I make bass music (neuro, glitch hop, experimental) and basically only use Pro Q3 and eq8. Both seem to be pretty transparent. How can i use coloring eqs to enhance my tracks. Are some good for boosting, others cutting, some that work better with lows, other better with highs? If anyone doesnt mind explaining how i could use these to my advantage I would really appreciate it

 

Your DAW already includes EQs. They are probably transparent & use less CPU/RAM.

Your DAW probably already includes coloring FX like distortion &/ exciting. Then you can control them separately from EQ.

 

did you even read the post ?

 

I usually only read comments, but this time the technical answer to the question puzzled me. I assumed I knew the answer, or more correctly guessed the answer, but to be honest I can't really tell you. My guess is that digital eq's, unlike their analog cousins, do not by default add harmonics to a specified frequency. However, the more random and chaotic nature of circuitry can create a fuzzy warmth if adding a 500hz boost to a vocal, whereas the same boost digitally will lack the smooth,distorted harmonic overtones of the colored eq.
Caveat: I may be completely wrong. If so, blame it on the fact that I grew up in a pre digital age when dinosaurs like Phil Collins had hair and roamed the earth like in the book of Genesis.

 

I feel like the question was to discuss the characteristics of various emulations and when to use them ( I maybe wrong) , This kind of thing is debatable so I will say it how I hear it personally and I will Generalize a bit too much :
Neve emulations : have kind of soft saturation in the upper range and it sounds overall round and warm and thick I love to use neve emulations on vocals
API emulations : Snappy , punchy and have an edge and more character and "crunch" when pushed I use it for drums mainly and for electric guitars
SSL : Fat , Bright , punchy , snappy I use it in drums and sometimes vocals
the more you drive the more the character appears , and also what distincts them how they handle transients and how much you could push them , and cuts versus boosts and how aggressive are the curves , you have to experiment and decide what works best for you

 

I think that's about right and I go to the same emulations, especially the API. I'd only add Pultec style eq as having the unique ability to boost and cut the same frequencies simultaneously, thereby creating a resonant shelf. There are many emulations where you can try this on kick where it's very effective.

 

Although it's a bit more complex than that, I basically agree but you really have to know what you're doing and I doubt that your go-to DAW has all the tools included.
A saturation plugin with custom shaper curve (like apShaper), a good parametric EQ with flexible dynamic processing on each band and a number of transient shapers (each have their own character when shaping transients) can surely do the job but I agree that it's far easier to use an EQ built for the task. On the other hand, combining these tools has a lot more sound design potential than using a tried and tested EQ.

 

That EQ8 and a FabFilter or equivallent will always be with you for getting the job done. Then as you gain more and more exp, you'll come across other EQs that you may notice sound different when you play around. Some even have a nice sound with no EQ changes dialed in at all. Will you find a use for that "special sound" in your tracks is an open question though, maybe you will maybe you won't, depends on taste.

You could think of all EQs as stage lights that shine onto your sounds frequencies and can bring out or hide detail, depending on where you shine. EQ8 and FabFilter are like quality studio lights you use every day to make Becky look hotter than she is. Linear Phase mastering equalizers might be compared to intense scientific projector beams. And then you have "coloring EQ" - which can be any beaten up old theatrical lights which feel super warm and cozy to you when used on the frequency spectrum, lights made by personally Mr.Edison (nicked from the museum cuz you like "the coloration"), and lights made out of bio-luminescent medusas that only glow on the full moon. Once you start to get into having an "artistic" palette of lights, it's hard to know where to stop, esp. if you light things up all the time in different ways in the studio.

And that's what color EQ is all about. My recommendation for a super useful all-in-one color EQ is TDR SlickEQ GE, it can do many different types of coloration and will not only work well, but educate you about whether you want any of this color and what kinds: German? Japanese? Soviet???

 

Last edited: Jun 22, 2020

I would add the Helios eq emulation. Just slap it on a bass track and notice the VIBE without touching any settings.

