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Equalize 2 (EQ) by Acon Digital (Plugin Review)

Acon Digital Equalize is yet another parametric equalizer plug-in that isn't only easy to use but also offers great flexibility in your mixing workflow.

What this equalizer does better is featuring an adjustable frequency, gain, and bandwidths, on top of this, you can also filter slope for each band. The filter slope can be set anywhere from 3 dB to ultra-sharp 120 dB per octave.

One of the things I love about this plugin is the way you can operate it. It features as a zero-latency plug-in when using the minimum phase mode or you can choose to preserve the phase relationships in the linear phase mode.

Equalize goes one step further by introducing the unique mixed phase mode that allows you to set the latency freely in the range of 5 to 120 milliseconds while preserving the phase relationships as far as possible.

That gives a unique control over potential pre-ringing artifacts which is a common problem with linear phase filtering. Latency values below 20 milliseconds ensure that any pre-ringing is masked by the temporal masking of the human hearing while preserving the time-alignment across the audible frequency range.

If you've ever used Fabfilter Equalizer, then I'll say the user interface is somewhat similar to Acon Digital Equalizer, the band parameters can be adjusted using handles directly in the graphical representation of the frequency response, including bandwidths and filter slopes.

A flexible real-time analyzer lets you monitor every aspect of the processing. You can easily switch between full, mid, side, left or right channel processing for each band and Equalize automatically routes the audio signal internally to ensure the best results and lowest possible latency.

To fully indulge you into the plug-in, it has Eight different band filter types — low cut, low shelf, peak, tilt, bandpass, notch, high shelf, and high cutup to twelve independent bands with a freely adjustable gain, frequency, bandwidth, resonance, and filter slope.

Also, it supports 3 different phase modes, including the novel mixed phase mode with adjustable latency, and I didn't mention that you can choose channel mode for each band independently (mid, side, left, right or full processing)

Acon Digital Equalize 2 is available for both Windows (PC) and OS X (Macintosh). Both 32 and 64-bit versions are available, and the plug-in formats VST, VST3, AAX, and Audio Units (OS X only) are supported. The upgrade to version 2 is free for all Equalize customers and the license key is valid in version 2.

The new version of Equalize includes two new filter types – tilt and bandpass. It now offers a total of eight different filter types. Just like the previously available filters, both the tilt and bandpass filters offer the unique continuously adjustable filter slopes in the range of 3 to 120 dB per octave.

The frequency range of the equalizer curve can now be altered conveniently by dragging the edges of the frequency axis or moved by clicking and dragging the center. This makes it possible to zoom in on specific frequency ranges for more precise control. A new preference page offers user settings such as analyzer resolution and user interface language. Another new feature is the optional piano keyboard display above the frequency axis. Band frequencies can easily be set to match a tone’s frequency by clicking the key on the piano keyboard.

Key Features:

  • Available as VST, VST3 or AAX plug-ins on PC (Windows)
  • Available as VST, VST3, AAX or AU plug-ins on Apple Macintosh (OS X)
  • Native 32 bit or 64-bit versions of all plug-ins are available
  • Supports sampling rates up to 96 kHz
  • Supports multi-channel formats such as 5.1 and 7.1 surround
  • Up to twelve equalizer bands
  • Eight different band filter types (low cut, low shelf, peak, tilt, bandpass, notch, high shelf, and high cut)
  • Band frequency, gain, bandwidth, resonance and filter slope is freely adjustable for each band
  • Three different filter modes, minimum phase, linear phase or the novel mixed phase
  • Adjustable latency and pre-ringing time in mixed-phase mode
  • Zero-latency in minimum phase mode
  • Channel mode (mid, side, left, right or full processing) can be set independently for each band
  • Multiple selections of bands
  • Resizable graphical user interface
  • Solo and bypass modes
  • Optional automatic make-up gain
  • Optional gain to bandwidth linking
  • Two spectrum analyzers that can analyze the input or output signal from the mid, side, left or right channel
  • Graphical visualization of the equalizer frequency response
  • Preset manager and a large number of factory presets
  • Save, load and categorize user presets

System Requirements

PC Version (Windows)

  • A Pentium IV or higher
  • Minimum 256 MB RAM (1 GB recommended)
  • Windows 10, 8 or 7
  • A host application that is compatible with VST, VST3 or AAX (Pro Tools 10.3.5 or higher)

Macintosh Version (OS X)

  • 64 bit Intel CPU
  • OS X 10.7 or later
  • A host application that is compatible with AU, VST, VST3 or AAX (Pro Tools 10.3.5 or higher

Get Equalize 2 by Acon Digital

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