Hello,

Have been building Cubase 7.5 64 from the ground up purchasing all new 64 bit plugins to match. It's really a great experience and Cubase is running better than ever!

This topic relates to EQ. I don't mind using the Cubase channel EQ at ALL for more surgical type EQ such as kick, snare, etc. I like to search the net for peoples preferred starting points and save a bunch of my own custom presets saved... when it's time I browse for something close and adjust to taste.

However, for claps, synths, hihats, shakers etc, I prefer a more subtle, simple, broad style of EQ. I believe in getting the source / sample correct first and i don't like a lot of EQ. But, most sounds can usually benefit from a small mid, presence or air boost. For this purpose I was mostly using Abbey Road Brilliance pack in the past but I am thinking I could probably do better. But, i LOVE the simplicity of the abbey road pack, keep that in mind.

The EQ should be stepped and not be variable - too many options will drive me crazy. I do NOT like to spend a lot of time on EQ endlessly tweaking - I like sweet, subtle musical boosts (and of course HPF filters when needed but I usually save that for my buses)

So I have been thinking:

Waves API 550A/B
Waves API 560
UBK Clariphonic DSP (I know this isn't full range but i think it would be great for sweetening most things)

Thoughts?

The free TDR Slick EQ. However, not variable is a niche requirement for a SW EQ. I'd say don't miss out on good sound by insisting on it.

sorry, just the way my brain works. it's gotta be simple and I like everything stepped.

You could try EQuick from DMG Audio.

Since you dont like to spend much time with an equalizer.

This is a good sounding tool, not too expensive and easy to use.

Personally I would also recommend EQuilibrium, also by DMG Audio.

More complex to use but very flexible.

PSP NoblEQ would be my choice. MAAG is good, also, or Voxengo HarmoniEQ.

I'm waiting on Slate Digital VMR for this kind of thing just a bit of mid boost and a low end cut. Comes with two vintage EQ and two compressors.
Steve says it's a few weeks off.





Equilibrium will then be for mastering depending on the CPU hit but I'm re setting up EQuilibrium to a simple vintage track EQ to convince myself that I don't need VMR. It sounds darn good.
I have configured EQuilibrium to be very simple with just a low end cut, low shelf and a couple of Pultec bands analog and low CPU with Slate Digital FG-MU set to neutral after it to add some transformer vibe. EQuilibrium has a preset that turns it into a Pultec EQ minus the transformer of the hardware you just need to set it's DSP mode to analog. Oh and you can set the bands to be parallel if you want. EQuilibrium really is every EQ in one. Millions of settings on this one it's one of those spend a day setting it up and use it in a simple way for the rest of the year.

If you want real simple but great sound and character the new Ik T-Racks EQ73 and EQ81 are ideal. See pic:-

Plugin-Alliance Maag, Softube Abbey Road Brilliance pack. It doesn't come easier than that, and sounds fantastic.

thanks all.

Acustica Silk EQ - very simple - very sweet sounding...mids are great...lows heavy...high crisp...

Silk eQ

Only issue you might have is there is latency involved - which you can reduce

Stillwell's 1973 is pretty wonderful on the mixbus IMO. Smooths everything out with a nice analog-ish effect. Try the demo for free, you can't go wrong.

Stillwell Audio – It's About The Sound 1973 Equalizer - Stillwell Audio - It's About The Sound

YES YES YES.. you beat me to it.

Stillwell 1973 is what you want. It's fantastic. I used it for a very long time, but ended up havin to ditch it b/c it kept giving me problems in Studio One. I think it will work fantastic in Cubase though, it never gave me a problem when I used it in Cubase.

I miss that EQ. So much so that I grabbed the UAD Neve 1073.

I think it's exactly what you want. I used it for the same thing. Sometimes less options is better. It's a very musical EQ. Tough to get a bad sound when you mix your entire song with it.I loved adding DB to my kick and cuting DB from my bassline at the same freq. And the high end is very nice and natural sounding. They got the curves right.

the voxengo curveEQ that comes with Cubase 7.5 is worth spending some time on.
The Maag EQ4 is great for sweetening but of course more limited.

Softube Active-Passive
Softube Trident A-Range

I decided to purchase the Abbey Road brilliance pack again since I am so used to it and it sounds so good. Will be nice to have it in x64.

I will try the TDR VOS SLICKEQ and Cubase Vonxengo eq for other mid and low duties, and possibly purchase the API 550 bundle later if I cannot get used to those. The switches on the API appeal to me but the 2dB steps don't.

