There’s surely no more demanding or flaw-exposing a scenario for any EQ than mastering, so you can’t just sling any old plugin on the 2-bus and hope for the best. Here are five of our favourite frequency sculpting options for mix-finalising.
Pulsar Audio Pulsar 8200
George Massenburg’s gloriously transparent GML 8200 is one of the most acclaimed EQs of all time, whether called on for mixing or mastering duties. Pulsar’s recently released emulation ably replicates the sound, response and core functionality of the real thing, and throws in a wealth of extra features to make your equalising life that bit easier and more convenient. The five original parametric bands (the highest and lowest switchable to shelving mode) are independently adjustable for the left/right channels, covering the range 15Hz to 26kHz and each offering up to 15dB of cut or boost; and the knobs of the hardware are joined by an interactive graphical mode, complete with spectrum analyser, for direct ‘visual’ editing. The biggest additions to the control panel, though, are the High- and Low-pass filters, Tilt EQ, and fixed-frequency Sub and Air boost bands, which greatly expand the capabilities of the thing – but the onboard De-esser, Gain Scale and Auto-Gain functions, and mid/side mode aren’t to be sniffed at, either. In sum, it all amounts to a supremely adaptable and unintrusive EQ that any virtual mastering rack could benefit from.
Universal Audio Manley Massive Passive EQ
The official plugin version of Manley’s legendary passive valve EQ isn’t (yet) available in the native Spark format, so you do need an Apollo or UAD-2 system to run it, but with that qualification met, it’s without doubt one of the most impressive emulations available for UA’s DSP-powered platforms. A 1:1 replica with nought in the way of digital extras, Massive Passive EQ perfectly nails the sound and feel of the hardware’s fabulous parallel peak/shelving filters (every band provides both options), and happily for our purposes here, the Mastering version is also included, with detented Gain and Bandwidth knobs for consistent recall, +/-11dB maximum band gain (as opposed to the +/-20dB of the regular version) and more mastering-appropriate high- and low-pass filter frequency options.
What can we say? A flawless virtualisation of one of the most versatile, colourful and straight-up classy mastering EQs every built, this one is a must for UAD/Apollo owners.
PSP Audioware MasterQ 2
Giving you the freedom to find your own sweet spot between digital neutrality and analogue flavour, MasterQ 2 is a technical marvel, operating at sample rates up to 768kHz and deploying PSP’s fancy Frequency Authentication Technique (FAT) algorithm for high-frequency filtering without artefacts. In more practical terms, you get five peaking bands – the outer two switchable to shelving mode, the middle three featuring two resonance modes (digital and ‘analogue’, loosely) and the option to ‘blunt’ the resonance for a gentler response at extreme settings – as well as low- and high-pass filters with a choice of 12, 24 and 36dB/octave slopes. And as for the aforementioned sonic seasoning, the Analog Character and Amount knobs set the balance of even and odd harmonic saturation added around the filter frequencies, and how much of it is applied, while seven output limiting and saturation algorithms open up all sorts of dynamics and distortion potential. The interface is a joy to work with, allowing for both knob- and graph-based manipulation, mid-side processing is in the clip, and while the Frequency Hunter (solo a band while editing by Cmnd/Ctrl-dragging it) and Link (shift all bands left and right together) modes aren’t particularly helpful for mastering, they’re certainly welcome nonetheless. Powerful, feature-rich and worth having around at the mixing stage, too.
Kush Audio Blyss
Coming at equalisation from a very different direction to the others here, Kush’s ‘Mastering Channel’ centres on a six-band EQ (low shelving, low-mid, high-mid and high shelving bands with three fixed frequency options and +/-9dB of gain, plus low- and high-pass filters), but also incorporates a “mastering grade” compressor designed with the 2-bus similarly in mind. As the decidedly non-surgical EQ spec makes plain, Blyss is all about relatively soft, ‘musical’ curves, and the analogue-style architecture of the plugin brings real character to the sound, with the Sat knob dialling in the sort of deliciously authentic faux distortion for which Kush are known – it’s beautiful. The compressor, meanwhile, sports a minimal control set (Threshold and two envelope speeds, essentially), and, coming after the saturation stage, is intended for transparent and gentle final dynamics control, which it delivers with aplomb.
Blyss’ pared-back controls and forgiving analogue response make it endearingly easy to use, while the warmth and cohesion it brings to the master bus are truly something to behold. It’s certainly not the only EQ you’d ever need for mastering, but for source material of the more organic, vibey kind, it’s profoundly effective.
DMG Audio EQuilibrium
Dave Gamble’s incredible ‘modular EQ’ lets you build the mastering (or any other) EQ of your dreams, with up to 32 bands each drawing on a huge array of modelled vintage circuits and filter types, and with every aspect of the behaviour and interface open to rich customisation. Mid-side and surround (up to 7.1) routings are catered to, and the ability to set the global phase response to linear, minimum phase, analogue, zero-latency analogue or free phase options – the last enabling per-band adjustment – is a major plus for the geekier mastering engineer. And if you’re assuming that all this flexibility must result in EQuilibrium being a jack of all trades, let us assure you that it is in fact a master of all of them – er, mastering included – as DMG’s sorcerous algorithms deliver palpable character and the utmost in precision at every turn. And, of course, in case the whole customisation thing doesn’t appeal, it also comes with a healthy selection of preset configurations, so you can get straight down to business. Stunning.
What’s your go-to mastering EQ? Sell it to us in the comments.