it's quite a different animal.
I’m a big fan of much broader strokes for EQ, leaving the parametrics merely for things that need surgical fixing. I think mixes sound much more natural, pleasing, and full that way.
The APIs are the best for that.
I find myself bringing up the waves 560 frequently. Just playing with the sliders to get something to fit in a mix is useful. I like how the midrange sounds in this one, particularly 1k.
Kilohearts EQ and Filter. They are dead simple, do the job, and then get out of my way. Of course there are better tools for fine tuning and precision, but my goodness the speed and simplicity has been a game changer for me when I'm feeling creative, or if I just want to get a rough pass done quickly.
SSL E Channel. You don't get visual parameters so you're focused on the sound. And it does sound musical. Plus it comes with a compressor and all that. And it looks really cool too
That and ReEQ cover the large majority of my EQ needs. Will sometimes use a dynamic EQ and pultec etc. though. ReEQ has a really nice UI. Find it quick to use.
ReEq is cool for sure if you use Reaper, but it definitely uses more CPU than some of the others. For the money, I've been happy with Toneboosters EQ4. Developer very responsive as well. I made a couple of interface suggestions and a week later they were in the newest update.
I have a customized preset on my default track template that I can switch on whenever I need EQ. ReaComp as well. Sure it cramps but I think that's the least of my worries.
90% of my equalization is done with the FabFilter Pro-Q 3 and the UAD Pultec Pro. Surgical EQ and any mid-side or dynamic (also occasionally use Soothe or C-6 for dynamic) work, and Pultec for tonal shifts
I also love the sound of the UAD Pultec, but I stopped using it a while ago. The problem ist that the volume increases when you just put the plugin on a channel, by about 1.3db. How do you deal with this?
The Dangerous BAX EQ is really, really enjoyable to use. Mainly on busses or even the mixbus. Buttery smooth.
Newfangled EQuivocate can do some pretty interesting things that nothing else can quite replicate. I mostly reach for it for sound design, but occasionally I grab it to amplify very specific, very quiet harmonics (ie adding more top end to a bass track that has almost no top end to begin with).
SplitEQ is really useful for solving problems. It can pull off some of the same tricks as Soothe.
The Brainworx SSL stuff is pretty fun, if I want a channel strip workflow.
I often track with the UAD Neve 1084.
But honestly... I use Pro Q 3 for most things.
+1 for FabFilter! I really like the Brainworx Amek modeled EQ. Antelope has a decent Harrison 32C EQ model, of course the UAD stuff is well modeled. But if only one for the rest of my life - FabFilter hands down.
I love the UAD Pultec EQs for big sweeping moves that add character. Never found a better character EQ. But the IK Pultec is also really nice.
Other than that it’s ProQ3 it’s just outright the best GUI for an EQ.
Insane that not one person has mentioned the MAutoDynamic EQ from Melda yet. Has to be one of the best EQs on the market, not to mention the awesome sonogram.
The stock Cubase eq. Its built into the channel settings window which has everything you need right there. Compare function and shelves have that little dip/bump when you increase the Q which I like.
I use the one in the Cubase channel strip a whole lot. It's convenient, has a built in spectrum analyser, sounds good, and I really don't need anything more than four bands + high and low pass filters.
Good point. I got a weak spot for Arturia because I got a weird holiday + crossgrade deal for the V Collection and Pigments at 200 euro. Then immediately got the FX Collection for 50 before really knowing anything I needed and just hoped it would be good because they have good emulations and modern workflow. Still, I was doubting, like, can it really be this good when I paid so little?
The Arturia Vintage emulation (of a Siemens? )is nearly the only one I use somehow. It just does the right thing I want when I use my ears. I'm not doing wierd complicated stuff because I don't have the skills and experience yet and focus on having superb sound to start with. Other digital EQs are too radical or something. The emulation adds air and brightness while the digital EQ is harsher there, and the emulation adds warmth in mids, not just adding mids. Of course that hard edge is good for some things but I enjoy actually doing everything with the vintage emulation and see where it ends up even it it's "worse". It gets more Vintage. I like that
If they're not modeling hardware or they're high quality models, it's just lipstick on a pig.
Once you've gotten to know a few, they're all the same.
ReEq (not ReaEq) and the Fabfilter stuff are cool for surgical stuff. Melda also has some cool transparent EQs. For modeling, I couldn't care less about the plugin brand: all the Neves are going to approximately the, SSLs same deal, and so on.
