Eq

[ukejon]

I do very straightforward solo fingerstyle recording and don't add anything to my recordings other than a bit of reverb and some EQ in GarageBand. If I were trying to up the quality of my mastering EQ, would you all suggest a hardware, analogue device (Pultec, Manley, Great River, Avalon, etc) or a plug-in emulation of one of the classic EQ units.

[ombudsman]

Pro quality hardware mastering EQs tend to be very expensive, they don't make a lot of sense for the home recordist doing a simple non professional mastering of their own work before doing a limited distribution of it. So I would suggest getting some good plugins.

If I'm doing what I call "ghetto mastering" on a track that I only plan to put on a free site like SoundCloud or Reverb Nation, I just use the built in plugins in Logic for reverb and EQ ("blue plate" reverb and the linear phase EQ in pretty much every case).

Solo guitar shouldn't need a lot of eq nor present a particular challenge that would lead you to need one particular product over all of the other choices. I would expect you would need to manage boxy sounding midrange frequencies a little, roll off ultra low and ultra high frequencies, and then maybe make some small adjustments in the "presence/bite" range if you think it's needed.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by ukejon

I do very straightforward solo fingerstyle recording and don't add anything to my recordings other than a bit of reverb and some EQ in GarageBand. If I were trying to up the quality of my mastering EQ, would you all suggest a hardware, analogue device (Pultec, Manley, Great River, Avalon, etc) or a plug-in emulation of one of the classic EQ units.

I would stick with in the box. The quality of software available has changed a lot in the last few years.

1. Try to get a raw recording that will not need much, if any, equalization. Sometimes I just use it just to cut the very lows (high pass filter). I might use a boosted narrow band frequency sweep looking for bad spots and then cut those a bit.

2. External units require extra DA-AD conversions, tend to cost more, are more hassle to set up, and might introduce uncompensated track delays.

3. Some equalization software sounds virtually transparent for the little amount of equalization usually needed. Some "vintage" software purposefully add a bit of color. I most often prefer the transparent approach.

The two I currently use are Voxengo CurveEQ and Waves Renaissance Maxx.

[ukejon]

Thanks for the advice. The GarageBand EQ is adequate but certainly nothing special. At present I do surgical EQ on bad spots and do top/notion roll off. Mostly I'm just curious about something like a Pultec style plugin to see what that might add in terms of tonal options. The Overtone PTC-2A seems interesting but I can't get the trial download to install.

[ombudsman]

Originally Posted by ukejon

Thanks for the advice. The GarageBand EQ is adequate but certainly nothing special. At present I do surgical EQ on bad spots and do top/notion roll off. Mostly I'm just curious about something like a Pultec style plugin to see what that might add in terms of tonal options. The Overtone PTC-2A seems interesting but I can't get the trial download to install.

Over on Gearslutz there is at least one big thread going into the (modest) differences between all plug in EQs.

Basically there are only "conventional" and linear phase types of EQs, and various kinds of additional noise and emulation of additional circuits (tubes and transformers) and different types of interfaces. As of the last time I was reading about them, the eq functions themselves are sonically all the same, within the conventional phase shift type or the linear phase type. This can be proven by null tests of the same audio run through different EQs.

You may like a certain interface better or find it more efficient than the others, but other than that I would say there are other areas to explore that are more fruitful than trying different plugin EQs. If you want a more vintage sound from a plugin, there are emulations of circuits and channel strips that will provide similar benefits to the modeling of the tube makeup gain amp in a Pultec EQ model. Also there are some combinations of compression and EQ that work well. Multi band compression can be used as an EQ since you have separate gain controls for the bands.

As I said on my system I use the Logic standard plugins, but on other systems if they have them I do like to use PSP Vintage Warmer, and models of the API 560 or something similar (imitating an inductor based EQ in graphic format, where you just have a bunch of sliders).

[sdelsolray]

Originally Posted by ukejon

Thanks for the advice. The GarageBand EQ is adequate but certainly nothing special. At present I do surgical EQ on bad spots and do top/notion roll off. Mostly I'm just curious about something like a Pultec style plugin to see what that might add in terms of tonal options. The Overtone PTC-2A seems interesting but I can't get the trial download to install.

Most plugin companies allow you to download their plugins and use them for free for a trial period of about two weeks or so.

You should consider downloading AU versions of a variety of eq plugins so you can try them out yourself.

[Picking Moose]

There are quite a few alternatives to the Overtone Pultec emulation.

Waves, PSP, IK Multimedia (T-Racks) and Nomad Factory are 4 of the better known.
Give them a try if you can.
For acoustic guitars, if I am to use one of these, my preferences go to Waves and Nomad Factory, depending on the guitar and the recording.

[delaorden9]

I have tried some EQ's, reverb's, compressors etc... from KVR, Waves and some others free sites. But the best result I found with the ones that comes shipped with my DAW Acoustica Mixcraft. Most DAW's come with fairly nice VST plugins.
I think that what it is going to give your sound real body is the place where you play and of course, your audio interface or recorder hardware.

