Equalisers
Acustica Audio Ruby 2
Acustica Audio’s EQ plug-ins seem to nail the sound of analogue hardware EQs: the way they subtly saturate as more or less level is fed through them makes these plug‑ins so wonderfully convincing. This one recreates the DW Fearn VT‑5 valve EQ, and I love the way it can open up the top end of a mix when you engage the High Boost. Neil Rogers
€235 including VAT.€235 (about $282).
Audified RZ062A
Most of us will never get to compare Audified’s RZ062 with its hardware inspiration, a rare and expensive valve equaliser from the ’50s. But compare it to practically any other EQ plug‑in, and you’ll realise what is special about it. Yes it has limited control, and yes it’s a CPU‑hog, but it bestrides the master bus like a Colossus. Sam Inglis
$199.
Brainworx bx_console SSL 4000 E
I learned to mix using an SSL‑style channel strip and it’s a tool I’ve continued to lean on over the years to shape the sound of drums and guitars in particular. The Brainworx emulation is the best I’ve used and the EQ allows you to be very drastic with your EQ boosts if that’s what’s needed. It also has some great extra features that allow you to add more saturation or analogue ‘colour’ to your mixes. Neil Rogers
$349. Also included in Plugin Alliance subscription packages.
Cockos ReaEQ
Bundled with Reaper (for both Mac and Windows), ReaEQ is also included in the Windows‑only freeware ReaPlugs suite. It’s generally a good and versatile, yet largely unremarkable, EQ (just like so many other digital EQs). But I love that you can display the phase changes it is making to your signal as you boost/cut frequencies. Matt Houghton
Free.
Eiosis Air EQ Premium
For sophisticated mix bus and mastering duties, my favoured EQ plug‑in is Eiosis Air EQ Premium. It offers nine bands, with high‑ and low‑pass filters and shelf sections, plus five parametric bells, and it handles L‑R and M‑S stereo and surround applications equally well. There’s also a nice FFT analyser and EQ curve display. I particularly like the Earth mode’s amplitude and phase characteristics which are Pultec‑like and bestow a nice tight vintage analogue quality to the low end. Hugh Robjohns
$69.
FabFilter Pro‑Q3
OK, so this EQ doesn’t sound any different from other competently designed EQs, and while Pro‑Q3 is dripping in useful functionality, there are probably others that can match it there too. But the GUI design genuinely makes this one a cut above. It makes Pro‑Q3 so quick and easy to use, whether you’re gently massaging a source or radically reshaping it, and all the while it remains incredibly easy to see what’s going on in each band. Matt Houghton
£134 including VAT.$179.
iZotope Tonal Balance Control 2
Tonal Balance Control is simplicity itself! Put this on your master bus after the limiter, select Bass Heavy (or Modern if you prefer), select a three‑second sample time and fine mode, and you’ll get a real‑time frequency response. Match this response line within the displayed range and it will translate to other systems. It can even talk to other iZotope plug‑ins too. What more can you ask for? Get mastering! JG Harding
£171 including VAT.$199.
Sound Radix Surfer EQ 2
This pitch‑tracking EQ is great for boosting the fundamental frequencies of bass notes, and it can be a godsend for upright bass or for bass singers in a cappella styles. Add in the cool multi‑peak filter modes and the ability to trigger the band bypass and frequency settings with MIDI notes, and you have a seriously powerful tool which can pull off mix stunts that pretty much nothing else can. Mike Senior
$199.
Sonible EntropyEQ+
One of those rare plug‑ins that does something simply nothing else can. About the best way I can describe it is that it allows you to EQ the noisy/transient components of a sound and its periodic/pitched components separately. And it’s absolutely killer at tightening up flabby‑sounding kick and snare tracks. Mike Senior
€99 including VAT.€99 (about $120).