Fruity Parametric EQ2 baby

one of the best pieces of advice i started following was to use much broader Qs when EQing, immediately i was able to mix way faster and all my mixes sounded more natural and full of life. clear to see why after watching this!

As you said, it's not a question whether it's possible to copy the curves, it's whether you know which curves work, why and how. And there is no chance you will learn that on your own by fiddling around with a stock EQ...

In defense of good analogue classic plugs, they have great curves used in many records thanks to being locked to specific frequency choices that are musical, and as you said. Some genuinely have a lot of saturation, e.g. Acustica Audio and the Curve Bender as you showed. Acustica have pre-amp emulations built into their EQs. But specific hardware EQs sound great because they can have great saturation (Neve 1073/1084), and create a sense of separation that digital struggles to replicate, especially stock plugs. But digital is catching up, e.g. Tone Project's Michelango and some Acustica EQs like Opal and Erin which sound so close to hardware.

this was interesting! i'm still using a 16 year old mac book pro running snowleopard so i'm using almost solely native logic stuff with my hardware. every now and then i'm thinking of upgrading my computer and daw so i could use certain eq, compressor etc plug-ins but it probably would lead to having to update my audio and midi interfaces as well so it feels too big of a hassle 😅

I really enjoyed your work in this video! The first thing I noticed between the hardware & the logic eq was the change in image. Linear eqs can sound really flat. I'm a hybrid mixer so I use linear eq's for fixes & good modeled & analog eq's to add depth & vibe.

Long & detailed, really interesting 🤔thanks Starsky👍

Stopped bying eq plugins after getting 2 hardware eqs. The difference is vast

Just had a quick run with that Bertom EQ Analyzer... incredibly useful! I normally use UVI Shade as my main eq for just about everything but copied a few of my favorite UAD eq settings over to it. Thanks for the heads up!

Logic eq is always so clear. Good video 👍🏼

Hardware emulations are sensitive to absolute input levels, particularly where distortion is concerned. Guitar pedal/amp emulations demonstrate this most strongly since they’re all about distortion, but I would think that it’s important in EQ emulation as well (that “vintage vibe” as you say). So testing an EQ emulation with an input of -50dB (a level much lower than you’d ever use with the hardware) may not be showing anything interesting. I’d be interested in seeing what you get at -10 or 0 dB input level (whatever that translates to in digital dBFS for that plugin - amp emulators normally want the input level to be around -18 dBFS).

The stock Pro EQ3 plugin now in Studio One I use has 3 band parametric, solo isolation of frequencies which is a really cool, and you can apply dynamic compression on an isolated frequency, and more.

Love that EQ analyzer! Interesting stuff. Looking forward to see how the new Pultec device in the beta version of Bitwig 5.2 compares. It does sound nice I will say that. Thanks for the great video.

I have my plugins in Ableton organised into broad categories - saturation, EQ/filters, dynamics, modulation/reverb/delay, and 'misc' - and the EQ one is by far the smallest, for exactly this reason. Fabfilter covers most tasks, but for broad tone shaping a few analog emulations get there faster. Saturation and compressors on the other hand, there are so many colours and grooves that stock saturation and compression simply can't do, in the same way as synths or guitar pedals, whether software or hardware. One thing I will pull you up on with the Massive Passive, since I use the Pulsar Audio version as my main analog-modelled EQ: a characteristic of the hardware that makes it worth using is that each band is in parallel and can saturate separately through the tube stages. That means you can get, for example, really smooth transient rounding and compression in just the low end. In plugin doctor, you were running a -40dB sine wave into it, which is well below the -18dB nominal operating level. Those harmonics would have been more prominent if you'd driven it harder, and you'd see a bit of movement in the dynamics page as well.

Interesting video bud, you should analyse some analogue filters next on some of your hardware synths, especially the moog it would be nice see whats going on with the curves the phasing and the harmonic distortion.

Thanks for the analysis!

the pultec lowend trick shape is basically what you get with a parallel second order lowpass, iirc. it’s not a stock plugin but the bass boost i came up with for the bonsai effect in surge ended up with a similar shape.

Well said. I stopped buying eq/compressors years ago. In fact a decade ago i reckon. I was happy after getting my ssl strip from PA and tdr nova. PA did have me buy a few compressors and saturators but not many. I prefer to go for better than stock delays/reverbs or genuinely creative sounds. Eg valhalla delay is a tonne better than any FL delay. And valhalla is obviously better then fruity reverb 2... When i settled on Cytomic "the glue" i knew i didn't need another comp.

