What is a good Hardware Emulation EQ plugin ?

Discussion in 'Mixing and Mastering' started by Stevie Dude, Mar 6, 2021.

  1. Stevie Dude

    Stevie Dude Audiosexual

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    Really ? I thought it is some kind of minimum phase digital EQ.

    About the IKs, do you think making all the vintage EQs collection GUI almost the same but with a little difference in color/knobs is good move rather than doing it like the hardware ? I personally like them all, but I heard some people said they look and sound like toys and don't sound like the hardware it emulates at all.
     
  2. Stevie Dude

    Stevie Dude Audiosexual

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    Right ?

    external-content.duckduckgo.com.jpg
     
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  3. JMOUTTON

    JMOUTTON Audiosexual

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    They both have a proportional bell that narrows with bell amplitude and 2520 op amps, the 550B is just a 550A with an extra band and some overlap which can be quite useful on mixdown, but it's usually a commit that isn't necessary on tracking. They had to keep up with the Brits at the time people wanted more knobs.


    https://www.apiaudio.com/docs/brochures/br550a.pdf
     
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  4. Stevie Dude

    Stevie Dude Audiosexual

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    corrected the thread tittle. my native language works differently than English. it's kind of backward, everything is upside down. hence the original tittle. I've just noticed. apologies. :rofl:
     
  5. Roject

    Roject Audiosexual

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    Your native language is sexy :cool:



    ------------------------------------------------------

    Not offtop info. (Not that important)

    I tested recently Softube Weiss EQ1 and is great. Like something from higher shelf.
     
  6. Ŧยχøя

    Ŧยχøя Audiosexual

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    Well it's actually very simple:
    FIR mode is better than IIR,
    and then.. the More the Better!

    Bigger Window, bigger Padding/oversample, and the EQ becomes cleaner and cleaner..

    For instance, I've got it on the Master Buss of my alltime/massive Mastering Session.

    For Rendering ("Render DSP") you want the Highest settings that you CPU can manage,
    I personally go with: FIR, Linear Phase, Impulse Lenght 65536, Padding x8, Kaiser Window

    But since the session is loaded of other stuff, I cannot use this settings for Listening.
    for that I use: FIR, Full Minimum, Impulse Lenght 16384, Padding x2, Kaiser Window.

    But ofc if you can do more.. use more!
    (oh and also, don't forget the Parallel peaks/shelves option.)


    This is the only EQ I've ever used/need in the Master Buss,
    Not only it's Exquisitely Perfect, but it has/gives a certain Natural Depth and Width to the sound.

    It may be the Impusle thing, or the Parallel Peaks, I dont know..
    But I've tried and A/B'ed most if not ALL EQs side by side with the same settings and.. nothing gets close!

    There's a few Linear Phase EQs that can be Very Clean, almost as clean,
    things like: SIR Standard EQ, FF ProQ, Cakewalk LP, TB gEQ12, PSP Neon, IEEQPro, Crave EQ.. you name it

    But none of it can quite reach the same level of Purity,
    or much less add that kind of Organic/3D Depth and Width.

    So IMO, if you're into Mastering, this is the Best Sounding EQ Ever,
    period. :guru:


    -Having said that,
    there's also things I don't fully understand about it.

    For instance what's the difference between say a Blackman-Harris, Hann or Kaiser Window? :dunno:

    I've read a bit about it, but I still don know/have a definitive answer,
    and the change in Sound Quality is almost unpercievable..

    I guess from a purely Technical or Philosophical standpoint,
    one type of Window may be better than other for a certain/each application.

    But well, since I cannot tell the difference,
    I use the Kaiser Window because the name is more Ballsy.. :D

    Still the Pristine results are there, and that's what matters.
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2021
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  7. Shura33

    Shura33 Noisemaker

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    Any comments on the the Softube EQs? I tested the Tube Tech EQs Mk2 but I couldn't barley hear any difference in sound. (weak tech, experience and ears here^^) Are they really supposed to do only subtle changes?
     
  8. jollyr0ger

    jollyr0ger Guest

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  9. morris

    morris Ultrasonic

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    here is why pultec aligned themselves with apogee. rich, more defined... tried to match the ruletc with the Apogee to no avail. I can't think of any instances where the ruletech would be better, except financial reasons



    Edit: If anyone has Uad I went send you the Wav!!
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2021
  10. Alpha0ne

    Alpha0ne Producer

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    I dont know if its an hardware emulation but Eiosis AirEQ is really neat EQ for my ears.
     
  11. jollyr0ger

    jollyr0ger Guest

    sorry, i'm not an expert.. among the pultec waves, softube, etc.. that's what I like the most..
     
  12. aleksy

    aleksy Kapellmeister

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    My definition of EQ plugins that deserve being called "analog emulation" roughly includes:
    • Accurate frequency response
    • Matched saturation behaviour
    • Oversampling capability
    • Recognizable visuals/GUI
    In addition to that a plugin will be higher up my list if modern aspects are also given.
    We are working in the digital realm after all so why not have the option to selectively choose between a 100% faithful emulation with all the quirks and flaws of the hardware, a flawless emulation or anything in between?
     
