The tube-driven distortion adds warmth and sounds ultra-smooth. This one is great if you want to brighten anything in the mix. “A” style is modeled after the classic Ampex 350 tape drive preamp. The algorithms I use the most are “A”, “E” and “T”. These 5 styles are named A, E, N, T, and P. It has 5 different saturation algorithms that make Decapitator a useful tool for various purposes. You also don’t have to worry about the sound quality, the Decapitator matches the harmonic structure, frequency response, and dynamic response of analog gear.
Pro tip: Add top-end shine with the HF filter above 10kHz, and then toggle the Bell button on and off to see if you prefer a full shelf boost (On) or just a bell-shaped boost (Off).The one thing I love about the Soundtoys decapitator is that it's simple to use and convenient. The UAD SSL 4000 E Channel Strip does too. From adding warmth and shine to instruments, to handling the tricky high-mids of vocals, to adding boom to hip hop 808s, SSLs became so popular because they sounded awesome for almost any use case. Uses: Some of the most famous records of the last 50 years were mixed exclusively on SSL consoles (Tupac, Nirvana, Britney Spears…). It just sounds like the real deal, through and through - this plugin is faithful to the original, which offered an unmatched blend of versatility and character.
True to the original channel strip, the EQ on the SSL 4000 E Series features four adjustable bands plus HP and LP filters.Ĭharacter: Expensive. UX: Do you want to feel like a legendary, old-school producer or engineer? This UX will get you there. Pro tip: On a bass, use the low band to boost at 100Hz (to add warmth and weight) and the low mid band to attenuate at 400Hz (to get rid of the mud). Do your drums feel dull and flat? Give them a broad boost on the high end? This plugin fills the gap between the broad curves of an API 560 or a Pultec and the surgical capabilities of digital EQs. Not enough body in your vocal? Add in some warmth in the low mids. Uses: This is a great “problem solving” plugin. And, as expected with an API, it maintains a pleasant, smooth musicality. While this EQ still isn’t intended for surgical work, it provides more granular controls to be able to “fill in the gaps” in a sound. This means we have a lot more flexibility in our choice of bands to EQ. The setup is simple enough - frequency bands on the left, the amount of gain on the right.Ĭharacter: This is an API 550 emulation, not a 560 (like above). In the end, this is a good thing, because the original 550 is definitely not an intuitive interface. UX: Purists be warned, this is an API 550 EQ without the look of the original hardware. Price: $149 (or $15/month as part of the Slate All-Access Pass)
I’m not going to teach you how to use an EQ plugin in this article. That said, before we jump into the Best EQ plugins, let's take a look at EQ applications. Lucky for us, we don’t need to hunt down a Pultec EQ from the 1950s and spend top dollar just to take it home - plenty of plugin creators have made emulations of these old favorites. What these analog EQs lacked in precision and flexibility they made up for in warmth, character, and musicality (in essence, how natural they feel). Enter the analog emulation EQs…īefore the advent of digital music, sound engineers relied on physical EQ units to shape their mixes. What they usually lack, though, is personality and flavor. These EQs are precise, visual, and pretty user friendly. These are the stock DAW EQs where you can see a frequency spectrum, select a frequency, and start carving away.
Analog Emulationĭigital EQs are probably what you are most familiar with, and what you use most often.