[ukejon]

Finally, got the Overtone PTC-2A. Pretty neat tool....

http://www.overtonedsp.co.uk/download/download_ptc_2a/

[sdelsolray]

Originally Posted by ukejon

I do very straightforward solo fingerstyle recording and don't add anything to my recordings other than a bit of reverb and some EQ in GarageBand. If I were trying to up the quality of my mastering EQ, would you all suggest a hardware, analogue device (Pultec, Manley, Great River, Avalon, etc) or a plug-in emulation of one of the classic EQ units.

I've used both (i) ITB eq and (ii) OTB eq. There are five places that eq can be used in recording and playback of solo fingerstyle:

1) When tracking;
2) When mixing applied to each track before summing;
3) When mixing applied to the 2 bus after summing;
4) When mastering applied to the 2 bus; and
5) When listening to the finished piece on a playback system.

Your question deals with mastering, which is a rather limited and focused step among the above five areas. Of course, any quality eq can work here, but note that eq'ing for mastering purposes is not the place to fix things but to adjust the different tracks in a collection to be more similar and seamless. If you are just doing one tune there is no need for mastering at all, you can do everything needed with a final mix. But I digress.

The external eq units I currently own (Millennia Media NSEQ-2, Pair Speck ASQ, Pendulum SPS-1) and the external eq units I have owned in the past (many others) all do something different, sometimes subtly and oftentimes obviously. The same is true for many of the various ITB eqs, of which there are perhaps over 100 out there.

I like both ITB and OTB eqs. Using OTB eq is more complicated and requires appropriate gear but easy to do. ITB eq is recallable and requires less hardware.

Some ITB eqs are modeled after hardware/analog eq. Much of it is quite good, although many purists beg to differ. ITB eq is certainly less expensive, often by a long shot.

In terms of recommendations, for sure - try OTB eq. It's a riot. But a more conservative suggestion would be to try some different ITB eqs. You can do so without cost for 10 days or two weeks by downloading Audio Unit compliant products from dozens of different companies. PSP, Waves, Sony Oxford, McDSP and Izotope (Ozone 5 is the product) are some examples.

[ukejon]

I'm enjoying playing around with the Pultec on the final version. I don't tend to EQ while tracking (although obviously I do when playing live). Just let the mics pick up what they pick up and then tweak a bit with the EQ. The ability to both raise and lower frequencies at the bottom and at the top with the Pultec create some really neat EQ curves and cure some of the muddiness/shrillness that comes with more conventional EQ shapes. Just learning but the Overtone seems a good start.

As for compression, don't even get me started! Endlessly confusing. In general I don't use it for my simple, solo recordings. But I find it a very fascinating concept and there are so many amazing ITB and OTB devices out there to play around with. I know that some producers can move the knobs on a compresser in such a way that doesn't squash the sound but that instead compliments or enhances the overall tone. Would be cool to learn their secrets.....

[Picking Moose]

There's no secret at all in how to use a compressor.
Choose 1 (or 2) which has attach/release, knee and ratio knobs, preferabily a feedback type) and learn how it works by using it.
A good engineer's "secret" is knowing WHEN to use WHAT and HOW according to the material being treated. That comes with hours, days, years of hard work.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by ukejon

I do very straightforward solo fingerstyle recording and don't add anything to my recordings other than a bit of reverb and some EQ in GarageBand. If I were trying to up the quality of my mastering EQ, would you all suggest a hardware, analogue device (Pultec, Manley, Great River, Avalon, etc) or a plug-in emulation of one of the classic EQ units.

For sure plug in EQs have come along way. That said many prefer the sound of hardware especially for mastering type use.

However as someone pointed out in a home setup sans something like a tape machine as final media. That will most likely result in adding another D/A and A/D conversion cycle which may or may not have a noticeable affect on the signal depending on the quality of the converters.

If you decide to go the hardware route besides the ones you mentioned your looking at, if possible check out the A Designs EM-EQ2 PULTEC STYLE EQ this is a Pultec style and not a clone.

http://www.adesignsaudio.com/em-eq2-pultec-style-eq.htm

[Timothy Lawler]

Originally Posted by ukejon

...suggest a hardware, analogue device (Pultec, Manley, Great River, Avalon, etc) or a plug-in emulation of one of the classic EQ units.

I'm a little late to the party but wanted to suggest that you try the Spline EQ. I've been using the free version for a year and I like it more than other EQs I had been using (mainly PLpar EQ).

[Dave Keir]

Late to the party, too, but just to say that I find the UAD plug-in emulations of Pultec, Manley and Neve entirely suitable for my purposes! Whether they are any, a little, or a lot different to their hardware brothers matters not a jot to me. They are simply easy to use in the sense of getting the sound adjustments I want.