Additional EQ plugin question for experienced mixers

[Dingo]

Yes I understand using Q particularly for identifying particular frequencies.
The AVA-LQ has a shape called search which applies a 20dB or so roll-off either side of the Q which can be varied from 0 -100 and makes it sooooo fast finding troublesome tones etc.
I used to use FF2 a lot, but far prefer the Legacy Q now, the sound, RTA options (Lightning is great) and EQ search plus amazingly good Notch filters suit my work which is Post Production.
I have found that the FF are overly complex and try to be the universal Swizzled Army knife, but at the end of the day when I want pliers I don't look to a knife for a fork...

[JamieLang]

I feel obligated to point out that it's not something I do...or have ever really done "regularly".

The quality of tracks I get varies a lot. So, there IS some processing I go through I call "retracking" sometimes....but, it's usually more about finding a complimentary analog circuit model (or previously actual analog unit) and making some minimal adjustment with it so it comes out sounding better on the other side--more like it would "had I tracked it". Then there's a some SUPER DUPER tweaky stuff I do when I get home recorded drums--but, there still, not a ton of EQ.

I mention this because you asked for experience, and I wanted to share that I find that when musicians start to record themselves, they feel quickly like they "understand" EQ and fader automation. They use WAY WAY too much of both.

Which is not to say I shy away from EQ...just that if you're constantly having to do a lot of "clean up" filtering and notching out ugly, spend a little time/attention to WHY they're there. I've done well "saving" tracks. But, at this point #geritolShot you can pretty well push the faders up on my recordings, rough pan and balance...and you could probably send it to mastering to give it a general squish and brightening...but, I realize I've been doing this a really long time and have some nice toys. Don't lose sight of that goal, though. It's not "the norm" that you need to do so much EQ to a track that you need multiple units. You do what you have to do NOW...but, make notes: and see if there are things you can get better going in.

If for some reason you have to do this a LOT--I'd be looking at the new smart tools...like Soothe or ReFinement and dynamic EQ like the Waves F6 to handle some heavy lifting in the "fix lousy audio" world. These "couldn't be done in analog" are better at repairing compromised audio than old school parametric EQ.

Have fun with it.

[Pi_K]

Great advices!! Thank you very much!
Of course anythig else you can share at least to me will be super useful.
As I said, Im newbie and learning all days something new so sometimes I encounter myself repeating workflows like a robot.
I tend to cl3an up after agressive or not so agressive eq eith the strip eq on Mixbus. Maybe after or maybe before as complementary task I add the waves renass simple q2 or q3 to do that
Thats why I was asking about a-eq to replace that pkugin.
But the things that you both added lastly are of course more important to take in account as well.

I try to use mostly my ears when I tweak eq so anything good without innecessary (for this particular task) vissual effects is an inprovement if I gain some cpu freedom.

Now the reasons of the EQing, yeap, tracks received with not so good recordings are common thing here sadly.
Thanks again!!! Keep it going guys I appreciate everything.

[csvk]

Great advices!! Thank you very much!
Of course anythig else you can share at least to me will be super useful.
As I said, Im newbie and learning all days something new so sometimes I encounter myself repeating workflows like a robot.
I tend to cl3an up after agressive or not so agressive eq eith the strip eq on Mixbus. Maybe after or maybe before as complementary task I add the waves renass simple q2 or q3 to do that
Thats why I was asking about a-eq to replace that pkugin.
But the things that you both added lastly are of course more important to take in account as well.

I try to use mostly my ears when I tweak eq so anything good without innecessary (for this particular task) vissual effects is an inprovement if I gain some cpu freedom.

Now the reasons of the EQing, yeap, tracks received with not so good recordings are common thing here sadly.
Thanks again!!! Keep it going guys I appreciate everything.

CPU friendly EQ for cleaning up difficult task I find MC DSP AE600 really good. Very low on CPU. And lots of features. On group tracks I sometimes use harrison mastering eq.

The music genre can be important as well, for classical and jazz stuff I might be more gentle in comparison to Rock and pop music. But to each his recipe

[Pi_K]

Thanks csvk! I wll take a look at it.
Im mainly focused in rock pop songs. yeap

[vibesound]

I’d demo the legacyQ based on the sound of 32c. I just bought it at the current sale price. Usable in other DAW’s too, which is a bonus. As it stands though the latest 32c v6 will probably allow me to leave PT behind and till be able to utilise a laptop screen when required. Or try the moto eq plugin, was very good to me when I was using DP and still on my list of good eq’s. I might have another look at picking it up myself. Still with they’d do some of there fx plugins as stand alone plugs, they had an awesome chorus effect at one stage which is something most plugs are lacking in. Maybe Harrison could fill that gap one day?

[sunrat]

One really good plugin with EQ is Channel from Dead Duck Software. It looks a bit like an SSL channel and sounds pretty good although I don't have an SSL desk handy to compare how authentic it may be. Price is right too - nada!
I do like the X42 parametric, and XT-EQ is nice for a graphic EQ.
One plugin I'd really like to see from Harrison is a Dynamic EQ like I'm used to on Digico desks - that is that it can function for either under or over threshold. I've never seen it in a plugin (tell me if you know of one), have found it very useful in live work and would love to have it for mixdowns. A recent example where I would have liked it - an acoustic guitar seemed to have less tops when played more quietly so a high boost there when level dropped under threshold would have been magic. I ended up doing it backwards with ZamDynamicEQ but that's less than ideal.
Oh yeah, Zam plugins are well worth trying out and also free for source code ($25 for binaries) - http://www.zamaudio.com/?p=976

[Dingo]

I've never seen it in a plugin (tell me if you know of one), have found it very useful in live work and would love to have it for mixdowns.

Have you looked at McDSP active EQ ?
https://www.mcdsp.com/plugin-index/ae400/
https://www.mcdsp.com/plugin-index/ae600/
Or Waves....
https://www.waves.com/plugins/f6-floatin...echain-tip
They both have a sale on at the moment...
I have not tried the f6 but have done with McDSP... which is OK if you have big glasses, it is a very crowded and fiddly UI.

[sunrat]

Thanks for the suggestions Dingo.
Pretty sure the F6 doesn't have the ability to activate under threshold. McDSP looks like it does (INV switch) but I'm allergic to proprietary authorisation systems like iLok and they don't work on Linux anyway.
Little side story about Waves authorisation dongle - The Living End did a series of 11 shows where I work a few years ago (I wasn't working those) and in the middle of the run they had 2 days off which had 2 shows by Evan Dando instead which I did work. Living End had brought in a Digico SD8 with Waves SoundGrid server and they asked us to use that instead of our SD10 to save swapping them again. The idiot sound guy neglected to leave the Waves dongle so the rig wouldn't boot up properly. Finally got him on the phone and he told me where the dongle was hidden and it booted up but Waves server wasn't connecting as we had tried to start without it. System worked otherwise so we did the shows. When LE returned the next day apparently the Waves server just wouldn't work and they spent several frustrating hours before finally doing a total reinstall of the SoundGrid software. There were several unpleasant phone calls to me about it although I did nothing wrong. Left me with a very dim view of authorisation dongles etc.