Some of the best EQ emulations on the market for adding an analogue sound and shaping your tracks
Universal Audio
Mac/PC £299
Not one but three classic EQs. You can do the low-end trick with the EQP-1A, make mid-range tweaks and enhancements with the MEQ ‐5 and surgically remove bad frequencies (or even add a lo-fi effect) with HLF ‐3C. Or just run your audio through any of them for that classic analogue sound.
IK Multimedia
Mac/PC €100
The sound of original Neve mixing desks is sought after and, like many classic consoles, has been emulated in software either as a channel strip or individual elements. This IK plugin takes the EQ from the 1081 console and beautifully recreates it for a DAW near you, including all the punch and presence of the original desk. A beauty.
Waves
Mac/PC $299
And while we’re on a Pultec tip we should include Waves’ version, their bundle of two ‘Puigtec’ EQs. As with the UA collection you get the MEQ-5 for your midrange but not the HLF-3C. However, this collection might boast a higher dollar price but Waves plugins are so often on sale that the original price is pretty meaningless. It’s just 30 bucks as we write this, for example!
Universal Audio
Mac/PC £299
There’s little that UA hasn’t touched in the world of vintage gear, and we just had to include an emulation of the original British Neve 1073, so why not just include a bundle that not on
