Equalizer
Overview
In terms of an audio signal, equalization is the process of adjusting balance between frequencies on the spectrum using linear filters. Equalizer, or EQ, refers to the equipment that facilitates frequency-specific amplitude adjustment. It’s important to understand the ins and outs of EQ, how it came to be, and how this influenced the role EQ plays in a modern-day production.
Equal parts powerful workhorse and finely tuned racehorse, Neutron Elements’ parametric infinite impulse response (IIR) EQ combines the flexibility of processing in the digital domain with the best of both the transparent and the colorful sonic qualities mix engineers often associate with analogue equalizers and signal paths. Sure, we designed it to sound truly great, and believe you’ll love it, but let’s check out what’s behind the superlatives!
The EQ has three sections: the top Global area, where global parameters that affect the entire EQ live; the middle spectrum area, where the EQ metering and node adjustment takes place; and the lower detail pane, for more advanced control over node settings. This detail pane may be collapsed or expanded by clicking on the small triangle.
Global Controls
Learn
Neutron Elements’ EQ Learn intelligently analyzes the audio signal, placing any enabled nodes on areas of interest it identifies, such as sibilance, resonance, rumble, and so on. It’s an incredibly useful feature, enabling you to quickly locate areas of sonic importance.
Think of it as a starting point, a suggested guide you may wish to tweak artistically, or even something you can switch on in a moment of frustration if you’re searching for the right EQ sweet spots. It’s only applied to nodes that are enabled, and won’t enable or disable any (in contrast to Track Assistant, which may). It also won’t affect Gain or Q, and so once nodes are placed, you may hold the Shift key to preserve the frequency placement, and move the Gain up or down to determine if your track sounds better with that specific area of interest boosted or cut.
Reset
This will reset the entire EQ to default values if you wish to start over. If you click this button and experience instant remorse, never fear…you can open the Undo History and revert the change to go back to the settings you had prior to reset.
Per-Band Controls
The node circles on the EQ display mark each of the EQ bands. You can adjust an EQ band by clicking on a node and dragging the crosshairs:
- Horizontally to change the frequency of the band.
- Vertically to change the gain of the band.
Move the mouse over the handles on each side of the band to adjust the bandwidth (Q) of the EQ band, by dragging with the mouse and widening the band. You may also use your mouse or track-pad’s scroll action to widen/narrow a selected band. As you adjust the nodes you will see multiple EQ curves. The white curve is the composite of all EQ bands while the selected band shows as a thin line in the band’s specific color.
Filter Types
Neutron Elements’ EQ offers a variety of filter types.
You can upgrade to Neutron Standard or Advanced for significantly more control, including Dynamic EQ.
| Bands | Filters |
|---|---|
| High-pass band | Flat Resonant |
| Low-shelf band | Analog Baxandall Bass Vintage |
| Bands 1-8 | Flat Band Shelf |
| High-shelf band | Analog Baxandall Treble |
| Low-pass band | Flat Resonant Vintage |
| Filter Type Descriptions |
|---|
| Flat HPF/LPF These so-called Butterworth filters are optimized for maximum flatness without ripple or resonance in the passband or stopband. They pass frequencies above (high-pass) or below (low-pass) the center frequency while attenuating any frequencies above/below that point. These filters are very utilitarian and can be used to cut rumble or hiss, which may increase headroom. A variety of slope steepness options are available. |
| Resonant HPF/LPF This filter is equipped with a resonance control, which can modify the curve to either emphasize the cutoff frequency with positive resonance (e.g. add “oomph” to a kick drum fundamental while also cutting rumble, or smoothly enhancing the bottom end of a vocal centered around its fundamental) or smooth the curve around the cutoff frequency, with negative resonance. |
| Analog High/Low Shelf The Analog, Baxandall, and Vintage shelves can be used to reduce or increase signals above or below a set frequency. The Analog shelves in Neutron Elements are the most CPU-efficient, work-horse shelves for simple frequency lifts or cuts. |
