EQ2V

When making music, it’s very likely that all the instruments you put together will sound very chaotic at first. This applies to both digital and live instruments recorded during studio sessions; simply quantizing the different tracks won’t make them magically sound well in unison. Different instruments produce different sounds on different frequencies, so it’s not your job only to adjust volumes, but also to adjust different frequencies for each track.

This is why it’s important to equalize those different frequencies in order to achieve a balanced sound. You’re never really done EQing your music until the mastering process. Thankfully, your DAW allows you to do that, and there are countless other external plugins that you can use. Today we’ll be looking at one called EQ2V.

Designed by Mellowmuse, EQ2V is a simple 3-band EQ plugin that takes inspiration from classic analog units. Each threshold for each band can be set by simply turning a knob, and for each band, there’s a secondary knob in the middle which controls the gain for that frequency. The plugin also comes with a high pass filter, and also offers you the possibility of bypassing each of the parameters.

There’s also a “SOFTRAN” button which is short for transient softener; as its name suggests, it can be used to instantly tone down percussive transients. Since it’s modeled on various analog devices, using this plugin may enable you to enrichen the harmonic depth and add much-needed warmth to your tracks and mixes.

If you’re used to more advanced digital EQs that offer visual feedback through their frequency specter displays, then a plugin like EQ2V may seem underwhelming. However, if you also like to equalize your tracks by just using your ears, then you may find this simple piece of software very fun to use.