https://toneboosters.com/tb_equalizer_pro.html




New features in Equalizer Pro verses Equalizer 4:
-Dynamic equalization ,compression and expansion
-Innovative filter set (482 filter types and shapes)
- Context-awareness (transients, ambiance and more!)
-Full immersion (64-channel immersive audio)
-Supporting visuals (Improving your workflow)
- Lookahead without latency

There wasn't an actual press release so there's some stuff copy-pasted from the site. Looks like a solid upgrade from EQ 4 although it's a bit rough in it's 1.0.0 state. Upgrading anyway. TB always refines their stuff over time based on customer feedback.

I see bugs in it.

Thanks for the headsup!

This is insta-upgrade.

It's everything i want from a modern EQ, and specifically Kirchhoff, my mainstay.
I never quite got round to using equalizer 4 all the time, even though it's absolutely fantastic, but all these new bells and whistles may change that.

I'm a big fan of EQ 4, but rarely use some of the more advanced features like upwards compression and saturation per band. However, these new filters like transient/sustain, direct/ambiance and background (all in mid-side too) are super-useful and allow you to very quickly clean up a signal, just the ticket if you're going for a polished, tight sound.

Will definitely be upgrading and I feel the bar has been raised in terms of workhorse EQs.

Now if asked nicely I might even say it's a "xxxx-xxxxxxx", but I guess you need a certain amount of Grammy awards to get paid big $$$ to say the g-word. And $$$$ if in addition your initials happen to match the word "g-word"!

I wouldn't go that far!

It's still not as quick as it could be for choosing the filters (probably why i didn't use EQ4 as much as I liked).

It could do with harmonic bands, sidechaining from other frequencies, parallel filters, bringing back the saturation, and the moveable tab (that was a xxxx-xxxxxxx!)

Pretty sure I’m going to upgrade, even though I am also sure I don’t need 482 filter types and shapes… but it looks like something you like to have in your toolbox for the time you need some special feature. Also, TB plugins are usually always worth the money.

'parallel filters' is sadly missing from EQs more often than not, but at this low price and with the usual TB quality EQ Pro was an easy purchase for me

How does the upgrade work?
I logged in and I see nothing...

- ok... I just had to scroll down. Embarassing.
I went through the login and all, and it was not there.

Log in and scroll to TB4 to see the upgrade button. It will be something like $38

Tested on drum bus, piano and bass.

For a first impression it seems to me more efficient and faster to use than Kirchhoff. Maybe it even sounds better and more focused.

A long time ago I used ReelBus v3 and liked it. I never tried or used other TB plugins, but now I think I will.

I eventually sorted. They when I edited the post I found some instructions on their site that guided me through the process. It did work.

Interestingly, it seems that the “pro” does not have (or at least I did not find) the saturation part of the regular. I do not mind too much in the sense that I feel like the workflow is overall better, and the new ideas are really something. A couple I have seen in few dedicated EQ plugins from other devs. Others I have never seen (I had dedicated plugs for some of those). I am also very curious of the lookahead without latency thing… need to understand if it works. But supposedly is only for the dynamic parts, I would say. Or is it some magic that works also for say linear/natural phase?

Personally I don't see this as a replacement for EQ4. I like the user definable dynamic action plus saturation of EQ4.

Yeah. Why take it away i wonder.

has EQ4 gone tho? It is still available on their website

EQ4 still there. But when I bought this it was sold as an upgrade. So I'm saying I don't see this "Pro" version as better than the old EQ4

Awesome! Toneboosters has been my main EQ since forever, specially with the dynamic functions of v4, but I always follow it by some multiband transient processor. Maybe this will do the job with one instance.

Anyway, I'd upgrade only to support Jeroen Breebaart's prolific work (I believe he is still the brain behind Toneboosters, right?)

same - upgrade rather than crossgrade

I like it more than EQ4 already. Those new filters are amazing. Already used new types to deal with acoustic samples libraries with baked-in reverb. Boomy reverb removal is so easy to do with this plugin.
A few EQ plugins are going to be uninstalled because TB is doing it all is cheap and allow resizing the right way (not like eg. iZotope "resize graphics but not text" trash).

Does this support external sidechain? I bought EQ4 a few months ago and really liked it until yesterday when I tried to engage the external sidechain feature. I couldn't get it to engage in either VST2 or VST3 version. I often use external sidechain with other plugs in Reaper so, unless there's something specific that I'm missing with this plug, it's not operator error.

You should enable input channels 3/4 (Sidechain L/R) in Reaper's plugin plug-in pin connector.

Very interesting. I've never had to do that with other plugs but it worked! Many thanks to you, sir.

For windows how are you guys installing this? I have a MAN file. I've never dealt with this kind before.

Try removing the .MAN from the filename and typing in .MSI if it isn't in there already.

i have eq 4 but haven't used for a longtime but this one seems to be really well implemented.
just realised on both of these that you can highlight the frequency ( for example) and then use your keyboard arrows to adjust the frequency or gain, seems nice and useful for homing in on the kick with a low cut as well as less strain on the hand…

Toneboosters = very underrated company. Primo stuff, really. Their reelbus tape emulation is very good, and this EQ is a great utility EQ

This looks quite thoroughly implemented. I've been using Apqualizr for quite a while as my main heavy lifting EQ and am quite happy with it but being a Reaper user the native in-track display is such a wonderful quality of life feature. Excited to try it out for sure.

I very much agree.
If ONLY Jeroen would take the Reelbus V3 GUI (with VU meters) and implement the V4 tech in it, add a knob or two (like Headbump freq & amount), expand it with more curves and saturation modes, have a more realistic Ampex & Studer emu in there, include a transient designer module, add HP/LP filters, a HF compressor and mono mode ..... would be my desert island tape emu.
I am hoping for it for some time.

OMG! This is an absolutely amazing EQ. You can EQ both transients and sustain. Sure, that’s a known thing already, but for example, if there’s reverb on a vocal, background noise, or room echo, you can EQ without boosting any of that, or you can EQ while eliminating the background noise, or just the tail of the room. Is the reverb too much? You can EQ the reverb even if it's printed onto the vocal without affecting the original vocal. Holy moly! You can add a gate filter to EQ the parts you want and eliminate what’s caught by the gate. Or brighten the vocals without adding sibilance or darken the vocals without losing the healthy sibilance. Are you kidding me?

These are just simple examples. I don’t know about you, but right now, there’s no other EQ with all these capabilities together at this very moment. Toneboosters has brought a whole new approach to modern EQs and taken it to an incredible level. EQ4 was an EQ I didn’t use much, but EQ PRO is something else entirely. Definitely, don’t miss out on it.

Yeah, that confused me as well. TBH, the saturation part of EQ4 was something that would have needed a rethink.
E.g., it was "hidden" in the dynamic extended part... and so on.

I believe that the new EQ is clearer in its features (and the dynamic part is *really* easy to use, I have to say I prefer the workflow to FF). Probably Jerome thought that adding saturation would simply make things too confusing in term of workflow. Or maybe it's just missing from v1.

I think it would fit perfectly in the filters mode. E.g., you have a saturating peak, shelf and so on (maybe also make saturating HC/LC). I think it can be added (if they want), and it should also have a nice worfklow (e.g., "range" becomes drive).

Well the level reduction indicators in reaper are not overly useful imo. just
exactly the same indicator as the midi
but a different color. i guess for a gen
idea of whats going on its helpful.
Nothing super exciting tho. imo.

At least thats the only thing i could see.
I was thinking mini display like studio one
or something.