Free Product The Baxter EQ transparent mastering and mix buss shelving EQ that naturally smooths the sound with out comprimising quality. You can choose between cuts and shelves for a more taliored sound. 64 bit processing is implenented for higher quality performance along with mid-side encoding.
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As I demonstrate in-depth in my new online course (Mastering In The Box), equalization can breathe life into a master, or even potentially save it from poor decisions made during mixing. Here are some of my favorite equalizer plugins for mastering …
1. UAD Manley Massive Passive
The hardware version of the Manley Labs Massive Passive is an absolute staple in mastering studios. Having used them before (I’ve also been lucky enough to have visited the Manley Labs Factory), I can honestly say that the Massive Passive is a work of art, in both functionality and sound.
UAD has done a wonderful job emulating the hardware with this plugin. The high end is silky, the low end is defined, and the quality of everything in between solidifies the Massive Passive as an extremely musical equalizer, great for almost any task an engineer might need it for.
Unique feature: I’d say the unique feature for the Massive Passive is that it has virtually everything a mastering engineer could want in an equalizer. High and low pass, a choice between shelf or bell on each band, Stereo Unlink — it’s truly versatile in addition to sounding flawless. Inexperienced engineers may be intimidated by the sheer number of controls found on the Massive Passive, but it’s extremely easy to use once you get used to it.
2. Brainworx bx_digital V3
Whereas I use something like the Massive Passive for adding color or sheen to my material, the bx_digital V3 is my go-to subtractive EQ, and is in many cases, found at the beginning of my mastering chain.
I use it to sweep through and find/remove unwanted frequencies before any other processing is applied, avoiding those problematic frequencies triggering, say, a compressor or saturator. It also works in mid-side mode, which is helpful for treating material like vocals, kick or bass independently of any material that might be panned to the sides. It has many other functions, and if you’re in the market for a surgical, transparent EQ plugin, I highly recommend this one.
Unique feature: It solos the band as you click on the frequency knob, allowing you to sweep through and find problematic frequencies quickly and accurately.
3. Pultec EQP-1A Emulations
There are a lot of emulations of this classic equalizer, and several of them are really great.
I have my preferences, but my suggestion is to go and demo as many as you can to find the one that works best for you and fits your budget (links below). Though this is traditionally more of a mix buss EQ, if a master needs clarity or low end weight, the Pultec does a fantastic job, and very quickly …
- Softube (technically this is a Tube Tech emulation)
Unique feature: Technically you can boost and attenuate at the same exact frequency, which seems counterintuitive, but because the boost and attenuation curves are different, the resulting curve has its own distinct Pultec flavor. Great for adding weight or sparkle to your material.
4. UAD Chandler Curve Bender
This emulates the classic EMI TG12345 desk from Abbey Road Studios, so anything within six degrees of separation from my beloved Beatles is a must-own.
The functionality is similar to the Massive Passive: four bands allowing for shelving or bell, high and low-pass filters, and the ability to unlink channels. However, I do find the Curve Bender feels more vintage, vibey and colorful. If I need something to feel more expressive, or pronounced in the upper-mids or highs, I’ll definitely choose the Curve Bender.
Unique feature: It works in mid-side mode. All of the color and tone of the TG12345 available to process content in the center independently from the sides.
5. Ozone 7 (EQ, Dynamic EQ & Vintage EQ)
This is an absolutely feature-packed series of equalizers.
The EQ is surgical and transparent, the Vintage EQ is for color, and the Dynamic EQ allows for a more musical approach to processing different frequency ranges than a traditional EQ. I may reach for one of the aforementioned equalizers for color, but if I need a quick, all-in-one solution, iZotope’s Ozone 7 can’t be beat.
Unique feature: Matching EQ. This allows you to identify and capture the frequency spectrum of a chosen mix or master, and then apply it to your own material. At the very least, for analyzing what the professionals are doing, it’s a fascinating and educational tool.
6. Fabfilter Pro-Q 3
Fabfilter’s flagship equalizer has gotten more robust with each and every update. The Pro-Q 3 is a swiss-army knife equalizer, capable of handling basically any application you throw at it, quickly and effectively. Updates to Pro Q 3 include the ability to make any of the bands dynamic, meaning that they will not any effect on the signal unless it passes a set threshold. This EQ is chock full of features that make it an ideal choice if you’re in need of a mostly transparent, surgical tool for mastering including:
- Mid/Side capability
- Linear and natural phase modes
- Spectrum grab: This allows you to select and then boost/attenuate frequencies via the spectral analyzer.