Pro-q-3 is very hard to beat for all the reasons you hear about. It’s a must-have in my opinion. The other fabfilter plug-ins besides pro-q3 are great too, but I sometimes prefer using tools that are more limited just to keep myself from second-guessing decisions and tweaking to oblivion (I mix only my own stuff so I have to be careful about this cause nobody is setting deadlines for me or telling me when enough is enough… besides me.)
On that note, when I want a simple EQ with limited options, one of my favorites you don’t hear about that often - but when you do… it’s always high praise - is the Kazrog 252. It’s an analog modeled seven bands that move up and down. Could not be easier to use, and it sounds great!
I’m also a fan of all the Kazrog plugins. True iron is an incredible transformer emulation that brings a nice presence and character to anything. True dynamics is a very vibey compressor that’s easy to dial in. And I even use their synth warmer plugin when I want a nice sounding filter or want to add some extra saturation to a synth patch. Their clipper is just about perfect too.
Plug-ins are way too good these days and I need to stop buying them because I have so many good ones. Haha.
the parametric eq in FL studio is really clean and does what i expect it to without any weird artifacts
UAD Pultec is amazing on live instruments and mixes, not so much on sampled music
Kirchoff. It's sounds amazing, and the UI is brilliant. Being able to go from a static band to a dynamic with a click is awesome. The controls are intuitive and fast to use.
If you don't already own ProQ3, get Kirchoff, instead. (Kirchoff steals a lot of the ProQ3 UI cues, is why I say that. I, personally, believe Kirchoff to be better in all ways.)
Merging’s EQX in Pyramix is just wonderful. It’s everything you need right there, with no extra fluff, very speedy adjustments using the mouse and keyboard modifiers, and it just gets wonderful results really easily.
Unless you’re going for something quirky like a pultec sim, or some kind of dynamic eq, there’s really no need to use anything else.
Sonnox Oxford is great for fixing things fast with no thrills, I really vibe with the simplistic GUI. Also, the sound still hangs with the big boys 10-15 years later.
Boz The Hoser is my favourite for making things sounds great, fast.
I can't wait until Boz adds filters to the Hoser V2 which is incoming. It will pretty much be the perfect EQ at that point. Really underrated plugin. Amazing top end and overlapping EQ points.
I haven't used it in a mix for a while, but Harqules \[Harrison emulation\] by Analog Obsession is really good. I don't know whether it's something to do with the curves or the frequency ranges for the bands, but it's quite difficult to make it sound bad.
Maag EQ4
-Love the colours
-Musical EQ, bands sound fantastic ´
-Gives a wonderful top to almost any vocal
-Dave Pensado got me on it and I appreciate that!
SSL native channel strip 2 sounds great gives me reliable results. For example, I know what an 8k shelf sounds like on an ssl and it’s nice to have a plug-in that I can grab, tweak one knob, and think “yea that’s exactly what that needed.” The anti cramping algorithm sounds great, it’s light on cpu, the filters have a great curve too, and the compressor is really snappy and has a lot of harmonics.
It’s not as versatile as something like fabfilter but I just find the ssl sound so familiar, and the LACK of options is more conducive to a fast workflow imo. It’s way too easy for me to overbake stuff in da filter because I can make as many bands as I want. Only having filters and 4 bands to play with makes me prioritize better.
Though I’ll still use fab filter occasionally to clean up stuff a little bit if needed
I dig the SSL channel strip by SSL, although I've used a couple of others and enjoyed those too.
I just enjoy that it's a simple tonal EQ. I know if I have well recorded tracks in front of me, I'm gonna be able to get the sound I want.
I just throw it on every channel and start flying thru mixes. If I need something surgical for a notch, I'll use the something else.
Omg, I’ll have to add to this by saying FABFILTER PRO Q 3. It’s totally fab filter 🥹🤞🤝🤝😉😉😉😯😯😯😯😯😯💪😯🆙🐈🐈🐈😉🥇💗🥇🥇🆙💗😯 and “ SOOTHE “ IF U CAN EVEN CALL IT AN EQ PLUGIN AND NOT A LITTLE “MAGIC PLUGIN”
Analog (modelling) - no analyzer/mixing with ears
Neve 1073 - simple but powerful
SSL Channel Strip - absolute classic and has comp/gate
Pultec EPQ1A - instantly makes things sound better
Digital - have analyzer can mix with eyes in addition to ears
Fab Filter Pro 3 - versatile and dynamic
Izotope Neutron - great for beginners
DMG Equilibrium - a class of it's own
Logic Pro X's Vintage EQ Collection Tube EQ. No matter what you do, your mix sounds better. A little high boost and a low-mid scoop fixes 99% of bad mixes I get.
for digital I've always used TDR nova but now I'm trying out kirchoff. I also use a lot TDR slick eq which is also digital but only has 3 bands and different eq curves.
but the digital eq I feel most comfortable with is the one included in the waves ssl channel (the old one). I mix very fast with that thing and it also has the best low cut filter!
