You’re welcome glad I could help!

I agree with you. On paper, the pink noise trick is perfect. But you heard the exact same thing I did as do others. it kills any mojo. For now, the current state of "match eq", the best thing, is to use a match eq, and a mastering eq. Then use the match eq as a reference for the mastering eq. Then eq the song using the match as a reference.

You got it, it’s a fun plugin and trick to experiment with.

Thanks Bon, hope you found it useful!

Thanks man! I appreciate it and glad you found some use out of it.

Gullfoss on a mix buss doesn’t seem to work for me much either as it tends to take away transients as you mentioned. Usually I roll off the bottom to 300Hz and the top down to right where the sibilance is. And yes, after I published, I realized I could have made a shorter video. This is my first so I’m sure I’ll get better with time.

With ozone stabilizer you can try boosting what the EQ does and reduce the amount of the stabilizer equally. but you can lose some of your mixes integrity that way. i use stabilizer quite sparingly anyway. it if tries to change much i go back into the mix. usually i build my own chain though. starting with Vinai VTT default preset and dial it down to 20% and lower the upwards compression. it brings some added dynamic stability while sculpting the transients to be a bit tighter and pronounced. then i slap on bx masterdesk, dial that in to taste but won't push it hard so that it limiting the dynamics. that plugin has some mojo to it. after that i add a little bit of clarity from ozone 11. then i try to see what the stabilizer does. if its enough to use it subtly i leave it there, otherwise i go to fix what seem to need fixing in the mix. and try again. if im happy with the stereo field i usually don't touch it. but quite often it can be good to dial back the sides with a low shelf a little bit unless its only a select few sounds in the mix that need that treatment. then i slap on the ozone vintage limiter to work on the strongest transients before i turn to the maximizer with level compensation turned on -1db output and true peak on. check with tonal balance control, and youlean loudness meter to see how much i can push the tracks level before it starts sounding bad in anyway. if i can't get within the ballpark of the level i usually target with my mixes it shows i have more work to do in the mix. perhaps i missed some separation, polarity switch or having transient buildups i can adjust with delaying a channel or panning something a smidge. then i go through the mastering chain again to adjust to any changes i may have made to the mix. then back to the maximizer while monitoring the metering. also using psyscope pro to check for buildups when summing sounds. i usually run with with a slower attack/release setting on the maximizer, comparing IRC2, Balanced and modern algorithms, adjusting the stereo link controls to either make the transients or the sustain more stereo indipendet. depens on the track ofc. then i set the upward compression to 1.7db which i find to be the sweetspot every time for my mixes. then i push the gain of the maximizer, checking with the delta mode on to make sure i only limit inharmonic content. then i dial in the soft clipper on medium setting while listening to cymbals or other sustained inharmonic noises since those are the quickest to reveal distortion from the softclipper. my aim with the soft clipper there is to make the sound a little more upfront and enhancing the energy of the track a bit. if medium setting is too much i try the low setting. if that is too much aswell i just disable the soft clipper. but often i can push it quite a bit before any distortion becomes audible. i can usually push my tracks to around -6lufs short term. that sometimes bring the loudest parts of the track to a momentary max of about 3,7-4db and about a -7 to -7.5 lufs integrated. i recently pulled the trigger on soothe so i sometimes put that later at the start of the chain and set it to hard mode with a flat curve and let it work a little bit over the entire track which sort of serves to dial back the input level into the whole chain while taming some potential harshness and low end mud, before rather than after most of the chain. Not sure this is the ultimate way to master a track but it works well for me in most cases. but every mix is different and integrating some smarter plugins makes the same chain work on most tracks. The frequency curve shown in the video here is similar to what i end up with without setting up this kind of eq matching but i do tend to leave a bit more of the highest highs which i probably should be more careful with doing.

Go for it and let me know how it works out!

I’m planning to show another use case where it’s a lot more noticeable. This mix was already complete, and since it was my own version of the mix, I knew it wouldn’t be stuck down. Next I want to showcase the technique with a few pro mixes already mastered just to show how well it works.

