Mixing With Mike Mixing Tip: Selecting the Best Vintage EQ (for the job)

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[@Racingheartrecords]

I'd like to hear more of your thinking out loud as you try different EQs on the same track - why you like one more than another, etc.

[@tomaszmusic]

More, more, more, please! Great tips! :)

[@mixingwithmike]

+Tom August Thanks Tom!

[@nandoblondemobydick5438]

Hi Mike, i own thw Many Manoquin EQ, often asked myself why it sound so sweet, yes no doubt about the treble boost is similar to a Neve high shelf in guitars (where i know the most) very musical and airy, also the delay is great, Thanks for the aclaration :-) The video makes me want more

[@albertwangny]

Excuse me, Michael White, can you give the plugin name of all kinds of favorite vintage EQ inside? Thank you very much.

[@DaMonstaMuzik]

I know this was about Vintage EQ emulations BUT the ProQ2 is amazing! Between that, a pultec emu with maybe an SSL and/or Neve emu would be a great combo!

[@mixingwithmike]

+Monsta Demonceie I love the Pro Q2! Most powerful EQ plugin hands down. The vintage stuff is amazing if not overused. Pro Q2 is much better for the majority of EQ work until you need a good tonal coloration, tht's where the vintage EQs shine. Cheers!

[@DaMonstaMuzik]

+Michael White exactly! i use the proq2 for more shaping/carving, my subtractive EQ. The vintage to add extra seasoning to the sound!

[@alexlindner7038]

Hi Mike, firstly - a huge thanks for all the knowledge and experience you've been sharing! Very few engineers are able to articulate their ideas in the logical and thorough way you do, and I'm learning a huge amount. I just wanted to point out that when you boost and attenuate with the Puigtec, the dip actually occurs really a long way further up the spectrum - ie when you boost and attenuate at 60Hz, the dip actually occurs at 500+Hz. You can use Q-Clone to prove this as shown in this video here kzbin.info/www/bejne/mIjNlomZqsyGmrM Kinda makes more sense as to why it can be so useful with a snare!

[@mixingwithmike]

+Alex Lindner Hi Alex, Yes, very true, and a big reason why it is so musical and transparent sounding. Cheers!

[@astra8067]

Hello Mike, I realize plugins like Scheps 73, la2a, etc are used despite their price for a reason. But can we still approximate their colouring effects with emphasis and de-emphasis eq and something like fab filter saturn? As a beginner, this seems plausible to me but I'd love to hear the reasons why it can't be done and if it can, whether the approximation can be good enough to where it's near indistinguishable from the real thing

[@stevirus1608]

This is an awesome video.

[@CharlesK441]

Great

[@mixingwithmike]

Charles K Thanks Charles

[@gingataff]

Nice demonstration and clearly explained. How would you approach it if you were using plugins other than Waves', same rule of thumb or trail and error to find out what works?

[@mixingwithmike]

gingataff Hi gingataff, The same applies to any plugin manufacturer's emulation as long as it is a good one. I gravitate toward Waves, UA, Softube and companies that use the same visual as the original hardware because it is better for demonstration purposes. I don't associate with the trial and error thing because I have used, in hardware form, almost all of the vintage gear I show demonstrations for. I learned as a second engineer from many amazing engineers who almost all used the same or similar gear and settings for instruments. I used that knowledge in my own professional work following in their footsteps. That said, without that experience, I would suggest paying careful attention to what specific gear is being used for specific instruments. There are many associations that can be made from this video alone. A little experimentation doesn't hurt either! Cheers! Mike

[@rafamixedit]

what about applications for the SSL G-Equalizer plug in from Waves? I tend to use it for pushing the hi-mids on a vocal, and getting some hairy, crunchy harmonics/distortion. Do you rely on the SSL for Eqing?

[@mixingwithmike]

+Rafael Moure Hi Rafael, I love the SSL EQ for the aggressive midrange focus. I worked almost exclusively on E and G series desks in the early part of my career in the mid 80's - early 90's. Great 'radio friendly' console! Technically, it is a vintage EQ, but because of my history with it I guess i am prone to not call it vintage. Makes me feel old I guess :-) I don't think of it as a "go to" eq for the majority of my work, but in the right situation for the right song, it rocks! My tendency now is to listen to the song first and decide what console I would love to mix that song on and start with the emulations from that console type. From there, I add the vintage processors that are appropriate to the needs of the given track. Cheers! Mike

[@thecrashharder01]

Great vid, Mike. I have a question: wants the difference between an active EQ and a passive EQ?

[@mixingwithmike]

thecrashharder01 Hey crash! The difference between a passive EQ and an 'active' one is that a passive eq, by design, does not use amplification for each EQ band. Only at the input and/or output stage. Imagine an audio signal coming into the EQ getting multed 4 times. If one of those 4 bands has the low frequencies filtered off, the perception when all 4 signals are combined back together with a little bit of gain at the output stage is that there is more hi frequencies even though no high frequencies were technically added in. An active eq will have some form of an amplifier for each band of the EQ. Hope this makes sense! Mike

[@luiza177music]

I still have trouble understanding why I would want to use a vintage-style/emulation EQ when there's something like Fabfilter Pro-Q is around, which is a lot more flexible. Perhaps I should try and replicate settings from a vintage EQ with Pro-Q and see what happens..

[@mixingwithmike]

+luiza177music Hi luiza, You could completely map out the exact filter shapes, gain and Q and it would still sound completely different. Most digital EQs already do this and that is what the Pro Q2 "natural Phase" setting does. You have to take into account the in-band phase and inter-band dependency as well the distortion characteristics and different gain levels. Not to mention the harmonic distortion characteristics of transformers and tubes at different gain stages. There is so much more to a vintage EQ than just the GUI. Cheers! Mike

[@luiza177music]

+Michael White Hi Michael, huge thanks for the reply. I get what you're saying about the harmonic distortion of each model, I suppose I need to learn to listen for those, as I do for compressor characters. But what did you say the "Natural Phase" setting does?