 

Look at the Acustica Audio Gold 3 for colorfull processors. ANd don't look elsewhere. For real... They have a promo right now. It's an incredible incredible plugin suite. Old Neve.

 

It's not quite that simple. There are 3 factors that make up the sound of an EQ:

• Filter curves
• Phase response
• Harmonics Pattern

Even if you compare the emulation of the same hardware EQ from two plugin developers, these three factors will differ.
Result: They will sound different!
Furthermore, we are all individuals with different tastes, which makes it difficult to make a concrete recommendation.

To answer your question:

To find out the peculiarities of a plugin, I found it useful to create a test project.
Such a test project consists of the multitracks of a song and an analyzer folder-track with different test signals and analyzers,
so I can check on the analyzer folder-track what is happening with the plugin under the hood.
Then I insert the plugin on all tracks and start a quick "mix" just with this plugin. This way you can quickly find out where the strengths and weaknesses of a plugin are and if it fits your taste. I always make notes, like for example:
"8k highshelf band sounds silky on strings" or "phase response smears transients".
This helps me to internalize the peculiarities and makes it easier to compare different EQs later.

 

sly-fi Axis and Millenia NSEQ-2 are both very good "musical" eq's that colour the sound in a non transparent way...also pulteq

 

EQ8 is cool because you can work fast and efficient with it but it doesn't sound great when boosting. Same with q3 honestly. Overrated plugin which is only useful for surgical stuff. Boosting or lowpassing just sounds bad compared to even old stuff like ren-eq or filterbank. Pensado, Stuart White and Mike Dean use mcdsp stuff and I have to say their eqs always sound great. Compare them to Proq3 and do blind tests. I wouldn't have thought myself

 

Pultec style EQs is probably the first that comes to mind for me! And as others have said check out some API and SSL emulations for more "modern" sounding analog EQs and maybe Neve, Telefunken, Pultec and tube EQ emulations for a more vintage vibe. Some plug-ins i really like are Noiseash Need31102 (Neve emulation), Noiseash Rule Tec (Pultec emulation), Waves VEQ3 and VEQ4 (Neve), Waves API plugins and alot more.

Wavesfactory Spectre is also a incredible tool if you want a coloring EQ! It's not modeled after any analog EQ, but it's a EQ with different types of saturation to choose from like tape and tube etc.

 

Last edited: Jun 23, 2020

Softube are the kings of this imo, but they charge a lot. Try the American Class A (API) or the Zenner Blender. Pretty much every EQ they do is like this, The Trident eq was one of their 1st but still sounds good.

Also, the three eq's in PSP Infistrip are all very nice. You can disabled the harmonic distortion, but you still get the good curves.

If you want to learn about the different curves and how they work, download DMG Audio Eqalibrium

 

If I can give you one tip is to CUT (to "clean" the track) with transparent digital eq and then BOOST with "colored analog" eq to add flavor

 

Fuse VQA-154 is a nice coloring eq. Just 15k +12db , and u get an amazing silky bright highend. Play with the input gain. That eq induce nice glueing harmonics.

 

+1 on Pultec & SSL emulations. I've yet to try out an API stuff so maybe this time I will, have also been meaning to check out Noiseash Need as I've heard great things. I actually have Specter but haven't used it yet.

I like Sonimus - Sweetone
ikjb - Luftikus (has 40k boost)
McDSP - 6050 Ultimate CS, 6020 Ultimate EQ
DDMF - 6144
NI/Softube - Enhanced EQ, Passive EQ
Maag EQ's
Kuassa EVE's
PSP EQ's
Black Rooster EQ's

Interesting thread, I hope it keeps going.

 

You can find interesting results running your instrument tracks through guitar amp sims. Neural DSP have great ones to try, especially the Archetype collection and the Paralax. For better outcome use a pre amp. this is the only one I need and is free: https://philaudio.wordpress.com/research/tube-preamp/

 

Last edited: Jan 28, 2021

@Satai
That was a fantastic post, thank you. I always wondered about this, and you made me understand for the first time.
That doesn't mean that I can actually hear a difference yet :D
But I'm working on it.