Here are the results of the several eq plugins that i tested
sorry its a bit of a long topic and these are only my opinions of course.
plugins tested
Waves LinEq low and broadband
Timeworks Mastering Eq
JMS Hi resoultion EQ
TC Native EQ
Sonalksis 517 EQ
PSP MasterQ
Steinberg Q metric
Tracks tested on was one poor mixed track which needed a lot of surgical work, 2nd track was a average that just needed some touch up. 3rd track was a excellent mix, so just wanted to see if the plugins could add anything to it
the brief highlights are as follows
Waves Lin Eq: very good for surgical use and most transparent out of these choices. Even with the tracks that didn't need much surgical work it added definition to the low end. Not much sweet colour but I don't think it was designed for that. FLexible and good user interface.
Timeworks Mastering Q: seemd a bit lightweight and not refined enough. fiddly controls particulary the shelving controls. Did not seem to cope with surgical or sweetning
JMS hi re: not as transparent as the waves but was still pretty good, still defined in all areas, not harsh sounding, performed well on all tracks, more flexible than waves
TC native: not the most flexible as had no hi-low filters. not transparent and not colourful so not sure would consider as a mastering eq although did perform better than some of the others.
Sonalksis 517 EQ: this had been recommended by several people so had high hopes for this. its quite smooth but to my ears anything more than a 2db boost would push it in the harsh area particulary vocals. the low end seemed to suffer and the tracks sounded better without anything thing done to them. does have a good user interface and reasonably flexible
PSP masterQ: initially was impressed but when listening closer found a lot of the areas to to be smeared partculary the vocal area. sounded quite cold. the high end can sparkle and can really bring details out on recordings but when pushed it got a bit too much. fiddly interface is flexible but maybe to the point where there are too many options
Steinberg Q Metric: the most colorful out of all them but handles it in a nice way on all the tracks the low end seemed more solid and the mids sounded warm but without sounding harsh. The highs are a bit too coloured for my liking as i would prefer something a bit more smoother
conclusion:
I learnt a lot from doing these tests, and was a good listening test. there wasn't one plugin that was complete and I could find fault with at least element of it. So rather than just depend on one plugin I would use a mixture depending on what the track required ( i would prob imagine that most people that would do that anyway)
The ones that stood out to me were the Waves, JMS hi res and the steinberg q metric (the last 2 not being the most expensive plugins and i kept coming back to them). For the time being they have what i need to get on with. There are prob a few more out there that i need to try like the UAD ones and of course the algorithmix.
I would love to try a go analog at some point when i get more things under belt as im sure it may open up another world to me.
cheers Alex