I like to use the UAD Pultec & API Channel Strip EQs for broad strokes, mostly because they don't have a visual display showing me the curves and the frequency spectrum. I think this works better for me because it forces me to use my ears more. When it comes to more surgical stuff, I prefer to use Pro-Q3 or the stock DAW EQ. So in my experience, it's a case of horses for courses.

I think it comes down to whether you want your processing plugins to add character to your sounds, or just tidy them up. The better analog emulation plugs definitely add something if that's what you're after. Having said that, I can happily mix most tracks solely using Toneboosters plugins, which cost peanuts.

Could you copy an eq curve with a second track that is out of phase?

Whenever I listen to music Im always like “Wow this has the best eq plugin EVER! YEAHHH!” Lol

The most clever thing I did was something someone said years ago ... unsubscribe from any mailing list, I felt bombarded until finally buying something I never used, falling into the bargain trap, something Waves thought me is their stuff real value is always $29.99 (same as PG Alliance). As you professionally mentioned the EQ is a tool that must help the mix in context. My apologies if I am lost in translation, question: do you recommend getting for example a good hardware EQ, Elysia for example, also new or vintage, because there is a trend, almost as a cult for expensive to buy and maintain vintage hardware (that also looks nice in the back of a YT video even when is just a prop). Thanks again Starsky for your help. Music production is becoming as necessary as speaking latin :-( and every piece of advice is needed. Getting into your Patreon.

This was really informative. Would be great to see one about 'analogue warmth' or the emulation and desire of that in saturation plugins. Ive seen studio desk emulators (with crosstalk) and various attracting, but can it be replicated or what even is it? The vid might help focus folk on what might help them (or save them endlessly window shopping!).

Great video, you really have a point. In this case, clearly for some of us it is preferable to use a Pultec plugin than to emulate curves in Pro Q3, since obviously if I think of Pultec I am thinking of an aesthetic, a workflow and a sound concept and a set of technical-creative factors that cannot be overlooked. I think that behind this "rip off" movement about plugins that has been rising these days is the tiredness that we consumers have to the megalomaniacal marketing, sometimes gray and sometimes openly false, about emulation plugins. For obvious reasons, there is NO WAY they are the same as their hardware counterparts, but companies take advantage of the naivety of aspiring producers and engineers to hear what they want to hear, and sell them their placebo.

What do you think of the Logic stock pultec emulation?

I have UAD Api, Pulltec, Maag and uad SSL, Neve ch. strips eqs...got all of it very cheaply on a sale. My personal fav is Pulltec but I like them all AND most of the time I use anyway FL Studio stock eq plugins...at least at the early stage of mixing.

Thank you for the Bertom analyser tip.

Do you use Fabfilter Stuff ?

What excellent timing!! Just saw a UA plug-in bundle for like 90% off and figured what they hell... I won't need it for years at rhis point but might be nice to have in the future for that cheap!

Wondering if we would be able to recreate the curves without the analyzers.. i think thats what made the hardware special,there was no screen to look at and every piece of hardware had its character by having unique curves and flavor through the transformers etc, of course nowdays you can run a pultec through an analyzer and then recreate the curves with the stock eq and say, every eq is the same

Had similar issues with Plugin alliance SSL channel strips. With their filter, not being accurate at all, or Gate/Expander not being effective. Found that Waves SSL style channel strips to be way more accurate.

I'm certainly no expert so I'm just sticking with ReaEQ in Reaper. I'm not sure I could tell any difference by forking out for another EQ vst.

Did you look at Logic’s built in Pultec emulation?

Wat about compressor emulations?

Comparing old-school plugins to stock plugins is fine and so is questioning the value of basic EQ plugins, but maybe a better question is looking at plugins that go beyond (faster, easier, more tools) and see what their value is. Things like pro q 3 and multiband plugins.

The Elysia sounds beautiful

You can match most of them... It at least come close, adding saturation.... But how much longer will it take you to dial an EQ? Will it sound as good when you do is manually.... Are you going to play with the slope or just the q? What's going to sound good for how the frequencies interact? I'm not saying to buy crazy overpriced analog emulation EQ... I'm saying that the plugins in this category that really do have their place!