Mastering Tip: Use the dynamic EQ mode as a mastering de-esser.
Considering that mastering can often include boosting in the upper mids and highs, de-essing is common during mastering. I often employ the Dynamic EQ mode for this application. Aside from your ears telling you if there are issues in the 6-10khz range, the Pro-Q 3 provides excellent visual feedback via its gorgeous metering and will tell you if there’s an excess in this (or any) frequency range. I’ll create a band at the problem frequency, engage dynamic EQ mode, and attenuate to taste. What makes this EQ even more powerful is the ability to choose mid/side mode per band. So if the offending vocal-only occurs up the middle, I’ll make sure to set the band(s) appropriately.
7. UAD Millennia NSEQ-2
Faithfully emulating the esteemed hardware unit, Universal Audio’s Millennia NSEQ-2 brings the clarity, transparency, and versatility of the original unit to your digital audio workstation, and at a fraction of the price. The hardware was lauded for its twin topology design, allowing users to utilize both solid-state and tube signal paths. The differences between the vacuum-tube and J-FET solid-state signal paths are subtle, and regardless of what one chooses, the sound is open, musical and clean.
The stereo NSEQ-2 features four bands which give you control from 20Hz to 21kHz, with the lowest and highest bands allowing to choose a shelving EQ, and the middle two bands allowing for control over the Q/bandwidth. The user can opt to link the stereo channels, or un-link if there are discrepancies between the left and right that require unique equalization of each. The plugin also features a trim control, so you can level match and ensure that the changes you’ve made actually improve your material, rather than simply make it louder.
Mastering Tip: Use the Mid/Side Mode
Mid/Side processing can be such a flexible tool when mastering. If I want to create a further sonic distinction between the elements that are hard-panned, and the ones that sit straight up the middle, I often reach for some sort of Mid/Side processor. For example, if I want to add some bite to electric guitars which are hard-panned, but I don’t want to boost harshness in the lead vocal (which sits in the center), I’ll use a Mid-Side EQ to perform that boost on the sides only, perhaps at 1-2kHz, or wherever the guitars need some definition.
If I want to clean up some brittle cymbals in the sides, without sacrificing clarity and detail in the centered vocals and snare, I can quickly and effectively accomplish this with the NSEQ-2. Mid/Side or not, the parametric Millennia NSEQ-2 is one of my go-to ‘clean’ equalizers, allowing me to transparently enhance my program material.
Honorable Mention
If Universal Audio seems over-represented on this list, I suggest demoing their many great EQ plugins. They really have figured out how to capture and emulate the clean, smooth high end of analog equalizers. The BAX EQ is another emulation of a piece of classic mastering gear, and does a wonderful job cleaning up problematic low frequencies, taming high end, or adding a transparent sheen to your masters.
Mastering in the Box Course
If you’re interested in expanding your knowledge and learning effective techniques for getting great sounding masters 100% in the box, check out my debut course: Mastering in the Box
Mastering in the Box with Ian Vargo
As I demonstrate in-depth in my new online course (Mastering In The Box), equalization can breathe life into a master, or even potentially save it from poor decisions made during mixing. Here are some of my favorite equalizer plugins for mastering … 1. UAD Manley Massive Passive The hardware versi
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Dynamic EQs are phenomenal. I use them all the time for precision mixing. They are for when the hard, static filter cuts and boosts won’t suffice. I’ve been fortunate enough to have had hands-on experience with many high quality EQs with some sort of dynamic capability or another over the years, so I wanted to share with you my favorites. Don’t worry if some of the bigger names aren’t in the budget right now, I have two free ones for you as well! Here’s my run-down of some of my favorite Dynamic EQs and a little bit about each of them.
What Is A Dynamic EQ?
First, we should talk a little bit about EQs, compressors and dynamic EQs. If you already know about these concepts, feel free to skip ahead. An EQ filter is generally static. It boosts, cuts and shapes incoming frequencies in a linear fashion. A compressor is non-linear. It “reacts” to incoming signals to boost, attenuate and shape sounds being fed through it dynamically.