  13. Ŧยχøя

    Ŧยχøя Audiosexual

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    TB Pro audio's CS-5501,
    An interesting Channel Strip I wanted comment but forgot the name..

    Looks good/featured, and it could easily compete with the Waves/Softube/Brainworx kind of stuff.
     
    Last edited: Mar 15, 2021
  14. Ŧยχøя

    Ŧยχøя Audiosexual

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    Another Interesting topic is the Analog Summing plugs,
    which sort of emulate separate/different channels of an analog mixer, and the "effect" it gives when summing..

    I haven't tried the idea yet, but there's interesting stuff like:
    Waves NLS, Slate VCC2, Brainworx TMT Strips, Softube Console..

    I guess it's not "perfect" yet, and the features/capabilities vary;
    but maybe it makes more sense than using the Same exact emulated EQ or Channel Strip on Every track.


    -And yet another interesting topic on its own could be Harrison's Mixbus-6,
    a Mastering/Mixing DAW that integrates this analog summing idea in itself..

    I might even try the Demo on of this days, and see what it does/doesn't.
     
    Last edited: Mar 15, 2021
  15. Stevie Dude

    Stevie Dude Audiosexual

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    I really hope some day the dev will nail the secret to the analog summing stuff because theoretically it is a hard task. I guess the most wonderful thing about analog summing is you can send in hot signals (from all the channels) into it because of the unlimited headroom of the analog world because the "summing" process is done passively inside the box, it's not just some "line mixer" that would naturally become louder when combining hot signals.

    It done something like soft clipping (or hard, I don't know) plus some the leakage (crossfeed) between channels (which bring more depth) and the summed signal comes out magically with a lot more volume plus some extra headroom, the summed audio also feels a lot wider, I don't quite understand that part yet but I know this after I went to my friend's (not really friend, acquaintance or some sort) studio and he demoed his summing amplifier (Dangerous 2Bus), I just sat there clueless with the result coming out the box. Impressed.

    It feels like it is almost impossible for analog summing to be done in the digital world. It's not just "character" or certain sound, it done something to the audio. Added headroom. I think the closest to this is the Mix FX (or CTC) inside the S1. It gives a lot of that feelings, but not quite there yet. But I understand from the manual, the processing is done to each single channel before it is summed together, which I believe the right way of doing it.

    A lot of people said the analog summing isn't important, I did agree back then until I've experience it myself.

    This is a good video showing the summing. Hoping to get this one in the future.

     
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  16. Stevie Dude

    Stevie Dude Audiosexual

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    I never really experienced a lot of those hardware EQs especially those Tridents EQ and rare W2395C etc. TBH I don't really mind if it sounds like the hardware or not (simply because I don't know the hardware sound, lol) as long as it has some extra something that do different thing and not overly thicken the sound, it should do for me. One more thing, I tend to use the same EQ for channels that going to the same sub-group, so I could turn it all off and on just to hear what they are doing. If I like the sound of that, it is good enough. It is just some people that use the plugin as a substitution for their hardware needs it to be exactly like the hardware because they already used to its sound, and that is totally understandable as well.
     
  17. Stevie Dude

    Stevie Dude Audiosexual

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    I guess because the EQ is passive design and most passive EQs are smooth sounding, use it aggressively like boost that 12k to the 10 and the balance with cutting at the same frequency, then you'll hear what it's doing.
     
    Last edited: Mar 15, 2021
  18. livemouse

    livemouse Producer

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    I'm looking for something i can process a bit of audio with that will change it's sound, but here's the key thing: it must be digital. i know several of those kinds of algorithms exists, but if you can just give me the name of the best digital audio processor, then i will be happy for about 5 minutes at which point i will go ask the same kind of question at another forum where such a question is asked about 5000 times a day. thanks in advance.
     
  19. aleksy

    aleksy Kapellmeister

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    Good point, neither do I. Haven't touched or heard a real studio hardware equalizer first hand in my life so (1) I can never be sure what the sound is supposed to be and (2) each unit sounds slightly different anyway, so you either need to go with a "golden" unit or you take the high-effort/low-reward route of averaging the sound of multiple units together as good as possible.

    Taking a look at my plugin collection (which I am still working on in detail but the major choices are done) I end up choosing the emulation that I like the sound of the most anyway.
    There's no logic behind keeping a plugin that subjectively sounds worse on what I am mixing, just because I want it to be of a specific brand, the GUI inspires me more or other similar reasons.
    Comparing different Pultec emulations for example I wound up with the Analog Obsession Rare since it sounds good to me and it matches my definition the most, compared to the emulations Waves or Ignite Amps make.
     
  20. Stevie Dude

    Stevie Dude Audiosexual

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    Totally make sense. The things that I'm still trying to understand is whenever you think an EQ plugin is good enough for you, ie. the Waves, (and now those new Trident) they do the job for you, the have their own character and stuff, all good but then someone came up and say "it sounds nothing like the hardware" then we will start assuming it is bad plugin just because they dont sound like the hardware kinda confusing where is the real merit or benchmark what makes an EQ plugin good. This is a highly subjective matter, but it would be a waste to overlook some nicely, efficiently coded plugin for that one reason only.
     
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