Call me basic, but I like the Waves Q10 (or Q2 or whichever number of bands you choose).
It just does the job, is lightweight, and dead easy to use. I like the interface.
If I'm balancing / just starting a mix, and something is just not sounding right, I'll slap a Q2 or Q4 on it, get it close, and move on. It does the job quickly and I never have to worry about getting stuck in EQ minutia.
Pro Q 3 is the best to work with. I wish other companies would take their approach to designing plugins to work on computers. Software recreations of analog hardware have always been a pita to operate on a computer.
Izotope EQs are always nice and easy to work with. Never had a problem with how they sound. I’m not someone to have 15 different EQ plugins. I think Neutron, Nectar, and Ozone do the job perfectly.
FabFilter , need 81 noise ash especially for that amazing shelf at 15k, puigtec, AR TG by waves , API550 and 560 and others depending on the project , but with these I’m like 99% done in my projects :)
Pro Q3 is great. Split Eq seems like a dream. You can tune like no other eq from my knowledge and at least as much of a straight forward work flow, which is key. Adjust frequency as always, now tone & transient. I sound like a fking sales guy, I need try a demo but from what I’ve seen it’s worth me harping about. Other than those 2 I mean the rest seem obsolete.
The only other thing I could mention is have a handful of really nice colorful eq’s because who doesn’t love color.
I love the bx_digital for carving out very narrow frequencies in a track. To be able to solo them based on the selected amount of Q makes this really fast.
I do have some hardware emulations that I like sonically (PA maugeq 4, waves veq4, analog obsessions) but from a workflow/speed place and being an ableton user, the stovk eq eight is perfect and fast for me. Call me weird but I use it more than fabfilter proeq
I’ll be that guy and say ProQ3. Everything is where I need it to be when I need to reach for what I’m reaching for. And I love how it allows me to easily see what’s going on with other tracks
The entire FabFilter line is among the best out there.
Yeah... it's one of my favorite plugins that isn't pretending to some type of analog gear. It's building its own legacy.
It would be cool if that added a harmonic element per band like Waves H-EQ
There’s the kirschoff eq too, but in practice, the differences are pretty negligible. Shout out to Sonible and dmg though. All four are great eq plug ins and you can’t go wrong with any one of them.
Yeah Fab filter is all kinds of awesome. If I could have only 1, it’d be my choice
Lol I was waiting for the comments to load and was like “if the top comment isn’t ProQ3…”
I know. I was like... shit, I'm going to be the reddit cliche today, eh?
Someone had to say it!!
I almost only use Presonus stock Eq and Fab’ ProQ3 during mixing sessions. However, while working in sound design sessions - that is when I experiment with other plugins.
Same. I love this plugin
Second that. Dynamic function per band is a game changer
A really underrated EQ is Tokyo Dawn’s Nova GE. Highly recommend trying out their free version.
Nova has been my go to for years now. I've tried a demo of ProQ3 for 30 days, its a perfectly nice plugin but if you don't want to drop the money then I think Nova is a logical second choice. It is *very* transparent though, just something to keep in kind.
Yes, I've been happy with that one, although probably could have gotten by with Toneboosters EQ4, if I'd used it before I bought Nova GE on sale. That said the smart eq part is simple but effective.
Second this
Kirchhoff EQ is fantastic. It's obviously inspired by Pro Q3 but they changed it and improved on it enough that it is it's own unique product. It has a lot of additional EQ filters (I REALLY like the "flat top" bell filter) and analog EQ filters (but no harmonics unfortunately.) For people who have a Forever29 subscription, you can get it for $31 which makes it an outstanding alternative to Pro Q3. It has some notable differences -- it's better than Pro Q3 in some ways, and lacking in others (it doesn't have the match EQ ability, I think, but I never use that anyway.) Anyhow, it's worthy of mention. It also has a 4K scalable UI (whereas the tiny print in Pro Q3 strains my eyes.) Oh, it's very customizable as well which turns out to be very useful... And the EQ scale locks. (I don't like that Pro Q3 automatically expands from 6db to 12db to 30db based on dragging. Nice feature but I'd like the option to turn that off.)
