Years ago (late 90's) a friend used to make downbeat breakbeat tunes, he was pretty good at finding little loops from his record collection. He had the same spirit folio mixer as me. He played me a mix, and I looked at his gain structure and asked If I could have a go at setting up the mix. He left me to it, when he came back he exclaimed 'what did you do' and I couldn't tell if he meant in a good way or not. I asked him how he meant 'where did the noise go?' he asked. He didn't appreciate the effect of setting his gains accumilating ofer 12 tracks so much. He was chuffed to bits to find out his equipment was much better than he'd realised.

Anderton
I think the emotional impact of any given track is 85% the person playing it, 10% the sound of the instrument itself, and 5% the processing. That's not at all to diminish the importance of that 5%, but I'm just trying to put things in perspective. 

Well said, Craig. The ratios may shift around (I know I've had more than a few barely-salvageable tracks where the processing component was the 85%) but as a general rule, the performance usually trumps everything. But until Celine Dion answers my emails, most of the vocal tracks I deal with will continue to require all the spit 'n polish I can throw at them.
 
I'd also point out that whenever a "sow's ear" has required a makeover, it's never been the choice of equalizer that made the difference. No, that's all about which compressor you use! 
 
(No, ol' pal, I am not a hypocrite...note the winky face)

and oh yeah, i use dmg equality for precision eq

Actually Bit, ol pal, I was thinking about my fellow Irish drinking buddy...Mel O'Dyne.

batsbrew
FWIW,
i'm very fond of Waves Linear Phase EQ

How's the CPU load? Waves are usually quite efficient here, but I've never dabbled with Lin EQ.
 

dstrenz

bitflipper
As I get older, the only EQ feature that matters to me is a resizable UI. Pro-Q2's full-screen mode goes to 11 visually.

As I get older, I've noticed that most EQs sound better when I remember to trim the hair growing out of my ears.

Hahaha!

Thanks David. Gonna snag that now while I still can.
 
That's quite a deal - $120 off.

Starise
Look at Melda Mautodynamic EQ...if you didn't read Daves article over at Soundbytes you should if you aren't familiar with that EQ or the sibling.....it's a swiss army knife of EQ delight 

Link?
 
I cannae find it.

I just bought MAutoDynamicEQ. The sale was supposed to be until Dec 28th, but I got the sale price.
 
 

Starise
I just bought MAutoDynamicEQ. The sale was supposed to be until Dec 28th, but I got the sale price.
 
 

Hello,
 
I bought the MAutoDynamicEQ when Izotope did not include their dynamic EQ with the standard version of O6 .  ( Big thanks to Bitflipper).  It is a very versatile piece of software . It offers quite a bit as far as capability and potential functionality is concerned. . I was actually torn between the Pro MB and this  (Pro MB is Purdy) and decided that the Melda offered at least equal capability at a more competitive price point. You wont be let down by the purchase. It is fairly simple to start using it but can also go very deep for the technocrat or when you are ready!!

When I bought Algorithmix Red, probably the most expensive EQ on the market several years ago, and one boasted about by Bob Katz (Mastering Engineer) as being the best EQ plug-in on the market next to his Weiss digital EQ units, I felt I invested in an EQ I though nobody could really ever beat. It was ugly in appearance, but for a Linear Phase EQ, it was the best one I'd used so far.

Now, if you buy Bob Katz latest Mastering book and look at the cover you'll be face-to-face with Equilibrium. Bob says good things about it inside the book, and the EQ costs about 10% of the Algo Red. Does this now make it a better sounding EQ than Algorithmix Red? Not really, but it is far more flexible and is offered as a 64-Bit plug-in. The Algorithmix Red has all but been abandoned as a historical 32-bit EQ. But which sounds better? Hopefully neither, but the tool-set certainly wins hearts for Equillibrium. I bought Equillibrium because of the cool factor and it was on sale as a newly introduced plugin. However, I could easily get great results from EQuality, another DMG product.

I've also got a copy of AirEQ that's been mentioned here, as well as Waves LinEQ, and a few others. Which one do I choose? It depends. If I'm Mastering, I like the facilities and experience of EQuillibrium. For mixing, well, that's an entirely different animal. I just try different ones. Many times, I start with Waves API 550. If I can't quickly get a result I want, I may try an SSL G EQ or the SSL E-Channel. If it's a bass-prone instrument, I usually pull in a Pultec. For guitars, I may use a Helios. If I use a DMG EQ, many times it's just to notch something out, or to adjust the source material in a way that I don't introduce character onto it. I typically use those types of EQ's to balance a signal out and then follow that up with a 'character' or 'emulation' EQ. 

I was reading an old interview from Craig Leon, a classically trained composer who ironically produced the Ramones. In his workflow he tries very hard not to use EQ unless there's just no way. More and more I like to think that way when tracking, but in his opinion, when you try things, don't be afraid to do something wrong. It could be you end up with a result others are asking you to divulge. "I wanted to be the next George [Martin]. Be the next you, not the next somebody else."

All in all, my advice is to try everything you have! Don't worry about what you don't have and don't worry about which one is the best thing for a specific instrument or vocal. YOU be the judge and use what gives you the result you seek from your own emotions. What works for one may certainly not work for another. It's fun to see what plugins you barely ever touch can do, and perhaps how simple they can be! You may even be surprised that you DO in fact hear a difference between two or three different plugins!!

But the classics never really die, do they? Just when you think everybody's happy with "all EQs sound the same, so use the one you're most comfortable with", somebody's bound to challenge it.
 
Maybe it's time to resurrect some of the other Golden Oldies. Nuendo sounds 20-40% better than SONAR, anyone?