I recently picked up a bunch of new T-Racks plugins in the group buy promotion ( currently at 10 for 1! )they were running and one of my unexpected favorites is the EQ-PG. Let’s take a look
EQ-PG is IK Multimedia’s take on the API 560 Graphic EQ. The original is a 10-band Equalizer for the 500-series lunchbox format, which is designed to fit a lot of control into a small form factor. You’ve probably seen other plugin versions that more closely resemble the layout, like the Waves API 560, but the T-Racks version flips it on its side and for me, that makes it a lot easier to use.
Each of these sliders allows you to cut or boost a particular frequency by up to 12dB. The more you boost or cut, the narrower that filter becomes. This makes for a really different feel when using the EQ. Small adjustments are easily heard, and with the controls being limited to just gain for each band, it is an extremely fast tone shaping tool.
Even with the preamp section and EQ turned off, this plugin affects the sound, and you can see this in Plugin Doctor in the Frequency Analysis and Harmonic.
Engaging the Preamp adds in an additional saturation element and a slight tonal change. positive changes to the gain knob in this mode increases hard clipping.
I can see this being really useful to just have on every bus track, especially because this plugin has a tone just being in the chain. I think the 10 band layout really encourages experimentation as well.
Like all the T-Racks plugins this works in stereo, dual mono, or mid side, and has 4 slots for A/B comparing settings.
Of the 3 API style EQs that are in the T-Racks product line, the EQ-PG is my favorite, and I decided not to buy the others. It’s not the perfect EQ for every situation of course, but I have a lot of other EQs. I’ve used the EQP-1A Pultec style quite a lot over the years, and I also recently got EQual which is one of their new ones and is super flexible.
If you are looking for a free option, kinda similar to this, have a look at the SPL Free Ranger which is an 8-band graphic EQ.
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