[@mixingwithmike]

The Natural Phase setting provides a more 'natural' sound by mimicking the in-band phase timing of analog gear. Although not 'technically' correct as the Linear Phase setting, it has a warmer sound.

[@luiza177music]

+Michael White Thanks again for the reply. I do notice 'Natural phase' sounds, well, more natural. Especially when being more aggressive. I for some reason thought that 'zero latency' mode or otherwise non-'linear phase' modes were supposed to be what analog gear was like. Guess I need to research EQ and phase shifts more.

[@mixingwithmike]

Hi Luiza, The closest thing to linear phase in the analog realm are passive EQs like the Pultec, Manley Massive Passive, Tube Tech and Summit EQs, there are many others. They have a very transparent sound but most also add tubes and transformers as part of the gain circuitry that color the sound in a musical way. The Sontec Mastering EQ is an exception. Any EQ with an active in-band gain will introduce phase distortion. Cheers! Mike

[@sldkjfasljfwaoptiuwa]

I'd love for you to pick up some PSP Audioware plugins and get into them a bit. They have a lot of vintage EQs.

[@mixingwithmike]

I tried to connect with them at the last NAMM show but they didn't seem to be interested in talking. It was also the last day so they may have been toast by that point. They make great products.

[@sldkjfasljfwaoptiuwa]

It's surprising how under-represented they are in a lot of tutorials and stuff. You see lots of Waves, Slate, Soundtoys, and other big brands. I've always loved PSP and seen great reviews on their products, but no one out there seems to be using them when I look for tutorials and stuff. Thanks for the amazing tutorials. So much helpful and great explanations and examples.

[@sldkjfasljfwaoptiuwa]

I mentioned your channel on one of their recent posts and they said they'd love for your plugins to be featured. Sorry, I use a lot of their plugins and would love to see your comprehensive approach toward reviewing other plugins applied to their stuff so I can learn to get the most out of them myself.

[@mixingwithmike]

Thanks for the recommendation. I will reach out to them directly and also connect at the NAMM show. Cheers! Mike

[@SteveStockmalMusic]

I can just imagine their CEO the next day.... “you mean Michael White was interested in our product and you blew him off? You’re fired!!! And YOU why did you do anything about it?... you’re fired too” Lolololol

[@jamescreekmusic]

Neat! Hey Mike, do you mean that in big studios the engineers tend to use different EQ units to shape different freqs, let's say they stack them and choose which freq range to cut/excite? Ex: Lows with Neve, Mids with API, Highs with SSL, on groups as Drum Bus, Bass, Vocals, etc? Great video by the way, always inspiring.

[@mixingwithmike]

James Creek Hi James, the answer to your question is yes and no! All pro engineers in big studios will go to particular vintage EQs for specific instruments knowing that a specific frequency selection in that unit will perfectly suit the sound they are going for. That said, very few studios have enough vintage gear that would allow you to be so selective in using 3 different frequencies from 3 different vintage EQs for one instrument. The Manny Marroquin EQ is an example of this concept in the plugin realm and the H-EQ by Waves also embodies this concept without being specific to what emulations are being used. Cheers! Mike

[@yeahdude984]

what do you think of the ssl e channel from waves? i normally never do boosting but i find it sounds good when i boost certain frequencies.

[@mixingwithmike]

I like the Waves E-Channel. Like every vintage EQ, it has frequency areas that sound amazing and others that are not as strong. In general, vintage EQs are most effective when you are primarily boosting (because it drives the output circuits) and then attenuating at the output to balance for unity gain. Good emulations will capture this characteristic well and Waves is very sensitive to that aspect. Cheers! Mike

[@ddu1212]

Just a question. Do you know of any EQ plugins that give you the precision of modern digital EQs without an EQ graph (just knobs)? All the EQs I know with just knobs are emulations of vintage gear and tend to be more about personality than precision.

[@mixingwithmike]

+Damien Dubose Are you looking for a mixing EQ or mastering EQ?

[@ddu1212]

+Michael White mixing EQ

[@ddu1212]

+Damien Dubose really something for subtractive eq mainly. I find the visual representation of the eq moves sometimes clouds my judgment.

[@mixingwithmike]

Hi Damien, I thought this would be an easy one, but all the "non-emulation" eq's are either mastering specific or have the graphic display for editing. Stumped me on this one! Best, Mike

[@ddu1212]

+Michael White Thanks anyway. Guess I'll either stick to my SSLChannel or keep my eyes closed when I use my parametric.

[@Recordingstudio-uk]

Hi Mike any chance you could review DMG Equilibrium

[@mixingwithmike]

I will take a look at it. i am not very familiar with the DMG line of plugins.

[@ojreal925]

Im curious about your perspective on the waves VEQ, is it similar to any one of these Vintage emulations?

[@mixingwithmike]

I love the VEQ. VEW 3 emulates the 3 band neve eqs (1073 and 1066) and the VEQ4 emulates the 4 band 1081. I use them both a lot for this purpose.

[@ojreal925]

O ok nice to know!, thanks for the feedback.

[@dcgfhgjnzgfnjcbgn5828]

That real snare sounds WAY better than that sample piece of crap.

[@mixingwithmike]

dcgfhgjnzgfnjcbgn Hi dcgfhgjnzgfnjcbgn I think this song was originally produced 7-8 years ago. I was not involved with the recording or production. Just using it as a basis for demonstrating how select vintage EQs. Hopefully that was not your only takeaway... Cheers! Mike