What are your fav RE EQ and why!!

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antic604

11 Aug 2018

Zac wrote:
11 Aug 2018
One minor frustration is that the low band eq (blue) doesn't go below 200Hz.
You can click "BELL" button on the LF band (black) and use that - this goes to 20Hz

strangers
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11 Aug 2018

The SSL EQ is my go-to because it's convenient and gets the job done. I'm not particularly thrilled with it for any little boosts in the high end. When I want a little added character with my EQ I reach for any of the Kuassa EQs. I have the GQ-7 from the mixing/master rig. I mostly use that for filtering highs/lows with compressors and reverbs.

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Zac
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11 Aug 2018

antic604 wrote:
11 Aug 2018
Zac wrote:
11 Aug 2018
One minor frustration is that the low band eq (blue) doesn't go below 200Hz.
You can click "BELL" button on the LF band (black) and use that - this goes to 20Hz
Thanks, thing is ive usually used that ... say on drums to boost the kick fundamental. Quite often I'd like to then bring the low band down below 200 to clean up some of the stuff beyond the fundamental. Just chewing the fat. I guess it's modelled on the hardware.

madmacman
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11 Aug 2018

Zac wrote:
11 Aug 2018
Thanks, thing is ive usually used that ... say on drums to boost the kick fundamental. Quite often I'd like to then bring the low band down below 200 to clean up some of the stuff beyond the fundamental. Just chewing the fat. I guess it's modelled on the hardware.
Isn't this what the HPF is made for?

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Zac
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11 Aug 2018

madmacman wrote:
11 Aug 2018
Zac wrote:
11 Aug 2018
Thanks, thing is ive usually used that ... say on drums to boost the kick fundamental. Quite often I'd like to then bring the low band down below 200 to clean up some of the stuff beyond the fundamental. Just chewing the fat. I guess it's modelled on the hardware.
Isn't this what the HPF is made for?
I should have used a better term than beyond... i meant above/higher than the kick. Using the hpf would wipe out the boost id used the bell on the low shelf for.

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FLVZ
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11 Aug 2018

Can't believe no one's mentioned Red Queen yet.
Love this EQ, an incredible amount of flexibility, though its CPU hungry.

The Tubetech EQs are nice too, you can barely make anything sound terrible with them!

two shoes
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11 Aug 2018

aeox wrote:
10 Aug 2018
two shoes wrote:
10 Aug 2018
i'd also recommend getting the Synapse RE bundle when it goes on sale for 149. Antidote is a great synth with some cool unison features and if there's a better moog softsynth than the Legend on the market I haven't heard it.
Ah you haven't heard VK-2 :)

edit: Well, it's not a minimoog clone though. SO the comparison doesn't make sense, my bad.
yeah i meant moog in the sense that it's a near emulation of a model d, but the viking vk-2 is great as well.

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raveled
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13 Aug 2018

The SSL mixer EQ because habit. Also, it's great for filtering and offer what I need most of the time.

GQ-7; when I want narrow cuts.

VE-3 and MP5; for the fun of using them.

ColoringEQ; for its ability to globally scale my EQ moves.

madmacman
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14 Aug 2018

Honestly: None!

After trialling the Fabfilter Pro Q2, I didn't want to have any other EQ. Even if I finally did NOT buy it, because I couldn't justify the price tag to myself.

So I mostly stick with stock devices. SSL for the mix, MClass EQ for the surgical cuts. And then some VST freebies as specialists (luftikus, TDR Nova). That's pretty much it.

Ostermilk
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14 Aug 2018

raveled wrote:
13 Aug 2018
The SSL mixer EQ because habit. Also, it's great for filtering and offer what I need most of the time.

GQ-7; when I want narrow cuts.

VE-3 and MP5; for the fun of using them.

ColoringEQ; for its ability to globally scale my EQ moves.
I concur with this mostly, in that I'll use different things for different reasons, a console style emulation for the ease of use over common frequency bands, which will mean either the SSL channel EQ or the Kuassa AT-4 (because I like/am used to, Neve style console EQ's.)

GQ-7 I own but don't use incredibly often, I find now Selig's coloring EQ covers all the bases even if I'm just using it as a conventional EQ, but it has so much to offer over and above that, that I still find I'm scratching the surface of it's capabilities which seem to extend beyond anything else I've found in VST or RE land.