@@thinkinsidethebox411 please reply with the link to video, thanks.

Which one are you referring to?

It really only matters in low end

cool thanks

EQuivocate's linear phase filters are very good, I rarely hear unpleasant artifacts. Only downside is high latency, which makes it unusable for multiple istances while mixing

You can change the bands to however you want them to be. There's a setting that makes all the bands at 1/3 octave which is more what you're probably used to. This setting however is based on the human hearing frequency bands so that's why they're divided this way.

Good deal! I’m glad it’s working out. I use it all the time.

Let me know it works for you!

There are other ways to do the same thing I’m doing here, but this tutorial is just for those who already have Equivocate and looking to use it as a tonal shaper to match an eq profile for broad strokes. In my opinion, the match eq from other plugins have very narrow cuts and boosts that can also cause more problems whereas the Equivocate has broader cuts and boosts comparatively since all the frequencies are pre selected.

@@thinkinsidethebox411 that's also true, and fair I was just mentioning it because you sounded like you thought most other good EQ plugins didn't have this feature, when quite a few of them do

​@@ProdDJDNope. He sounded like a person who's enthusiastic enough to share something intuitive. That's all. Appreciate the effort and move on.

@@bigheartsmolpen that's just what it sounded like to me at least 🤷sorry for feeling that way

I will try to make this happen! If I can, I'll add it to the description in the video. Good idea!

Haha yeah, this is a technique I picked up awhile ago on my own, but didn’t realize it was a common practice. And fixing eq you can’t hear well is one of the benefits of this technique. It can definitely show you where your mix needs help, or to just simply enhance the mix buss.

Thanks sir! Great compliment. I love using Equivocate to even things out. The mix buss isn’t the only way I use it, but it definitely helps for checking the final balance.

I can hear the distorsion here also ...

I tried to make it sound the same so it wouldn’t blow you away with either my voice or the track. Maybe I failed lol

@@thinkinsidethebox411 I dont know, could be me not setting my monitors optimally, but I was getting a big difference. I dont even make videos, what do I know? lol

@@thinkinsidethebox411 yeah, the sample track that you use at 6:51 is really loud compared to the everything in the first half of the video.

As does some TDR plug ins..... Nothing new or exclusive....... But as for Equivocate... New fangled are as good in their digital voodoo. Thats why I bought all the plugs.. As also all the TDR GE Editions. I must admit.. MM looks like its a time saver though...

I’ve been looking at getting COS Pro, as I already have Mix Monolith. It’s been very helpful with establishing a good baseline balance and keeping everything from mixing too loud.

A must-have plug-in!

For now, until I’m verified, just type in the link in the description without the spaces around “google”. Once I’m verified, then that link will turn blue and you’ll be able to click on it and download the screenshot.

Well, not exactly although maybe the curve leans towards brown noise, it's still a custom tailored EQ designed by myself to match the overall sonic profiles of most of the popular music or what generally sounds good on most systems.

I don’t think I mentioned how I came up with the customized pink noise profile, but after analyzing dozens if not hundreds of songs on various analyzers, I was able to start hearing where some professional mixes sounded off balance to a point I knew I could improve with just eq. Once I was able to find a pink noise profile that worked for 95%+ of music, I knew I was on to something. This match eq is more for finding out where in your mix needs adjustment rather than always relying on this final eq to “fix” balance issues, although when used in the right amount, certainly adds a lot in the mastering process.

@@thinkinsidethebox411 yup I understand the process, as Ive used sort of the same process before. Really just wanted to know if the curve was based on something. So now I understand that its a curve based on your preference and how you hear it in your speakers and room. Thanks for clarification.

For now, until I’m verified, just type in the link in the description without the spaces around “google”. Once I’m verified, then that link will turn blue and you’ll be able to click on it and download the screenshot.

agree

That’s not a bad idea. I don’t have iZotope so I did this one by ear and by analyzing overall tonal balances of many of my reference tracks to get a good idea of how it should generally look.

Probably because I already used this trick before exporting it and this was basically doubling the effect.

Thanks! I’m glad you found it useful.