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[bryn]

Just wondering if anyone could offer any thoughts on this:

The EQ I use is the one that comes with my sequencer, but I read somewhere that, being such an apparent object of delicacy, it's a good idea to buy a dedicated EQ plugin. I can't see anything wrong with the one I use, but am I possibly dis-advantaging myself with inferior EQ and neglecting the wider picture? ? ? ?

Thanks

[Keilan 303]

Think out of the box. The EQ you find on a behringer mixer is obviously going to be inferior to the EQ found on an amek, neve, ssl (or whatever) console. I never got why the likes of Pro Tools and Soundscape etc didn't already have EQ on the channel strips like I am used to with Cubase until I started using third party EQ's, and now I just completely ignore the cubase EQ. Theres the ergonomics, obviously a 30 band graphic equaliser is going to be far more "tweakable" than your standard hi mid and low, and theres also the "characteristics" of different equalisers, famous examples being Pultec and Neve which have distinguishable sounds/tonal qualities/shaping...blah blah I'm sure someone more in the know can explain (MTA, Byre etc!)

Most pro studios will have racks of outboard mic pre's, dynamics and EQ's, while already having these on every channel strip on their console...its all finding the right signal chain to get the possible sound out of whatever is being recorded.

I mostly use Renaissance EQ which came with WAVES bundle....it's not cheap. I'd love a UAD powercore card so I can use some of the Pultec EQ / Neve emulation stuff. It looks great. I have some more budget versions....heres some of the EQ's I use...


WAVE Ren EQ, great on most tracks


Nomad - Blue Tubes Bundle - few different pultec-type EQ's, the studio engineers "not-so-secret weapon for great drum sounds". Very bright without being harsh.


Crysonic CryQ - My new toy...10 band vintage inspired EQ, quite CPU intensive so best kept for buses, but is great, you can crank up frequencies that would sound harsh on other EQ's and its very smooth, theres also a ratio you can set, and an option to preserve the volume which smooths things out even more, this is good for mastering and sweetening up tracks. Fairly cheap too! http://www.crysonic.com/cryq.html


Kjaerhus make a lot of good free plugins aswell, but their golden collection is pretty damn good, and this EQ sounds great, almost on par with Waves. Affordable too (for just the EQ, although their channel strip GAC-1 is well worth looking into aswell) http://www.kjaerhusaudio.com/geq-7.php

Some of the stuff only available for powercore cards....looks nice...but you would have to be making money out of your rig to pay for it..

Classic Neve

Classic Pultec

[bryn]

..confirmed my suspicions; its not something I can skimp on. With the wealth of products on the go its pretty difficult to cut through the chaff and buy what is actually important, particularly on something like EQ which at first seems a relatively simple concept..

Its the same with loads of other tools though. I mean, how can a compressor sound 'great' (from a recent Future Music magazine) compared to another. For all I can see a compressor performs the task of reducing signals that are too high. End of!

[soundian]

Originally Posted by bryn

I mean, how can a compressor sound 'great' (from a recent Future Music magazine) compared to another. For all I can see a compressor performs the task of reducing signals that are too high. End of!

But every time you process sound, you "colour" it, potentially add phasing and some other not very nice things. Some "colour" it in a nice way, others in a not so nice way. It's horses for courses in the higher end of the processing market but buy wisely in the bargain basement.

[bryn]

Originally Posted by soundian

But every time you process sound, you "colour" it, potentially add phasing and some other not very nice things. Some "colour" it in a nice way, others in a not so nice way. It's horses for courses in the higher end of the processing market but buy wisely in the bargain basement.

Okay, but would it right to assume that the majority of tools inside any top-range sequencing software is of a high standard? Or are they merely poor-quality add-ons to get you started?

[soundian]

Originally Posted by bryn

Okay, but would it right to assume that the majority of tools inside any top-range sequencing software is of a high standard? Or are they merely poor-quality add-ons to get you started?

I do live, so haven't much experience of software processors. I assume you get less phasing etc from digi stuff, cos it's mostly the electronic components themselves which do that, but some of the more leccy engineering types round these parts could tell you different, I just use my lugs.,