Red Queen has some great filters, flexibility and uniqueness, but man, I find it is a real workflow killer.

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Kalm
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14 Aug 2018

The EVE's bundle, specifically AT-1. Then Red Reck Sound's Maag joint. That's it. . I don't need the GQ7 unfortunately. Rob Papaen is there on the master bus to add Air & Saturation to give some life to the track without doing too much. Those two knobs should be a Rack Extension in itself.
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scratchnsnifff
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20 Aug 2018

My top two choices are the Gq-7 and rob papens Eq. I also recommend waiting for a sale and getting the all of synapse bundle. Because synapse easily has some of the best effects in the shop

I use the gq7 for sound design whereas I use the RP EQ for mastering. The RP eq has an awesome feature where you can make very wide bell shapes as well as really narrow cuts

The synapse eq does have some nice filter shapes and also you can click and drag on each band, and change the shape.

If you look at the little display of each band and see the little shape that is displayed, you can click and drag up or down to change from Bell, shelf, and something else

Also I think both do mid side Eqing meaning that you can cut and boost frequencies in the stereo field as well as in the mono spectrum
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EdGrip
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20 Aug 2018

I'm not at the heavy EQ usage stage yet, nor am I committed enough to Reason to invest in the RE format for non-sound-design/CV plugins.
So I use the brilliant TDR stuff and EQuivocate, and the SSL mainly.
I'm also tending to reach for Kotelnikov when I want to compress something because I feel that (along with its YouTube tutorials) it's a very educational compressor to learn with (as well as being good!)
I do wonder about the CPU cost of using VSTs where I could be using REs, but I'm having fun, that's the main thing.
I think if I were to invest in an RE EQ, I'd trial Selig's Coloring EQ first.

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mcatalao
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20 Aug 2018

First and foremost my most used eq in reason is and i think it will always be the Reason SSL Mixer EQ.
While it might not be the most surgical it's more than enough for 90% of day to day usage, and it's completely integrated in my mixing process (suffice to say my main compressor and gate are also from the SSL). Part of this dependency is due to having my controllers completely prepared to work with the SSL channel.

However, i have some EQ's that i use from time to time and a couple that are always used in my projects:

1 - Kuassa EVE MP5
This is my current finalizing eq. It is really amazing that such a simple device can give a special shine on your final mix. The form this device is layered, the musicality and logic of the device make it my main eq for finalizing. Either on a Mix Stereo Bus, or spawned all over a Mastering project, this device is there even after getting other more complex or more surgical eq's for mixing or mastering.

2 - Lab One's Red Queen
The is the army knife of the EQ. The mother of them all EQ's. To be the most comprehensive EQ in reason it only lacks an FFT analyser, because it is at the moment and imho the most complete EQ for reason.
The amount and types of channels it can process over a stereo source is amazing and the shaping modes of each band maddening. The device is so crazy the amount of controls it has surpasses 300 remotables.

3 - Selig Coloring EQ
Somebody talked about coloring? You'd need crayons to color you stuff more.
While at first you'd think it is a normal 7 band eq, add saturation to the equation and you have probably the most impressive blend of EQ and Coloring. Add to this sequencing control for the bands and a nice FFT display, with selectable fast and hold modes, and switchable for low CPU consumption while you're not looking at your sound.

4 - Labone's ReQ131
This was LabOne's first EQ and probably the first graphic equalizer that appeared for reason. Here at my studio it mostly gets a lot of love for some room correction on the Ctrl Room Bus (the bands and Q's are probably some of the most steep that you can have in Reason). But it is sometimes called for that surgical odd task. It's also a good addition to the master bus just for the added High and Low pass filters which are not present on Eve MP5.

5 - Isotope Neutron Eq
Not an Re i know, but a VST. For mixing the neutron equalizer with the mix tap plugin is an amazing tool, even if you use it just to check out conflicting instruments.

And that's it. I could add Isotope Ozone's EQ, or some other but these four Re's pluse the Neutron EQ are the most used here after the main mixer channel EQ is extinguished.

Cheers,
MC

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Faastwalker
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20 Aug 2018

Unlike more creative & esoteric RE's I find EQ quite boring & uninteresting. Same with compression. However they are obviously essential tools so my favorite are what's included in the Reason mixer. I haven't found a need to go much beyond these to be honest. They seem to do what it says on the tin well enough for me.