| Baxandall Treble/Bass Shelf Based on a two-knob treble and bass vintage equalizer designed by Peter Baxandall in the early 1950s, these filters offer gentle, sonically pleasing slopes. Regrettably, Peter never received much in the way of royalties for his design, which is among the most ubiquitous. (It’s behind those treble and bass adjustments in millions of hi-fi and car stereo systems.) The Baxandall filter’s complex math minimizes the phase delay often found in many analog/shelving EQs. Phase displacement isn’t always bad. Neutron Elements’ Vintage filter uses phase coloration, but minimizing such artifacts is what allows a Baxandall filter to make significant changes to a frequency spectrum without drastically changing the overall sonic character. These subtleties are phenomenal at enhancing air in a vocal or guitars, or giving greater emphasis to synths, basses, and drums without adding a harsh edge. Unlike the original Baxandall EQ design which had no variable center frequency control, Neutron Elements allows fully adjustable frequency response. |
| Vintage High/Low Shelf These filters exhibit a complimentary frequency dip when boosting (vice versa when cutting) modeled after the renowned Pultec equalizer. Creating a complex slope with one node is one of the secrets behind why subjectively, the Pultec design sounds so good. As you boost in the low end (say, between 40-100 Hz), you’ll notice the complimentary dip in the curve is between 700 Hz to 1.5 kHz, which tends to be where nasty, nasal-sounding resonances occur, thus killing two birds with one stone. (Note: We love animals, so please don’t go killing any actual birds on our account.) |
| Band Shelf Though this is a bell filter, this filter’s shape has a flat top, allowing the user to perform wider, flatter EQ adjustments in a particular frequency area. This is useful for attenuating a block of boxy frequencies, like unpleasant buildup in the 500-900 Hz range or boosting vocal/dialogue presence in the 3-7 kHz range. |
| Proportional Q This innovative filter’s shape varies in proportion to the amount of cut or boost, which is as highly useful as it is aesthetically beneficial. It’s more transparent when making more extreme gain adjustments. As the cut or boost is increased further away from center, the shape tightens for more precision, which is particularly useful for suppressing resonances, hums, or other narrow frequency bands that need to be removed. This behavior is distinct from the Q, which you’re still able to freely adjust. |
Frequency / Gain / Q (Bandwidth)
You may adjust the frequency, gain, and bandwidth for the currently selected band in two ways: graphically, over the Spectrum View, or by clicking and dragging on the sliders in the EQ detail panel. Note that, by design, not all filter types have adjustable Gain or Q, so you may see either hidden or disabled depending on your choice of filters.
Utility Functions
Mix
The Mix slider in the signal flow is a highly useful feature, allowing you to do parallel EQ. At 100%, you’re hearing only the audio processed by EQ, whereas at 50% you’re hearing an even blend between unprocessed and EQ’d audio. Often times, blending in more extreme EQ settings (particularly shelves) has a much more pleasant, sweeter sound, than simply dialing in a gentler EQ curve. Parallel EQ is often one of the hidden tricks that simple sweetening plug-ins tend to pull, but here it’s exposed for you to control directly.
Alt+Solo
If you hold down the Alt key and click on the spectrum, you have a temporary “audio magnifying glass” that lets you hear only the frequencies that are under the mouse cursor, without affecting your actual EQ settings. This is useful for pinpointing the location of a particular frequency in the mix without changing your actual EQ bands. Releasing the mouse button returns the sound to the actual EQ. The Q of this filter can be adjusted in the Options window.
Node Solo
To solo a specific EQ band, hold Alt and then click on the node you wish to solo. This engages a band pass filter for the audio affected only by that particular node’s filter.
Adjustable Scales
Depending on what it is you’re EQ’ing, different frequency scales are useful. Neutron Elements’ EQ allows a number of EQ scales:
- Linear by nature offers an even view across all frequencies. This does overemphasize the higher frequencies where there may not be as much useful information, but can be useful for dialing in ‘air’ bands or EQ brightness.
- Mel uses a scale that reflects a perceptual scale of pitches that humans judge to be an equal distance apart.
- Logarithmic, Flat Logarithmic, and Extended Logarithmic are non-linear scales that offer much more detail on the low end and midrange, useful for the vast majority of EQ tasks, which is why Neutron Elements defaults to Extended Log
- Piano Roll