I can't STAND parametric EQs with tons of features haha. After 18 years or more of producing I still don't feel comfortable with that level of control - I like to keep it simple and high end.

You could try Sonimus SonEQ, but that's not stepped. So, maybe Kuassa Eve AT-1, or Stillwell Vibe EQ?

As much as i love the stillwell Eq's (Vibe&1973) - i am getting quite angry that there still is no 64 Bit version and the current version still crashes if you load up the plug in a project that uses more than a certain amount of ram (i think it's somewhere between one and two gb)

That really has to be fixed and scott has been saying it's almost done for ages...

FABFILTER PRO-Q!!! Can't believe it hasn't been mentioned. It's really simple (you just drag the bands up and down) and very powerful. My go-to EQ. I think it also works for "sweetening" (maybe not the best in this area, but it works for almost anything).

Sure, you can't go wrong with Pro-Q at all! But i think that's not really the type of Eq Mike has been looking for.
But apart from that i agree with you. For me almost everything starts with an instance of Pro-Q.

+1. What about Pro-Q plus a saturator? Looks like a good "sweetening" combo.

Ahh, so that's why I was getting crashes. That makes sense.. I began getting crashes once my projects began getting larger and larger. Thanks.. that really bothered me.

I'm sure i understand your idea, mike vee. I like to work that way —*less options (but only best ones), so better results.
TDR Slick EQ is one of my new favourite EQs for this kind of musical EQing, and having "autogain" feature it is really the best one at this moment. 4 different curves sets, excellent drive functionality...i almost forgot about SonEQ, the second great one. )

This is going to be the best sounding highs in a simple plugin IMO

The Clariphonic is great.
A little bit goes a long way.
The Maag4 is a fantastic eq but it can be a little harsh for vocals IMO

Clariphonic for sure but demo it first. Very deceptive.

You know for a lot of tasks something like the softube tonelux tilt eq is pretty much all you need - check it out. It's so simple to use and the results are so good. It's effectively a baxendall filter - tone control - the most popular eq circuit ever devised

I think the Waves are good for this, yes.

+++ on the fabfilter pro q
but for analyzing before and for cleaning up after coloring. i usually have it open while coloring too, to see whats happening, making clean up that much faster.
just to give you an extra thing to think about: dont f with an already nice tone. i think about tone as a sounds complete harmonic spectrum. and by that i mean its got its fundamental resonance supported by between 5 and 7 octaves of lesser resonances. go past that, or start supporting elements that arent in harmony and youll take away from the tone. which of course is what youre after when youre changing tone.
so with an eq like pro-q check which harmonics are missing and learn how to target specific bands with these coloring sticks. or, see which to remove, and then go about creating new harmonics instead of trying to fight the existing ones.
a lot of music lately is over saturated, randomly, and unnecessarily. leading to ear fatigue for listeners, and more laziness for us. its nice to have a broad band effect on stuff, since that tends to get things gluing easier, but were forgetting how that translates to our master channel, where the space for resonances is limited. its another less is more situation. so choose your peaks wisely! alot of people rely on a songs key to figure out placement, but notes arent very specific, so stick to math math. also, dont get too carried away! make all final judgement with your ears and heart, if something need an extra spike or two, do it. if it sounds fine, leave it alone.
you can easily spend a month on something that should have taken an hour, which applies to alot of things audio, and why sharing knowledge is life saving. i dont know if this was knowledge, i think alot of people think about thisand take care. theres also what i call "pad mixers". they kinda make clouds out of sounds and keep thier fingers crossed as a bunch of compressors hold things down. those guys tend to rely on partying for work. i have busier templates...

UAD API 550, Sound Toys SieQ, UAD Neve 1073, Maag EQ2 or EQ4

if I'm using Pro Q2 I'm probably doing some tweaky stuff like narrow cuts, high pass, tiny shelves and so on.

In fact using a color EQ and a precision EQ on the same track is a great combo

Something like the SSL channel blurs the line between the two.

Naaah, precision is for forensics, broad strokes are for music. )
If you need something more than SlickEQ can give - check the source, it must be bad.

ProQ is cool, it can give you simple workflow too, like proportional q, but it gives you too much in its endless possibilities, and you can spend useless hours adjusting EQ instead of making a good music mix.

PSP e27. Can be extremely simple. Very musical.