if you are asking this question, don't do any mastering. even if you weren't asking this question, don't do any mastering. probably no one should be doing any mastering.

but here's an allegory for you. imagine you have a jpeg that you really like but the color and the brightness are bothering you. and you have the newest adobe photoshop as well as gimp. which one of those two softwares are going to balance the color and brightness better? try to get different results doing a color balance on photoshop than you can get with gimp. and then show a buddy the two results and ask them which one used a higher quality color curve adjustment. it doesn't make much sense does it?

if you insist on mastering (don't do it) and you want the most confidence, then spend more money than you can afford on the most expensive EQ you can find. at least that way you'll know if you do a bad job it was you and not your tools. maybe the high price will tax your nagging subconscious into submission.

 

for the past two days I've been using the new Toneboosters EQ Pro and like OP asked, for Air boosting I've been using either the Background, Ambience or Sustain High Shelf filters instead of the usual filter. All of them have different sounds and give the perception of "Air" really well without bringing up all the harshness.

Another EQ that stay in the chain forever is the Pulsar Modular 8200 doing this.

 

Gullfoss
Maag EQ4

Those are the best in my book for final touches, assuming you're already using a different EQ on individual tracks.

 

All my favorites have been covered in this thread. I would add Newfangled EQuivocate, Burnley 73 and Acustica Ruby.

 

Last edited: Sep 10, 2024

the toneboosters eq is swiftly becoming a new favorite of mine as well. really innovative and interesting stuff from them.

 

Sometimes a combination of more than one gives you the gold for acoustics but it really is whatever the song needs. Few more...

Soothe
Oxford
Pultec

 

There's a lot more to getting a great acoustic guitar sound than EQ. Here's an excellent guide.

 

weiss plugins are good.. not the best

 

Spl vitalizer for air or anothers exciters like has ozone

 

Thanks for this, I will keep it in mind once i will record live. The problem here is that I am mainly using samples of guitars, so they are pre-recorded. Perhaps I have a bad source of guitar samples ;-)

 

thanks for all your input! helped me out a lot! I was getting the Michelangelo VST and I am loving it!

 

I think these four on the planet are unbelievable.
1-Sonoris EQ SawStudio Version (64 bit integer math) for RML Labs SawStudio (Best Digital EQ)
2-Sonic EQ V4 From Sound Blade (Metric Halo) (Best Digital EQ)
3-Magix Samplitude Pro EQ116 Stok EQ (Best Digital EQ)
4-MAAT thEQred (Best Linear Phase Eq)