I did buy the EVE-MP5 from Kuassa but that was mainly because it looks nice (gorgeous GUI), was on sale & people said it was excellent. I've never touched it beyond the 'Warm Master' preset on my master output! I guess I should spend a bit more time with it really. I don't think I've bought any other EQ's.
Last edited by Faastwalker on 21 Aug 2018, edited 2 times in total.

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wendylou
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20 Aug 2018

I have the Synapse GQ-7 in my master chain for final adjustments, if needed. But on an as-needed basis, I like using Kuassa EVE-MP5's "Warm Master".
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dvdrtldg
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21 Aug 2018

mcatalao wrote:
20 Aug 2018
4 - Labone's ReQ131
This was LabOne's first EQ and probably the first graphic equalizer that appeared for reason. Here at my studio it mostly gets a lot of love for some room correction on the Ctrl Room Bus (the bands and Q's are probably some of the most steep that you can have in Reason). But it is sometimes called for that surgical odd task. It's also a good addition to the master bus just for the added High and Low pass filters which are not present on Eve MP5.
Yeah I like this one a lot, I think it's the only EQ I use that has a wet-dry function and it comes in really handy from time to time

I'm still on version 1 though, it has less functionality than 2 but I couldn't bring myself to upgrade coz it's such an awful GUI

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tallguy
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21 Aug 2018

GQ-7 for surgery.
Tubetech Pultec for making things pretty.

(reading this thread makes me realise I could have gotten MP5 instead Tubetech. Would have saved me lot of money even though I got it in a sale. Live and learn I guess)

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Loque
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21 Aug 2018

tallguy wrote:
21 Aug 2018
GQ-7 for surgery.
Tubetech Pultec for making things pretty.

(reading this thread makes me realise I could have gotten MP5 instead Tubetech. Would have saved me lot of money even though I got it in a sale. Live and learn I guess)
To me they sound different. Dunno, if you can make them sound identical that easy.
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mcatalao
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21 Aug 2018

Loque wrote:
21 Aug 2018
tallguy wrote:
21 Aug 2018
GQ-7 for surgery.
Tubetech Pultec for making things pretty.

(reading this thread makes me realise I could have gotten MP5 instead Tubetech. Would have saved me lot of money even though I got it in a sale. Live and learn I guess)
To me they sound different. Dunno, if you can make them sound identical that easy.
They are different.
First because the EVE MP 5 does not have the compression section. Secondly (and when i did my tests when i was deciding between them) the way both eq's apply the curves is a tad different. I found that Softube's had a little less pronounced effect for similar specs. For example, if you added bass and then removed with the dip, you would have to add more bass and "dip" more to have the same effect in the Softube version. Also, if you drive the softube units a bit more, there is a bit more noticed saturation than in MP5 wich is almost not felt at all.

Again, as i was saying, the most important part about MP5 and the Softube TubeTech is the frequency curves that make these devices very very musical in the eq process, and particularly for program material.

Bottom line, given a stack of eq's you can "mimick" the curve of these more specific devices (taking aside linearity considerations, phasing and so on). So if you know your aim you could even not need a single additional eq on the store. But it's more of what helps you get the job done rather than doing it. If a Pultek like device helps you (and in my case it does, because the frequency relations on the device make it very useful) there's value on it, imho.

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mcatalao
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21 Aug 2018

BTW,
Still on the MP5 wagon, i remembered i had those tests i did comparing them somewhere. Figures i put it on the Rack extensions group in Facebook, but it might be interesting for you to read my acessment at the time:

mcatalao@rackExtensionists on 28 Dec 2015:
"Tubetech thoughts from a MP5 Buyer...

I just tested them side by side.
Functionally the only difference that comes to my mind, is the high frequency boost starting at a deeper frequency on the Tubetech Program Equalizer (1 kHz ) while in the MP5 it starts at 3 kHz. It's not a big deal as 1k Frequencies are taken care by the Mid Eq. Kuassa also has a optional saturation button whereas softube must "must be driven". Both allow you to bypass the units, so the rest is pretty much the same, except that you can overdrive separated units on the Softube, as they have separated output gain staging, and kuassa has only an input and output gain. This might be there more for emulation reasons as the original Tubetech units had output gain, but if you disable one of the eq's and select drive gain over to the compressor, it can be important for dynamics. I wonder the importance of the gain between the 2 eq's, as driving the gain over the second unit is not the same as boosting more - It is though easily solved using 2 Kuassa units if you want to achieve the same result.