One takes 5 seconds and I think that's the things, hpow you get there. So totally agree, it can be done and when its in the era of hardware eqs its magic! Now we see behidn the curtain we see why

Included in Cubase 13

When running sound through ANY analogue external gear - surely, it's not just a curve that can be e3mu8lated by any clean digital parametric EQ - you also get pleasant distortions, 'warmth', 'thickness', or shiny brightness without being ear-piercing etc.

Cubase stock eq and melda eq gets the job done for me

Is this only for doof doof music?

Was trying to figure out why I'm not a huge fan of 500 series EQs and basically came to the same conclusion. There shouldn't be any color in EQs and there's very little special functionality like you'll find in pres or compressors. It's really all about what's intuitive for the user.

There's a huge machine now that is the plug-in industry. It makes me roll my eyes a bit when I see a new greatest plugin press release every stinking day almost. So I understand the push back. It's getting a bit out of hand. I'm happy with really getting to know just a handful of plugs now.

You need to run a sine wave through the EQ plugin set flat and then look at the output through an analyzer. Does it add any harmonics? That’s the reason I’ll use EQ plugins other than Logic’s EQ at times.

tbh most of the processing plugins are pointless. Not a ripoff, just pointless. Your DAW already has 90% of processing plugins you'll ever need. Anything else is just software GAS.

What about saturation??

Let's also not forget, 85% of people are going to be listening on a cellphone or laptops. I don't know if it's common, but I've heard of people checking their mastering on a tiny mono monitor because they know that's what most people listen on. Anyway, great video.

A winner would be an EQ that has the curves, notches, characteristics etc of all the classics in one plugin, followed by a selection of transformer/saturation stages. Anyone know of this type of plugin?

I would say, dont be sucked into the marketing and glossy GUIs by all these different manufacturers with their new greatest and powerful plugins and instruments, technology is so good now,that there is no one better than the other or groundbreaking anymore, i feel those days are gone, bit like the cameras on our phones, they are all so good now that you are going to get very good results no matter what brand you are using, it is all subjective, find the ones that work best for you and learn them inside out! Its a competitive market and its good to have choice, stock DAW eqs compressors etc are so good now, as are some of the free ones, there are also a fair few hardware devices that secondhand, are affordable if one wants to try different flavours outside of the DAW. Spend the time learning and using what you have available to you!

the reason you could not achieve perfect null between manley and logic eq is that uad's manley adds harmonics.

Pultec is a Big Smiley Face Switch

Once you have SOUNDGOODIZER ...Eq dont matter ... You have gone next level.

I’ve bought many eq plugins, cheap and expensive, the only thing remotely close to analog is the DMG equilibrium, it makes things sound right, a lot of the vintage emulations I find a bit too eccentric, I’ve ended up spending far too long just wondering…

I literally just follow what I hear and what I want to hear when EQing, I basically only use Pro Q3, EQ8, and the three band EQ on Korvpressor and I can pretty much get any sound I want with that.

Match Curvee is ok but people been running thingz thrug PulTecs without even touching the EQ same with La2A and such Juzz for Color.

All of these products sell nostalgia.

It's not the curves. You can emulate curves on any EQ. It's the internal circuitry that gives EQ plug flavor. Tubes and transistors. There are fantastic analog channel strips available. There's also really poorly coded ineffective plugs too. Choose wisely.

Just bought HMD Rosetta Eq... Loving it though appreciate it is a very lazy method of eq'ing

Hardware's slightly wider @ 8:25 ? Not €1000 wider, but there's something going on I think.

Someone’s been watching AP Mastering lol

Logic has three vintage EQs.

you saw the video from ap mastering am i right? 😂

I think the real test is if you can get it to null or close to.

While i like the video, I have to disagree with a few things said on the technical aspects. Especially at 21:40 - analog EQs are ALL ABOUT distortion / saturation! My own conclusion is, that everyone who doesn't have the monitoring and/or ear to feel the hardware elysia sounds far superior in your demo at 08:25 should take care of THAT first - before spending ANY money on plugins.

Workflow is key, for me its worth the munne

The more i fanny about with EQs,the worse it gets.🤣

Ive made a promise to stop buying Mixing plugins !

This is why Filterbank was way ahead of its time...

I think we're all getting tired of buying plugin "PICTURES"

check out the Carnaby 500 harmonic EQ from Cranborne audio!

