Eplex7 DSP have released Equelectrium EQA-1, available at the intro price of €22.90 for the first 100 customers, increasing to €89.00 after the promotion.
There are many digital / plugin equalizers at the market. Why do we need another one?
Comparing to real analog equalizers most of digital EQs produces harsh digital sound when boosting – sharp unpleasant digital sounding transients and trebles, harshness, squared bass, artifacts instead of color, etc.
Usually you can hear it better (or only) after mastering at high volume levels. (You can do test of equalizers – put EQ on master channel or equalize complex audio material with mixed many channels together and put limiter after it at commercial level like -8RMS.)
After mastering / limiting your track is probably sounding harsh and unpleasant on transients and trebles if you use boosting of digital eqs in your mix – you can hear it best with high quality hi-fi system or loud PA system in club.
You think problem is with your mixing skills, maybe too much limiting, compression etc. which causes distortion and artifacts, right?
Yes maybe, but surprisingly most of problems are usually caused by digital equalizers and too much boosting of various eq frequencies (mostly mids and trebles). Why?
While analog equalizer works with real electric signal digital eq is boosting just numbers and doing digital calculations. This causes various problems with sound and sound become digital and unnatural. After discussions with many experienced mix and mastering engineers + our own experiences we realized that source of harsh unpleasant sounding mixes is mostly equalizer not just dynamic processors.
To be honest most digital emulations of analog machines are often just marketing illusions and produce more dirt and digital artifacts than real analog sound in digital domain. If you use it many times on many channels these digital problems / artifacts are counted together and amplified during mastering at high volume levels.
After more than 17 years of constructing analog audio devices and coding DSP software we accidentally got the idea of new way of equalization. To understand it better we would like to introduce you philosophy behind it.
When you look at universe, world, physics in detail you may recognize that many systems in universe works on similar principles and patterns. They have exact physical laws. After reading books of George Soros, who is very good academically educated modern philosopher (not just stock trader as many people think), we realized that many systems in nature, in society and not just in economy works on principles of “imaginary” co-called equilibrium.
After a long time Eplex7 DSP created a brand new DSP technique which draws from theory of equilibrium and Fibonacci / Sectio Aurea both in frequency and amplitude domain.
This algorithm significantly removes disharmony in whole frequency range caused by equalization. It eliminates digital harshness – ugly digital transients and trebles, while the sound is boosting. The sound is more natural, trebles are softer less digital, transients are natural not sharp and artificial, bass is fat and round, similar to analog hardware equalization.
Eplex7 also integrated many algorithms simulating real analog circuits based on our 17+ years of experiences with analog electronics and emulation of circuits / components in dsp.
Probably you don’t hear significant difference from one EQ to another until record is mastered at high volume levels. Where all problems like harsh trebles, digital artifacts, ugly transients are boosted 5-10x in mastering or when you use eq on just one channel like drums, synth or piano. But problems are accumulated when inferior equalizer is used on 8-20 individual mixer channels and then mastered. You are probably thinking why my mix / master is not sounding so good, so sweet natural and pleasant on good hi-fi or in the club.
Use just EQUELECTRIUM EQA-1 plugin equalizer on every mixer channel (and master stereo bus if needed). Make mastering and compare significant difference on high quality hi-fi system like Bowers & Wilkins, Tannoy, KEF, PMC etc. (not classic near-field monitors which usually do not translate high frequencies, color and transients well because are designed for long work to remove ear fatigue).
Do not worry with your mixes, do not spend tents of hours or weeks with them while still sounding digital, harsh and unpleasant.
Features include:
- Game changing Sectio Aurea / Equelectrium technology of Equalization inspired by Fibonnaci / Golden ratio and system of equilibrium in nature. (Please read description and philosophy of development above) which removing almost all ills of classic digital eqs (and digital analog emulations) audible when eq is boosting like: harsh trebles, digital artifacts, sharp artificial digital sounding transients, squared bass etc. and imbalance in mix.
- Realistic emulation of analog circuits and components using various techniques from capturing real hardware to virtual circuits technology (based on our 17+ years of experiences with constructing own analog hardware and DSP coding, see Eplex7 DSP analog labs)
- Equelectrium EQA-1simulates sound of solid state (transistor based) analog hardware equalizers and its color. Transistor based EQs / hardware has precise, less colored sound.
- High frequency air band (high shelf with more Baxandall type analog curve) from 8 to 19kHz, from classic analog treble to precise high frequency air with clean detailed trebles and transients without unwanted harshness and artifacts
- Bass frequency band from 40 to 350 Hz, with fat round analog style bass
- Mid range frequency – band pass filter with frequency range based on frequency of bass and high frequency circuit. From 40 to 19 kHz with intensive warm analog solid state sound.
- Cut / attenuate circuit with adjustable frequency from 70 Hz to 8 kHz, from sharp to wide Q (bandwidth) control and cut from 0 to 10db. Very clean and “creamy” sounding cut inspired by passive filters.
- 2nd Cut / attenuate circuit with adjustable frequency from 350 Hz to 19 kHz, from sharp to wide Q (bandwidth) control and cut from 0 to 10db. Very clean and “creamy” sounding cut inspired by passive filters.
- Input knob to control level of input knob (and also amount of color – louder signal = more analog color and saturation mainly when analog drive knob is activated – turned right)
- Analog drive knob – To add analog hardware warmth of transistor based hardware with transformers from very gentle color and saturation to more intensive saturation, warmth + softening and rounding of trebles / transients caused mainly by isolation coil transformers in analog machines.
- Output knob to adjust output volume
- Preset manager: Only available in full version (settings are reset after every use / opening of project in DEMO version!)
Watch the intro video HERE.
Equelectrium EQA-1 is available to Windows users (VST2 and VST3).
For more information on Equelectrium EQA-1, click here:
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