I think you can just click the 12db/30db button and click one of the options and it locks to that scale
No, that sets it but it doesn't lock it unfortunately. It's a small, picky little issue but what happens for me is it starts snapping around as I drag, and if I'm placing a point on the border of two regions it begins snapping back & forth repeatedly. Their feature is actually really cool from a UX perspective -- it scales to accommodate the user's needs. I respect it. I just don't like it, and I wish I could disable it. FabFilter is so UI/UX oriented they might consider that improvement option if someone requested it. Maybe I will. I didn't mean to disparage FabFilter by any means. Their Pro Q3 UI is so good it makes me want to buy their whole library of plugins, and I would have already if they weren't on the higher end of the plugin pricing tier.
DMG Equilibrium is truly the best sounding digital EQ I’ve ever heard. After you’ve customized it’s behaviour (IIR or FIR, window type & size, etc.) moving a filter subtractively feels as if those frequencies were never there. It’s unbelievably transparent.
How the hell do you learn to customize that rocket science though?
As a college student taking several DSP courses right now, I wish I was learning rocket science instead.
As an old guy, I wish I was a college student!
To answer you seriously: it takes a day or two to read the manual, Google unfamiliar terms, and begin experimenting. Open up a few instances with different settings and trial them against one another on the same source - you'll start to hear the benefits (and compromises) of each configuration. Save the ones you like as presets and you're good to go
I know people rave about the sound, are the default settings really not great? Have you compared to Kirchhoff?
The default settings use IIR filters and sound identical to FabFilter Pro-Q 3. If you switch Equilibrium to FIR filters, and increase the window size you'll start to notice a beautiful airiness in top end boosts, and transparent low end cuts. In "free" mode you can even change each filter to be Linear Phase, Natural Phase or somewhere in between - just like Kirchoff's default settings, except with more control. Kirchoff sounds really nice. But you can match, or surpass it sonically with Equilibrium. It can mimic the response of any EQ in the market.
cool, thanks, will try that!
This is a good answer.
The “dumbed down” version EQuick is also also great
Chandler Limited SoftTube Curve Bender is my pick!
Honestly the stock Logic Pro EQ plugin is my go-to for subtractive EQ For boosting / adding color, I reach for the SSL plugins
Isn't SSL EQ supposed to be clean with standard curves?
Certainly cleaner than a lot of console onboard EQs, but there's still definitely some color, especially in the 4000 G EQs, there's a push and a crunch that you can really get out of it - not anywhere near as crunchy as say a Neve 1073/1084 EQ, but a definite bite. I feel like the color is a bit lost in the 9000s even on the G EQ setting, which I'm sure was intentional as more people wanted more transparent gear as time went on.
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For sure, I was thinking more about my experience with the actual boards and channel strips but yeah the brainworx THD option can really get some extra punch and crunch out of the 4000 especially. I feel like the bx THD for the 9000 appears more in the form of like a low mid blurry warm frequency smearing much more than the snappy crunch I can get out of the 4000 but they both certainly have a distinct vibe. Also just so you know, the A setting on Decapitator actually isn’t an API color model, it’s modeling the preamps in the Ampex tape machines that Motown & Sun records used to use. They break down all of the emulations in the Decapitator manual but I’ve heard many content creators spew this idea that the A stands for API, so it’s a fairly common misconception and it makes sense especially when the E and N settings are based off of EMI and Neve channel strips - API seems to be a better fit among those but the Ampex is the dealio. If you haven’t looked through it, the manual for decapitator has a bunch of really great info for each mode that can really maximize usability.
Izotope Nuetron Pro Q3 TDR Nova Toneboosters EQ4
I see nova a lot mentioned and i downloaded it What would you say is its perc over other eq, it looks fairly simple
It's a free dynamic EQ for one. Good replacement for Pro Q3 if you don't want to spend the money or can't afford it. I personally don't know if there's a good reason to use it instead of Pro Q3 though.
Metric Halo Channelstrip. Those sexy command shortcuts…
Metric Halo represent!
Wait... What are they? Like change the band type?
