Top 5 EQ Plugins of the Week
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In this video, producer Tim Cant runs through 5 of the most popular, some might say best, software EQ plugins (VST) money can buy. Free Demos at Plugin Boutique
Top Five EQ’s are…
5. Sonnox Oxford Dynamic EQ
Everybody should have at least one dynamic EQ in their collection, and we reckon it should be this one. If you’re not familiar with Dynamic EQ, imagine that every band has its own compressor settings, and you’re basically there.
With so much movement going on, you need an EQ you can trust, and Sonnox’ EQ pedigree makes this a dependable little plugin. You get five bands of their Oxford Type-3 EQ filters, which offer proportional-Q and an onset detection feature. Oxford Dynamic EQ’s Listen mode. Audition only the audio that’s being processed, making it easy to make changes to the dynamics controls.
4. SplineEQ (Photosounder)
It’s not new, but SplineEQ is a very unique EQ indeed. SplineEQ uses Bezier splines to set its curves, meaning that you can have asymmetrical or even practically vertical curves.
SplineEQ’s visualiser displays frequencies in a more musical way, and it lets you visualize your cuts and boosts above and below the curve. There’s also loads of useful EQ features such as Tranpose and Overall Gain, to move the entire curve up or down in frequency or in gain. The Gain Scale brings the gains of all the bands up or down together, relative to each other.
3. TubeTech Equalizer Collection (Softube)
We couldn’t do an EQ round-up without including an archaic piece of hardware, or a ‘classic’, as some people would call it. The Pultec EQP-1A hardware EQ might just be the most modelled EQ of all time, thanks to its tube tone and its legendary reputation.
Softube’s PE 1C is just such a plugin, and it’s available as part of the Softube Tube-Tech Equalizer Collection and Complete Collection, which include other vintage hardware-modelled plugins as part of the package.
2. EQuilibrium (DMG Audio)
If you love using classic EQs, and if you love getting anal about filtering, EQuilibrium is the one for you. The whole idea behind this plugin is that you can mix and match bands using circuit models of classic filters.
EQuilibrium has 19 bell filters, ten high- and low-pass types, eight shelves and one Notch. Each of them can be run to process two-channel stereo as normal, or mids, sides, left or right signals. This plugin also comes equipped with a piano keyboard display to help locate specific note frequencies, and it has a ton of view options. Comprehensive.
1. Pro-Q 2 (FabFilter)
Of course. It’s the King, and the Queen, of EQ plugins. Pro-Q 2 has a mindboggling potential in terms of EQ functionality, and it’s also easy to use, with a fun but reassuringly accurate plot across the frequency spectrum.