I saw another creator post on this a few days ago and it irked me. Your point at the beginning is the biggest key here - Yes, you could achieve the same results with a stock EQ, but it is faster, easier and more repeatable to achieve desired results with emulated plug-ins. Workflow is king. Sure, Nova can do anything that any of the EQ's in the UAD native bundle can - but my mixes had a very notable improvement in quality and speed by using the UAD plug-ins. Not only that, but as someone in the process of expanding my hardware collection, having quality emulation plug-ins allows me to become intimately familiar with units that I'm considering purchasing which dramatically decreases the learning curve once acquiring the hardware unit, and I have plug-in backups for when I need, say, an 1176 across more than 2 channels at once. Workflow - Workflow - Workflow. I have no desire to sit here with an EQ curve analyzer to emulate emulated units, which clearly I would have had to purchase to be able to analyze to be able to effectively emulate the emulation in the first place. Seems like a completely moot point. And there is something to be said for the UI of emulated EQ's - not having the graphical displays does force one to rely upon their ears. Also, an analog EQ that essentially proves the point that EQ curves are able to be recreated is the UTEQ500 - which has settings that can emulate a wide variety of analog EQ's from Pultec's to G-Bus, to 1073 etc.

For the Pultec style EQ, sure... you could create something, especially in Ableton or Bitwig that emulates the curves and parameters. But if you want that SOUND... and the plug-in is relatively affordable, just buy it.

I mean yeah they are eq curves… people always say the software is JUST the same as the hardware 🤣🤣🤣 can’t make it up

To be able to emulate the curve from the hardware you need the hardware. Without the hardware you don’t have a clue what you are emulating so the argument becomes moot imho.

That's it. I'm going to sell all my hammers. Because I can use my screwdriver to bang a nail in instead, if I turn it around.

No, not a ripoff. It’s the workflow, the bands, the way the curves interact, the quality of the algorithm. Pulseq is one style of EQ; there are dozens of others. Your video was off to the races right from the get go 😅. Enjoyed it nevertheless.

why are you digitally clipping the audio examples?

most people think a plugin eq or compressor can substitute their (dis)ability to arrange and compose, and in the end the abilty to mix. nope your boring 200 layer crap is still boring after all the plugin chains ;D. thats wqhy plugin developers tryin to sell you nice pictures simulating hardware. they all sell an illusion of being THE producer. i reckongnized that some plugins are really tricking into the more db trap upfront wihtout ANY setting done

I just watched the part about phase response and thats probably the least accurate part of the video. Not only is phase response on things like lowcuts INCREDIBLY audible to even average listener ears, it also affects the entire signal chain and gainstaging afterwards as a shift in phase will in 99.9% of the cases also introduce a change in signal amplitude. Now there is no inherent advantage to certain types of phase responses, but its OBJECTIVE that it makes a difference.

The vintage emulators don't just emulate the originals' curves, they emulate the whole circuit path including the transformers, as is the case with UAD.

Why are you people shocked an EQ can do what an EQ is supposed to do. Like.. OMG I CAN EQ MATCH!!! 😮🤯 No shit Sherlock.

Hoping that all this nerding about technical quibbles would translate to better music. Sadly, hasn't happened yet

Please buy my attenuator, modeled after the golden Abbey Road attenuators of old! 😂

Harmonics build up, especially in the high end. And that’s where the “color” comes in.

another you tuber did this exact thing recently.

Sure, you proved you CAN match any EQ plugin curve on screen, if you are happy to sit and look at an analysis plugin for ages. The problem is, that only works if you have already set up the actual EQ plugin you want to emulate (which you need to have installed) and dialled in the settings you like, only to then copy them with your stock EQ plugin. What is the point of that?! No one intuitively knows what the curves ‘should’ be to set the stock EQ to emulate a Pultec at any given setting, for example, so you need the Pultec (or any other EQ emulator) plugin first to see what it is doing to be able to emulate it to begin with. How else could you possibly match the curves? Because you can do this doesn’t mean EQ plugins are not needed. As a professional mixer, the idea of spending all that extra time just so I can say ‘I don’t need to buy other plugins’ is an absolute waste of my time and mixing a song will take soooo much longer for no added gain. Time I would have to charge my client for and man, that’s not fair. So again, sure you can, but why would you and when is that ever an advantage to a mix engineer?

