SONAR X3 comes with an array of brand new EQ plugins. All of them have their own purpose sound and functionality. A great new feature within SONAR X3 is the ProChannel QuadCurve EQ Zoom & Analyzer as well. Using both of these you can truly get an idea of how each one works and how it affects your audio signal.
I’ve sent some pink noise through the new QuadCurve EQ & Zoom’s Analyzer so that you can see how the settings are affecting the full frequency spectrum.
The first one is the British Tone Equalizer. This is a 3-band EQ with a Low Shelving Band, Midrange Band, and a High Shelving Band. All have variable bandwidths.
You can see in the diagram below that, even though this appears to be a rather simple EQ, it’s middle adjustment is perfect for instruments that sit in the mid-range.
Both the high-shelving and low-shelving frequency adjustment are not as complex, but would be ideal for carving out their respective frequencies in both the high and low spectrum.
The Bandaxall EQ is a quickly and easy two band EQ with fixed frequency cut offs. This is perfect for shaping out the mid range of a bass guitar, male vocal, or muddy distorted guitar tone. The changes that this EQ makes aren’t quite as drastic but their subtle effects can prove very useful.
Next up is the GEQ-12. This is a great Graphic EQ for shaping a guitar rig’s tone or electric piano. Each band is fixed to it’s respective frequency so that you can simply boost or reduce and shape your tone without a second thought. This type of EQ is great for any live situation where you need to understand how your signal is getting processed at a glance. Parametric EQs do not have the visual reference that a graphic EQ can produce.
Each band reads in at about -6dB when cut completely, but then you can reduce this even more with the Master Output adjustment.
The next two are the the EQP2-B and the PEQ5-B. These are both Programmable EQ’s. What makes these unqiue is that both EQs have sections where you can both Attenuate and Boost.
The EQP2-B is basesd from a classic 1950’s unit. Simultaneous boosting and cutting results in a sharper and more focused boosted signal. You can perform this type of effect on both units. In the examples shown you can see how an exaggerated sharp boost aroud 80Hz. This occured when both the Boost and Atten knobs are all the way turned.
The PEQ5-B also has a lower section that is highly flexible. The 3 bands here cover just about the entire frequency spectrum offering many options for shaping. Both the EQP2-B are highly versatile EQs for mixing purposes.
Lastly Nomad Factory’s PEQ322 is a great all around EQ for just about any mixing objective. This EQ offers 2 filters and 4 parametric bands each one containing variable bandwidth settings. You can put this on a drumset, guitars, vocal, mix bus, master bus, or horn section.
TECHTIP: You can analyze all of your EQs and filter effects too just like this. Simply use a pink noise generator or download a pink noise sound clip and set it to loop within your DAW.