A dynamic EQ takes the best of both worlds and combines them in one place. An EQ that cuts, boosts, or shapes the sound depending on what is being fed into it. So instead of just a frequency node, gain, Q, and filter types we have additional tools like threshold, attack and release which can drive those EQ parameters. They react to internal or external sources.
Internal mode listens to the sound source itself; de-essing is a common application for this as an example. External mode listens to a different sound source and makes cuts or boosts the audio. Alright? Now that we have basics out of the way, let’s check out some great dynamic EQs.
Neutron 2 by iZotope
Neutron 2 is pretty much the crème-de-la-crème of Dynamic EQs. It has incredible precision and many years of world-class algorithms developed by iZotope behind it. You have the ability to turn on Dynamic Mode for any of the 12 filters and either increase or reduce the gain of the filter node. That reaction is dictated by either an internal or external sidechain audio source. Not only that, but Neutron 2 has a number of different band presets for the sidechain options making things even more precise. Add to that the “Learn” and “Masking” features which will actually show you where you might want to pay attention to and place your filter nodes and you have a truly first-class Dynamic EQ.
Web: https://www.izotope.com/en/products/mix/neutron/features-and-comparison/equalizer.html
SurferEQ 2 by Sound Radix
SurferEQ 2 is a different type of dynamic EQ than that in Neutron 2’s EQ when set up for external sidechaining. Surfer EQ, instead of responding to gain values, responds to pitch. That means the filter nodes follow the incoming pitch of a signal instead of the volume. It’s awesome. You can turn on the “Surf” function to follow the incoming audio’s pitch and you can choose which harmonic too. There are 5 main filters which can cover all the main harmonics (3, 5 ,7, 9) and the fundamental. This makes SurferEQ 2 great for precision when you are mixing similar sounds and want one to always stand out.
You have global controls for the pitch tolerance, pitch threshold, “surf time” which is how long the filter takes to move to the new pitch, as well as attack and recovery times. The filter’s gain value is more-or-less static though unless you enable GTE mode, which will use a gate, so the filter will only be active when the threshold is crossed giving you even further control.
For example, when I use the SurferEQ to carve space out of a pad for a vocal. Turning on the GTE mode and setting a good threshold means that the filter node won’t be active if there is no vocal which will let the pad remain completely full and unaltered. I only recently found out about this gem, but I’m really excited I did!
Free Eq Matching Vst Download
Web: https://www.soundradix.com/products/surfer-eq/
Trackspacer by Wavesfactory
I’ve been raving about this plugin for the two years I’ve known about it. It just does such a great job so quickly that it’s a must-have for all music producers! Also, the price tag isn’t too bad. Trackspacer has a 32-band dynamic EQ behind the scenes. Once you set up the sidechain you can instantly and easily carve out room for anything in the sonic spectrum. Each band reacts independently making for decently precise sound carving. You don’t have as much control of each one of those bands as you might in SurferEQ and Neutron but if you are looking for a quick and clean job, Trackspacer has you covered.
Web: https://www.wavesfactory.com/trackspacer/
Ableton Live & Max Dynamic EQ by Joshua Casper (FREE)
I actually wrote a long tutorial on how to build your own dynamic EQ in Ableton Live using Max and Live’s devices here on Ask.Audio a while back.
You should check it out. You can follow along with the tutorial or download the completed Effect Rack for free. It only has 4 bands, but it does the trick. Plus, there’s the extra bonus of following along with the tutorial to learn more than a few things about dynamic EQs, Live and Max along the way.
Web: https://ask.audio/articles/how-to-build-a-dynamic-eq-inside-ableton-live
NOVA by Tokyo Dawn Records (Free)
This is a completely free Dynamic EQ VST and works wonders. Many people swear by it. So if you don’t have the cash and want to see what the Dynamic EQ fuss is about, this is the right option for you. The free version is the younger sibling of a much more parameter-packed bigger EQ, but it still has the Dynamic EQ part and a boat load of other goodies; Parametric equalization, Dynamic equalization, Frequency selective compression, Multi-band compression, and Wideband compression to name a few.
Web: https://www.tokyodawn.net/tdr-nova/
Disclaimer
While I have had hands-on experience with a large number of plugins, I haven’t tried them all. That means I might have missed your favorite. Not because it’s worse, but because I can’t speak from experience about it. So, if I did miss your favorite or something of note, please drop us a comment below to help us all.