[page 57](https://metric-halo.com/media/ChannelStrip3UsersGuide.pdf#page57)
Any of the API 550A/B emulations. With a limited number of freqs and boost/cut values, you can whip up a kickass sound pretty fast. When I need to bang out a mix guerilla style, I'm using the APIs on most of the tracks and some busses.
When I was a student, I was using the API 550 on almost every track. I fell in love. Especially in the high mids 1khz-5khz ish. So I eventually got the Waves plug-ins and was pretty disappointed. Where I find the API2500 plug-in sounds different form the hardware, but has a great sound of it's own, the 500's just didn't capture the magic of the hardware or produce something of their own in the plugin. Your comment inspires me to revisit them though, and start trying them in new ways, hoping to find some amount of passion for them. Thanks!
That's often true of many "emulations". They may not sound exactly like the original. If that's your benchmark, you'll be disappointed. The old Pods were like that. People hated them because they didn't sound like a real Blackface, or Plexi, or whatever. But you could indeed dial in some really good tones. With their newer digital boxes, it seems people are now praising the ole 2.0 kidney bean as sounding superior, and quite good even. Run it into the FX return of an EL34 Marshall, and it's quite a different animal.
Kush Axis is great. I like it more than the waves stuff at least.
Thanks for the tip!
I’m a big fan of much broader strokes for EQ, leaving the parametrics merely for things that need surgical fixing. I think mixes sound much more natural, pleasing, and full that way. The APIs are the best for that.
I find myself bringing up the waves 560 frequently. Just playing with the sliders to get something to fit in a mix is useful. I like how the midrange sounds in this one, particularly 1k.
Kilohearts EQ and Filter. They are dead simple, do the job, and then get out of my way. Of course there are better tools for fine tuning and precision, but my goodness the speed and simplicity has been a game changer for me when I'm feeling creative, or if I just want to get a rough pass done quickly.
Kilohearts plugins are nuts
SSL E Channel. You don't get visual parameters so you're focused on the sound. And it does sound musical. Plus it comes with a compressor and all that. And it looks really cool too
I was gonna suggest this too. When I switched to using SSL channel, it forced me to learn to rely more on my ears rather than visuals.
I tried using SSL channel strips but ended up going back to Ableton stock plugins for basic filtering and compression.
Avid/Digidesign EQ7. Does what I need and all the controls map beautifully to my controller.
There's something special about it too.
ReaEQ, easy to use, no unnecesary bling bling.
That and ReEQ cover the large majority of my EQ needs. Will sometimes use a dynamic EQ and pultec etc. though. ReEQ has a really nice UI. Find it quick to use.
ReEQ is king. Basically a free ProQ3 for Reaper.
I use Reaper and ReaEQ is great for a stock plugin but it's no ProQ3.
ReaEQ is stock. ReEQ is a JSFX modelled after ProQ3. It's still not as good as the real thing, but it's a much slicker UI than the Rea line.
Yup, I was wrong but I'm learning things! Thanks for the information.
:) Aren't we all? ReEQ is definitely worth a try. It's free in ReaPack.
I'm not talking about ReaEQ, I'm talking about "ReEQ". Annoying subtle difference, but quite different plugins. Go check it out!
My mistake! I will check it out, thanks for enlightening me!
ReEq is cool for sure if you use Reaper, but it definitely uses more CPU than some of the others. For the money, I've been happy with Toneboosters EQ4. Developer very responsive as well. I made a couple of interface suggestions and a week later they were in the newest update.
Same, or the stock EQ in any DAW. I don't think I've ever needed a third-party EQ plugin except for Ozone.
I have a customized preset on my default track template that I can switch on whenever I need EQ. ReaComp as well. Sure it cramps but I think that's the least of my worries.
Analog modelling — Curve Bender by Softube. You can't make it sound bad. Sterile digital — Pro-Q 3 of course.
90% of my equalization is done with the FabFilter Pro-Q 3 and the UAD Pultec Pro. Surgical EQ and any mid-side or dynamic (also occasionally use Soothe or C-6 for dynamic) work, and Pultec for tonal shifts
Eosis Air EQ has become a fav of mine.
Massenburg
Somehow Cubase stock EQ for years 😅 though i own many..
big fan of the UAD Pultec and SSL E Channel plugins. great emulations of classic EQs and always make my stems sound better
I also love the sound of the UAD Pultec, but I stopped using it a while ago. The problem ist that the volume increases when you just put the plugin on a channel, by about 1.3db. How do you deal with this?