I find bbe sonic maximizer set to max over every track works. Jk

not watched the video jet, but it's a 100% ripoff! there is zero benefit to buy all the plugins, they all sound the same.

EQ's are for people who can't choose and place a microphone correctly. ;-)

Think of the time you spend dicking around trying to emulate what a specific eq does using a stock daw eq. I'd rather use a Pultec-type or API-type eq and just get the job done. Or for an even bigger time-suck try emulating a Manley Massive Passive with your stock daw eq.

'plug-ins' ? Ewwwwww! #TheScreenIsDeath

Nah bro you saw a video and stole the idea. Lmao be honest

Look, i love your videos but i think theres a lot of things your missing here. I really hate to write this as it sounds like an attack on you, i dont mean it to be. Im just frustrated with your conclusions. EQ curves are just a part of the equation, good eq emulations do much more than that. You can generally hear that in respect to stereo depth, phase and saturation. You cover it, but again, not the best emulations (UAD is meh) and you've downplayed things. Quite often i will throw these eq's on without even touching the knobs, no boosting, no cutting. Thats because they have certain aspects i like. I think of them as more color or depth tools. They are basically preamps with extra tweakability. If im doing small boosts or cuts i will quite often use a stock plugin before it! Also Different pulteq plugins will sound vastly different to. Like theres one pultec plugin i use (and its free) for tight low ends where transients need to be retained, then theres another for bolder more 3d low end. . This applys to other types of emulations. And to he honest, the emulations your using arent exactly the best. I really really dislike these types of "hey i can make these curves with stock plugins" videos because they miss the point. Your not the only creator thats done this and its cringe/annoying . It feels likes its copium for people who dont want to invest in plugins and the "i only use stock plugins" crowd. Sorry that was a bit of attack, i dont mean it to be. In your demos you can hear deltas and they are from average at best emulations. Also, as you know from hardware eq's its how you drive (gain stage) the eq to which effects the outcome due saturation, etc. You get different musical results.

Terrible approach to relaying information, you have your narration, what's going on screen as you adjust parameters of the EQ, seperate unrelated text to read, as well as music playing fairly loudly . . . gave up after just a couple of minutes, thumbs down from me.

Call me 'Old Fashioned', but when it comes 2 hardware EQ -I prefer my Behringer Ultragraph PRO GEQ3102 31-Band Stereo Graphic EQ!😈... There's no pretentious arcane 'Knob-Snob' twiddling -U can SEE from across the ROOM Ur frequency curves (in STEREO w/ NO NEED of an O-Scope -BTW!)📈👀📉👀... There's ALSO 6db-12db Boost; LED I/O Meter; Input/Low-Cut/High-Cut Pots... I mean, if U CAN'T sculpt Ur sound w/ 'Surgeon-Like' accuracy w/ THAT -MAYBE Ur in the WRONG Business!😒... As far as DAW EQs go, I find the stock EQ that comes w/ Studio One QUITE sufficient!😇... So, IMHO (and 40+yrs experice), any EQ emulator plugin w/ arcane knobs & switches is selling itself on its 'professional hardware reputation' (a convenient excuse 4 being overpriced) for somehow having a "Unique Flavor" (that U just CAN'T get w/any other CHEAPER EQ) in recording studios where its is chique 2 use overpriced hardware touting freq-knobs & switches IN PLACE of a Good Ol' Fashioned Graphic EQ. Let's face it: Frequency is Frequency Hi & Lo Cut & Boost, is ALL the SAME -The issue is between the UI & The EAR!👂... Personally, I've been in Many a recording studios since '85, mixed/engineered (as well as wrote/arranged/produced & played drums/keys/vox as an artist myself); and in those studios that had a 31-Band Stereo EQ (as opposed 2 a 'Snob-Knob' EQ -which needs an O-Scope if U want a graphical reference!📈👀) -the workflow was ALWAYS a helluva-lot SMOOTHER!😇... Ultimately, a 'Good Ear' WILL HAVE the FINAL SAY & if THAT'S BROKE -No EQ, no matter the price, can FIX THAT!🙉... Say what U will, 'Old Skool' works 4 ME!😈 AND, If it👂ain't BROKE -Don't FIX It!😎

Great video! Like the opposite and a more intelligent discussion of what AP mastering did in his videos (which were just pitching courses i feel).