As far as behavior goes, i noticed the relations between the frequencies between the Boost and Attenuation are quite similar as is the behavior of the top attenuation (the filter slopes seem very very similar). The biggest difference is mainly at the boosts, where the all boosts seem a tad higher on the EVE's than in the Tubetechs. Thus if you try and use the same exact settings on both you might achieve slightly different results, as it seems there are a couple db's difference between a 10 db boost on the Softubes and a 10 db boost on the Kuassa (fair to say the 10 db boost on the kuassa really seem to be 10 db boosts and the Softube's are a tad lower). This would result in less harsh results for exact same settings. Not a real issue, as when you work on your songs, you work with your years not looking at knob values.

This still poses some questions, that maybe you guys can give an opinion...
1 - Is the 3 kHz limit on the Prog eq's high frequency band an issue having the mid eq? Maybe Kuassa thought the setting redundant as the Mid Eq can manage that frequencies either in both boost or the dip knobs and respective selectors.

2 - Does one tend to have harsher results with MP5 since the boosts are higher than in the tubetech? Even taking in account you are not applying settings from one to the other, but relation between dip and boosts might be skewed nonetheless (i didn't notice). I'm going to try and master a song with the MP5 and Softube in different instances and see what i get with...

This test was made exclusively thinking on the EQ's as they are included on both products, but my next endeavor, while i still have the Softubes on trial, is to find a good alternative for the CL1B opto compressor.
I'll keep you posted,

Cheers!"

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joeyluck
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21 Aug 2018

I recreated the patches from the Tube-Tech on the MP5 and vice versa and could not tell the difference when switching.

I use the RE-2A along with the MP5. But nice to have the freedom to use any compressor as well as not have to reach for some gigantic RE like the Tube-Tech for EQ when you aren't looking to use the compressor. Not to mention, even if you were able to hide the compressor on the Tube-Tech, the EQ sections would still take up so much space.

I still find it VERY ODD Softube made the decision to not make the units separate Rack Extensions like in the VST format; but instead one huge Rack Extension combining them all... for a platform whose strength is the rack, which is geared towards modularity, and has no room for excessiveness, and thinking that there are more Reason users willing and able to throw down $350 with no option for buying single units...versus those customers outside of Reason...and to not include a single CV connection. Baffling still. Happy Kuassa made the MP5 and made the decision incredibly easy.

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selig
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21 Aug 2018

I agree with both assessments to the differences, worth pointing out they are very slight differences in practice (and by measurements).

But they are not both cloning the same device - the Pultec and the Tube Tech are slightly different IRL too.

And you’d be lucky to find two Pultec’s side by side that didn’t exhibit as much difference as we’re talking about here, with regards to boost/cut amounts (which is only off at the extreme buy a dB or so).

The bigger difference is the saturation, which sounds more natural to me on the Softube, as it saturates more on the low frequencies (and more overall) and the Kussa appears to be more generic.

As a fan of the original big blue Tubetechs since their release, I’m biased - and I believe Softube did a great job capturing the original (as did Kussa).

Again, remember they are modeling different devices, although the Tubetech came about around the mid 1980s IIRC as a welcome answer to the lack of new tube gear on the market (and the returning popularity of the originals), so it can be said the Tubetech is trying to be a Pultec as much as possible!


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mcatalao
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21 Aug 2018

selig wrote:
21 Aug 2018
I agree with both assessments to the differences, worth pointing out they are very slight differences in practice (and by measurements).

But they are not both cloning the same device - the Pultec and the Tube Tech are slightly different IRL too.
(...)
That explains the 3 KHz difference i noticed in my initial assessment. But looking at Tubetech's site, was tubetech who "diverted" from the pultech original drawing on that matter.

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minilog
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22 Aug 2018

MClass - surgical
SSL - filtering
GQ7 - tonal balance
MP5 - lows and low mids

Brainworx and iZotope plugs for other tasks.

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