I like vos slick eq, exactly the bands I need on a vocal.
Plus no nonsense emulation stuff, just logical q's and ratios and saturation.
Best of both worlds until I can spare the cpu power fo nebula

 

No one is perfect

 

Check out this thread with lists of analog modelled plugins (esp. List #2 Analog Modelled EQs)

https://audiosex.pro/threads/5teezos-analog-modeled-audio-plugin-lists.30646/

 

I've never used it, but I suspect it falls in the transparent category, right? My go-to transparent EQ is Acon Equalize. It's so light on the CPU.

I'd say anything Nebula/Acqua is worth checking, but sometimes, they're just too heavy on the CPU, so other alternatives need to be considered. In my humble experience, the best non-plasticky algorhythmic EQ plugins is Overtone DSP AF10. It actually imparts a very musical character to program material. Another great find by @Von_Steyr is Audio Obssession EQs. They got lots of vibe going on. Of course, UAD offerings always shine.

Nothing Waves or Slate is recommendable. Such EQs sound great individually, but as you start adding them along your tracks, the whole song material starts to get imprinted with plasticky harshness.

A very characterful EQ is Sonible SmartEQ+. It does the opposite of Acon Equalize: It's "intelligent" algorhythm affects the sound imprint of a track, and it does it like a boss. It doesn't always work, but when it does, it effortlessly adds that character that makes a dull track come to life.

 

Acqua free plugins are a good place to start. So many people (myself included) say, "yeah, I'll try Nebula" only to discover that the learning curve is really steep. Once you realize how great those plugins sound, you'll feel compelled to learn Nebula. Find the Pink EQ plugin that came free in one of the Computer Magazine issues, pure digital gold.

 

Pro-Q and Slick eq combo. Pr0-q to cut undesired frequencies and Slick eq for everything else. Everything by Tokyo Dawn Labs is top level.

 

I really like this one http://slyfidigital.com/#Axis-Section

 

Except most of the chart-topping releases use Waves and Slate plugin lol.

 

FORGET ALL OF THIS 08/15 RECOMMENDATION !
GO FOR ''KUSH AUDIO'' Cracked by Audioutopia

 

PSP E27. Period. There's no point arguing, really...Just try it.

Lots of good stuff out there, but this one is a masterpiece.

 

To me the smoothest is the Steinberg Portico. I believe that was the original question. Unfortunately it's not cheap, but it is well worth its price IME. Nothing sounds like the hi and low shelves on that thing. Not even in Nebula land.

 

Nice

Does anyone know if that copy of the Nebula Server V1.3.505 from 2014 on AZ working OK ?

BTW WTF is a CUDA?

I wouldn't mind giving it a try.

 

There's lots of garbage circulating around audio forums about software EQs [and other stuff, but we're talkign EQs here]. First of all, I'd start with this article made by Vlad G. of TDR fame [and before].

https://vladgsound.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/a-classification-of-digital-equalizers-draft/

To my knowledge [tested with VST Analyser] only DMG Audio EQs [analog mode], TDR EQs [HQ mode] and Fabfilter ProQ2 [HQ mode] produce real analogue-like EQ-ing. Possibly PSP E27, but I haven't tested it.

And fancy analogue-looking GUI doesn't automatically produce analogue quality audio... it just plays tricks with your brain.

 

Last edited: Jan 12, 2018

The old Nebula release is working fine for older releases, but certain newer libraries will not work/load. If you load it and only see INIT, it's one of those. Nothing you can do about it without getting the updated legit Nebula4.

It's also hella buggy compared to the paid version, so if you get frequent crashes, that's something you just learn to live with. When you realize that nothing in Nebula makes any sense, that's Italian engineering. So you learn to live with that too.

 

Of course. It's me who can't use them well, no question about it, but there are other less expensive and more interesting tools to sound analogishly classic or outworldly cutting edge.

 

This is a most excellent article, but, the author ignores the simple fact that doubling the sample rate throws all Nyquist effects so high in the frequency range as to be inaudible, and that it halves the time domain of ringing in both linear and non-linear filter designs.

If you want fault free EQing, use a higher sample rate.

 

Do you have any evidence of this?

 

There are many, and it's matter of UX and taste... But if you didn't do yet, I would give a try to ElectraDSP and HammerDSP. Imho, very musical EQs designed for "mixed with your ears and your heart" style.

 

Last edited: Jan 12, 2018