EQ plugins

[Bob Stern]

Prompted by a post by wwwaldmanfan, here are some free and inexpensive plugins that perform parametric EQ.

 

I feel that parametric EQ is invaluable for tweaking recordings on the fly, especially older recordings.  I'm perplexed that EQ is so seldom used by computer audiophiles.  Since you already have upsampling and digital filters in your DAC and/or music player software, there's no reason to fear that you're destroying "bit perfection" by adding another digital filter.  Whatever shortcomings analog tone controls may have been known for is irrelevant to digital filters.

 

Anyway, here are my discoveries, none of which I've actually used.  (I bought the Metric Halo channel strip for $75, but I don’t recommend it at its regular $180 price.)

 

Tokyo Dawn offers a free 3-band parametric EQ.  (Unfortunately, there is only one Q control for all 3 bands.)
http://www.tokyodawn.net/tokyo-dawn-labs/

 

Blue Cat has a free parametric EQ plugin with only one PEQ band plus bass & treble shelf filters, but I expect you can concatenate multiple instances of the plugin if you want multiple bands of parametric EQ.
https://www.bluecataudio.com/Products/Product_TripleEQ/
 
Blue Cat's 8-band linear-phase parametric EQ is $99 or €99:
https://www.bluecataudio.com/Products/Product_LinyEQ/
 
Voxengo 32-band parametric "PrimeEQ" is $50.  The also sell an unusual $80 CurveEQ that will approximate any target curve you can draw with Bezier splines.
http://www.voxengo.com/product/primeeq/
 

Waves Q-10 is $50:

https://www.waves.com/plugins/q10-equalizer

 

 

[Gonzbull]

https://www.plugin-alliance.com/

 

Another site to check out. I run a recording studio and own many plugins from here. 

[copy_of_a]

14 hours ago, Bob Stern said:

 

I feel that parametric EQ is invaluable for tweaking recordings on the fly, especially older recordings.  I'm perplexed that EQ is so seldom used by computer audiophiles.  Since you already have upsampling and digital filters in your DAC and/or music player software, there's no reason to fear that you're destroying "bit perfection" by adding another digital filter.  Whatever shortcomings analog tone controls may have been known for is irrelevant to digital 

Totally agree!!

 

Here's a short list of some of my favorites...:

 

PSP Master Q2 ($149)
Supports 192kHz. 80bit internal processing.
http://www.pspaudioware.com/plugins/equalizers/psp_masterq2/

 

Fab Filter Pro Q2 ($149)
https://www.fabfilter.com/products/pro-q-2-equalizer-plug-in
Supports 192kHz. 64bit internal processing.

 

PSP PreQursor 2 ($69)
http://www.pspaudioware.com/plugins/equalizers/psp_preqursor2/
Supports 384kHz. 64bit internal processing.

 

SonEQ (free)
http://sonimus.com/products/soneq/
Supports 192kHz. 64bit internal processing.

 

SonEQ pro ($59)
http://sonimus.com/products/soneqpro/
Supports 192kHz. 64bit internal processing.

[pkane2001]

1 minute ago, copy_of_a said:

Totally agree!!

 

Here's a short list of some of my favorites...:

 

PSP Master Q2 ($149)
Supports 192kHz. 80bit internal processing.
http://www.pspaudioware.com/plugins/equalizers/psp_masterq2/

 

Fab Filter Pro Q2 ($149)
https://www.fabfilter.com/products/pro-q-2-equalizer-plug-in
Supports 192kHz. 64bit internal processing.

 

PSP PreQursor 2 ($69)
http://www.pspaudioware.com/plugins/equalizers/psp_preqursor2/
Supports 384kHz. 64bit internal processing.

 

SonEQ (free)
http://sonimus.com/products/soneq/
Supports 192kHz. 64bit internal processing.

 

SonEQ pro ($59)
http://sonimus.com/products/soneqpro/
Supports 192kHz. 64bit internal processing.

 

Although not configurable in real-time, you can set up complex EQ through convolution filters. These are supported by a number of playback software, including HQPlayer, JRiver, Roon, etc. There are free tools that allow you to create and configure these filters, such as REW, Rephase, etc.

 

As an example, I've set up convolution filters that are specific to headphones and separate ones specific to speaker playback. I switch between these with a click of a button using a small script that controls HQPlayer configuration.

 

 

[anvil vapre]

About Voxego Gliss/PrimeEQ: Is not possible to set a pre-amp? I can't find the settings. And what "type" filter is recommended? Thanks.