New Music Gear Monday: Wavesfactory Equalizer Plugin

Using the EQ can be one of a mixer’s most in-depth exercises, and it’s not uncommon for engineer’s to fiddle with at least one channel throughout the entire course of a mix. One of the coolest things about the latest generation of EQ plugins is that their operation is becoming easier, as a lot of the time and effort normally used is automatically done for you pretty quickly. The new Wavesfactory Equalizer is the latest example of an extremely powerful plugin that’s making the job of EQing easier than ever.

Equalizer analyses the incoming signal in 32 different bands and it boosts or cuts the level of each band separately in order for all of them to have the same volume. The user can select various elements of the frequency spectrum to cut or boost as a percentage of the entire frequency spectrum, adjust attack and release of the overall reaction time, or tilt the EQ to favor more low or high end content, all with real-time processing and zero latency.

Sophisticated Yet Simple

In essence, Equalizer can be operated with just a single control – the large Amount knob in the center of the plugin. If you want, you can change how it operates by using the Cut and Boost controls, which affect the percentage of the effect. Attack and Release also change the reaction times of the algorithm in milliseconds.

There’s also a Tilt control to favor either high or low side of frequency spectrum while dipping the other, and an M/S control if you want to just affect the mid channel, side channel or anything else in between. There’s a Mix control for parallel processing, and an Output level control for make-up again, although there’s also an Auto-Gain feature available so you don’t have to think about it too much.

The large resizable display shows the frequency response, but it can also be used to draw in the desired amount of the effect per band.

It should be noted again that Equalizer has real-time zero latency processing so it can be used live, and doesn’t use much CPU power.

Wavesfactory Equalizer has an introductory price of $59 (normally $99) and is available for Mac and PC and in all plugin formats. For more info, go to the website, or check out the in-depth video below.