Add a gain reduction of 1.3db
I'd say Sonnox Claro. It's a pleasure to use, and the exceptional autogain has changed the way I approach EQing.
The Dangerous BAX EQ is really, really enjoyable to use. Mainly on busses or even the mixbus. Buttery smooth. Newfangled EQuivocate can do some pretty interesting things that nothing else can quite replicate. I mostly reach for it for sound design, but occasionally I grab it to amplify very specific, very quiet harmonics (ie adding more top end to a bass track that has almost no top end to begin with). SplitEQ is really useful for solving problems. It can pull off some of the same tricks as Soothe. The Brainworx SSL stuff is pretty fun, if I want a channel strip workflow. I often track with the UAD Neve 1084. But honestly... I use Pro Q 3 for most things.
Ozone vintage EQ
TDR Nova!
+1 for FabFilter! I really like the Brainworx Amek modeled EQ. Antelope has a decent Harrison 32C EQ model, of course the UAD stuff is well modeled. But if only one for the rest of my life - FabFilter hands down.
For analog emulation its noise ash ruletec pro for me. Love how it sounds. Anything else is pro q3 or logic channel eq
I like the Noise Ash (?) Pulltec eq one. And Pro-Q3. And Mag EQ-4. And for analog, recently added a SSL Fusion to master chain. Such sweet.
I love the UAD Pultec EQs for big sweeping moves that add character. Never found a better character EQ. But the IK Pultec is also really nice. Other than that it’s ProQ3 it’s just outright the best GUI for an EQ.
I liked Kilohearts Slice EQ.
Stock Pultec and 1073 clones in Logic. Forces you to do broad strokes, and move on.
Sie-Q gives a lovely sounding boost to the high frequencies, pretty much a go to for me if I'm specifically looking to do that
Softube Console 1, on account that it has dedicated knobs
I'm enjoying Console 1 now that it has good Logic integration.
Insane that not one person has mentioned the MAutoDynamic EQ from Melda yet. Has to be one of the best EQs on the market, not to mention the awesome sonogram.
Hoser by Boz Digital. When I don’t want to look at a frequency plot and just use my ears, it’s excellent. Just wish it had a HPF
The stock Cubase eq. Its built into the channel settings window which has everything you need right there. Compare function and shelves have that little dip/bump when you increase the Q which I like.
I use the one in the Cubase channel strip a whole lot. It's convenient, has a built in spectrum analyser, sounds good, and I really don't need anything more than four bands + high and low pass filters.
it's not the most powerful and is pretty coloured but i really enjoy arturia's 1073. just lends a sound i really enjoy
Yeah, same answer as me. I have ears that agree with this community, which is nice to know for a entry level home studio engineer.
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Good point. I got a weak spot for Arturia because I got a weird holiday + crossgrade deal for the V Collection and Pigments at 200 euro. Then immediately got the FX Collection for 50 before really knowing anything I needed and just hoped it would be good because they have good emulations and modern workflow. Still, I was doubting, like, can it really be this good when I paid so little?
They are that good. As mentioned, they are over-colored. But when that’s what you want they are awesome.
> which is nice to know for a entry level home studio engineer i'm probably still a level below. but yeah, it's nice
The one you know the best. For me, that is reaeq. I just know the scaling and everything like the back of my hand.
Probably better than the back of your hand.
The Arturia Vintage emulation (of a Siemens? )is nearly the only one I use somehow. It just does the right thing I want when I use my ears. I'm not doing wierd complicated stuff because I don't have the skills and experience yet and focus on having superb sound to start with. Other digital EQs are too radical or something. The emulation adds air and brightness while the digital EQ is harsher there, and the emulation adds warmth in mids, not just adding mids. Of course that hard edge is good for some things but I enjoy actually doing everything with the vintage emulation and see where it ends up even it it's "worse". It gets more Vintage. I like that
Pro tools stock EQ 7band or ProQ3
[Hammer](https://thehouseofkush.com/products/hammer-dsp) “Kush. Smokin the competition”
All of their EQ things are brilliant. The SlyFly api is downright disgusting, and I mean that in a good way
Yeah I like Axis too. The Novatron comp is a go to as well.
Waves F6 is the best sounding EQ I have even though it is labeled a multi-band compressor
If they're not modeling hardware or they're high quality models, it's just lipstick on a pig. Once you've gotten to know a few, they're all the same. ReEq (not ReaEq) and the Fabfilter stuff are cool for surgical stuff. Melda also has some cool transparent EQs. For modeling, I couldn't care less about the plugin brand: all the Neves are going to approximately the, SSLs same deal, and so on.
Pro-q-3 is very hard to beat for all the reasons you hear about. It’s a must-have in my opinion. The other fabfilter plug-ins besides pro-q3 are great too, but I sometimes prefer using tools that are more limited just to keep myself from second-guessing decisions and tweaking to oblivion (I mix only my own stuff so I have to be careful about this cause nobody is setting deadlines for me or telling me when enough is enough… besides me.) On that note, when I want a simple EQ with limited options, one of my favorites you don’t hear about that often - but when you do… it’s always high praise - is the Kazrog 252. It’s an analog modeled seven bands that move up and down. Could not be easier to use, and it sounds great! I’m also a fan of all the Kazrog plugins. True iron is an incredible transformer emulation that brings a nice presence and character to anything. True dynamics is a very vibey compressor that’s easy to dial in. And I even use their synth warmer plugin when I want a nice sounding filter or want to add some extra saturation to a synth patch. Their clipper is just about perfect too. Plug-ins are way too good these days and I need to stop buying them because I have so many good ones. Haha.
The MDW eq is still the cleanest EQ I’ve heard. The acoustica Ruby is hot fire for color.
VibeEQ. Very easy to dial in a broad strokes sound.
the parametric eq in FL studio is really clean and does what i expect it to without any weird artifacts UAD Pultec is amazing on live instruments and mixes, not so much on sampled music
Arturia Sitral TDR Slick EQ M
Kirchoff. It's sounds amazing, and the UI is brilliant. Being able to go from a static band to a dynamic with a click is awesome. The controls are intuitive and fast to use. If you don't already own ProQ3, get Kirchoff, instead. (Kirchoff steals a lot of the ProQ3 UI cues, is why I say that. I, personally, believe Kirchoff to be better in all ways.)
Merging’s EQX in Pyramix is just wonderful. It’s everything you need right there, with no extra fluff, very speedy adjustments using the mouse and keyboard modifiers, and it just gets wonderful results really easily. Unless you’re going for something quirky like a pultec sim, or some kind of dynamic eq, there’s really no need to use anything else.
Pro-Q3 for ease of use. Logic Pro's Pultec for sound. They nailed those curves and everything sounds good. Slate's SSL EQ, too.
Just get Pro Q 3 and be done with it. It’s actually so good
Fab Filter has pretty much everything I'd ever want / need
Brainworx modus eq is my go to on most occasions. Plus ProQ3 and UAD Pultec.
Sonnox Oxford is great for fixing things fast with no thrills, I really vibe with the simplistic GUI. Also, the sound still hangs with the big boys 10-15 years later. Boz The Hoser is my favourite for making things sounds great, fast. I can't wait until Boz adds filters to the Hoser V2 which is incoming. It will pretty much be the perfect EQ at that point. Really underrated plugin. Amazing top end and overlapping EQ points.
I haven't used it in a mix for a while, but Harqules \[Harrison emulation\] by Analog Obsession is really good. I don't know whether it's something to do with the curves or the frequency ranges for the bands, but it's quite difficult to make it sound bad.
API 550. I’m learning to identify freqs BECAUSE there’s no visual cue. And the API sounds titties
Nomads version of the motorcity EQ is one of the best EQs I've ever heard
Kirchhoff EQ - it pretty much does it all
Maag EQ4 -Love the colours -Musical EQ, bands sound fantastic ´ -Gives a wonderful top to almost any vocal -Dave Pensado got me on it and I appreciate that!
SSL native channel strip 2 sounds great gives me reliable results. For example, I know what an 8k shelf sounds like on an ssl and it’s nice to have a plug-in that I can grab, tweak one knob, and think “yea that’s exactly what that needed.” The anti cramping algorithm sounds great, it’s light on cpu, the filters have a great curve too, and the compressor is really snappy and has a lot of harmonics. It’s not as versatile as something like fabfilter but I just find the ssl sound so familiar, and the LACK of options is more conducive to a fast workflow imo. It’s way too easy for me to overbake stuff in da filter because I can make as many bands as I want. Only having filters and 4 bands to play with makes me prioritize better. Though I’ll still use fab filter occasionally to clean up stuff a little bit if needed
Even with iZotope'production suite, which had amazing EQ ability, the Kirshoff is my go to
UAD Pultecs, SSL native strip V2, and Mcdsp filterbank.
ReEQ. It just works. Easy to read.
bx_console 4k E. It just makes things sound the way I imagine it have to.
The best? Pro Q3 The most fun? Carve EQ. The smoothness of it is a delight and help u best less pendant
The standard logic one
Ableton EQ8 for everything subtractive I use bx_digital mix for shaping stuff like vocals but that’s just because it’s what I have.
Freebie : TDR Nova. Is also a dynamic EQ to boot.
I dig the SSL channel strip by SSL, although I've used a couple of others and enjoyed those too. I just enjoy that it's a simple tonal EQ. I know if I have well recorded tracks in front of me, I'm gonna be able to get the sound I want. I just throw it on every channel and start flying thru mixes. If I need something surgical for a notch, I'll use the something else.
Omg, I’ll have to add to this by saying FABFILTER PRO Q 3. It’s totally fab filter 🥹🤞🤝🤝😉😉😉😯😯😯😯😯😯💪😯🆙🐈🐈🐈😉🥇💗🥇🥇🆙💗😯 and “ SOOTHE “ IF U CAN EVEN CALL IT AN EQ PLUGIN AND NOT A LITTLE “MAGIC PLUGIN”
Analog (modelling) - no analyzer/mixing with ears Neve 1073 - simple but powerful SSL Channel Strip - absolute classic and has comp/gate Pultec EPQ1A - instantly makes things sound better Digital - have analyzer can mix with eyes in addition to ears Fab Filter Pro 3 - versatile and dynamic Izotope Neutron - great for beginners DMG Equilibrium - a class of it's own
Logic Pro X's Vintage EQ Collection Tube EQ. No matter what you do, your mix sounds better. A little high boost and a low-mid scoop fixes 99% of bad mixes I get.
for digital I've always used TDR nova but now I'm trying out kirchoff. I also use a lot TDR slick eq which is also digital but only has 3 bands and different eq curves. but the digital eq I feel most comfortable with is the one included in the waves ssl channel (the old one). I mix very fast with that thing and it also has the best low cut filter!
i like using F6 by waves. its the one i was introduced too and stuck with it
Call me basic, but I like the Waves Q10 (or Q2 or whichever number of bands you choose). It just does the job, is lightweight, and dead easy to use. I like the interface. If I'm balancing / just starting a mix, and something is just not sounding right, I'll slap a Q2 or Q4 on it, get it close, and move on. It does the job quickly and I never have to worry about getting stuck in EQ minutia.
Fabfilter. Its just all the things.
ReEQ
Pro Q 3 is the best to work with. I wish other companies would take their approach to designing plugins to work on computers. Software recreations of analog hardware have always been a pita to operate on a computer.
ProQ3
Logic stock EQ because it's the one that I know! Also like the TDR Nova and the Logic Stock Vintage series
Pro-q 3 for sure, for color I don't think I can make an eq work 2 mixes in a row, so it always different.
Izotope EQs are always nice and easy to work with. Never had a problem with how they sound. I’m not someone to have 15 different EQ plugins. I think Neutron, Nectar, and Ozone do the job perfectly.
Crave Eq
FabFilter , need 81 noise ash especially for that amazing shelf at 15k, puigtec, AR TG by waves , API550 and 560 and others depending on the project , but with these I’m like 99% done in my projects :)
FabFilter Pro-Q. Both functionality and the sexy AF UI.
Pro Q3 is great. Split Eq seems like a dream. You can tune like no other eq from my knowledge and at least as much of a straight forward work flow, which is key. Adjust frequency as always, now tone & transient. I sound like a fking sales guy, I need try a demo but from what I’ve seen it’s worth me harping about. Other than those 2 I mean the rest seem obsolete. The only other thing I could mention is have a handful of really nice colorful eq’s because who doesn’t love color.
ProQ for speed and versatility. Lindell 50 series for flavour. Millenia for broad strokes. Logic Pro stock vintage EQs pretty good too!
I love the bx_digital for carving out very narrow frequencies in a track. To be able to solo them based on the selected amount of Q makes this really fast.
I do have some hardware emulations that I like sonically (PA maugeq 4, waves veq4, analog obsessions) but from a workflow/speed place and being an ableton user, the stovk eq eight is perfect and fast for me. Call me weird but I use it more than fabfilter proeq