A year or 2 ago I fell in love with the sound and the GUI of this EQ. There are so many filter types, and the sound is so open and clear. I use it as my main EQ now for Music. Film and TV work. Of course in music I will use 1073 and other vibey plugs and hardware, but for surgical, or basic EQ, this is my main go to.
Cramping happens as you approach Nyquist . The right side of the bell will start to deform and not be symmetrical anymore. Much different from aliasing where you actually have harmonic distortion folding back into the audible range. It is possible to design a filter that is “decramped”, so that the frequency response matches what you’d expect if the nyquist limit was a wall that the filter just slides behind, rather than is squished by it.
Some software engineering skills here. I think SSL is probably oversampling the high frequency range in real time (or emulating the results of having done so) while staying very attentive to keeping the cpu load as low as possible. Also, this plugin is on sale today for 34.99 USD, down from 300 USD.
I've been using SSL plugins since their "Duende" days. When I installed their console plugins, it was the first time my "in-the-box" mixes sounded like an outboard, analogue mix, to me.
Always refreshing to hear you be honest when you don't know something or haven't heard of a particular term. I'm going to give this a demo and see how it compares on my own productions.
seriously inspiring! To see you a) being honest about a gap in your knowledge and b) learning new stuff 'live' and sharing your learning with us. Very encouraging to me as a student of audio processing. Many thanks (ps I watched Dan's video on Cramping just prior to watching this one. You both make a great team :))
Here's a tip you don't mention in the video but may have already noticed. The EQ dials are speed sensitive relative to the mouse/trackball movement. Move it slowly and the values change quicker. Move it faster and the values change more slowly. Hold down Command on the Mac (I don't know the Windows version equivalent) while moving and the values change even slower (finer control).
I get cramping every night in my leg and/or feet in bed, should I plug myself into this? Then my gf cramps my style when we go out in the evening. My flat is so small I'm cramped. If this solves all my crampation/crampness I will buy it.
Thought exactly the same about the GUI, and it doesn't actually surprise me SSL decided to take that approach. Their controllers show they're at least thinking about continuing to innovated in the digital realm.
"Cramping" means the bell curve gets squeezed against the Nyquist frequency so that the curve doesn't retain its natural shape as you move up in frequency.
What I've always liked about the SSL plugins (not the accompanying ones with the new dedicated controller, which have the controller to fit the plugins looks) is they're all computer relevant, instead of trying to look like hardware... this EQ is so great on top on it all... For the first year, I will be going with subscriptions to figure out what I need... the SSL collection is one of the more confident collections... I get the issue with subscriptions as an overall thing... but budgets are often causing great costs over time... having more money to invest can save you money... and this is the business world that is always helping already rich ones
Hey Whitesea! THANK YOU for this fabulous video. I was trying to figure out how to use this SSL EQ, and your teaching about phase & eq was really insightful. Thanks man, keep up the good work!
I bought this after seeing this vid and that it was on sale, and I use it on nearly every single track of every mix. Surgical and musical; you don’t have to be afraid of doing large boosts, they sound awesome-especially in the high end. It’s fantastic, and being able to automate the a and b is super useful for creative applications.
SSL does have the vintage EQ cause I have it. I with they would of combined this with that. But this is nice and what I really want. 💯💣👍 I have the Reverb from SSL and it's really dope. and SSL supports offline computers.
If you want to increase the mouse precision of Fab Filter spot handling just press SHIFT while you move it, if you want to use X/Y axes (Freq/Gain), hold ALT, you have the same thing of that interface. With CONTROL you can handle Q if you don't have the mouse wheel, it works in combination with SHIFT if you want a precise Q. This use of SHIFT, ALT, CONTROL combination to improve mouse sensitivity and moving on grids and axes is a PC convention many audio/graphic software do.
Dan Worrall has discussed cramping in depth in several of his videos. If you're nerdy like that you would do well to watch everything he's ever done, but you can start here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3OoVnTO3AB4.html
As someone who came from the Analog world to then having $10k of plugins. I am plugin-ed-out. How much different do they all sound? Still in 2021 no one has been able to digitally reproduce a Valve or Transformer with any realism. But I digress, think I may buy another plugin.
I just bought this on special, I did own a piece of SSL, an X-patch, it's just excellent gear. Now I am truly impressed with what this plugin EQ does :).
SSL plugins are top level and this one is no exception. Thanks for this excellent video -your videos are all excellent btw. I wonder how Eventide's SplitEQ stands up when compared to FF ProQ and SSL Native X-EQ 2 :) Cheers!
A discussion of cramping behavior should probably include any impacts on phase shifting and latency to be complete. Dan Worrall talks about EQ cramping as well as these other topics in his "what's wrong with stock plugins?" videos, where he compares FabFilter's Pro Q3 with Reaper's ReaEQ and Ableton Live's EQ8.
thank you for the video. ive recently started using the SSL channel strip v2 which also using anti-cramping and i've really noticed how much it helps keeps the top end clear when implements many instances. I will use that channel strip on all of my stem outputs going to my analog summing. there's something to it. multiple instances sum much nicer than UAD or plug-in alliance channel strips. I didn't buy the EQ that you're reviewing because I have so many plug-ins I don't use, but now I'm thinking I should pick it up lol.
It would be interesting to see a CPU usage comparison between the Fab Filter EQ and the X-EQ to be able to show us if the "Anti-Cramping" claims from SSL development are effective on our machines? It's a pretty slick EQ in every way. Great video thank you :)
I'm not a math-dsp expert but I think anti-cramping is just how they called the way they deal with digital distortion (ghost mirrored harmonics and q-factor deviations) when equing frequencies near Nyquist.... without relying on oversampling.
there is a difference between dynamic eq and mutliband compression. Dynamic EQs are not Multiband-compressors with a small Q. But yes, the option for dynamic EQs should become mandatory, especially for EQs that cost 300 Bucks.
@@SamFerrara A compressor compresses/folds a signal. That means that while ALL parts of the affected area get "turned down" it is a PROCENTUAL (%) effect. That means that the louder parts of the signal (or frequency-selection) are affected more than the quieter parts. An equalizer simply increases or decreases the chosen frequencies by by a fixed amount.. it doesn't "fold".. that means every part of the frequency is affected exactly the same, not procentual, but ABSOLUTE - for instance -6 db. Imagine a Dwarf and a Troll living in the frequency-area you want to affect.. when you fully affect (via lowest threshold) them with a compressor (2:1 ratio) the troll who was 12 feet is suddenly 6 feet big.. means he loses 6 feet of height.. and the dwarf who was 3 feet is suddenly 1,5 feet.. only losing 1,5 feet. When you affect them with an eq (-2dB/feet) the troll and the dwarf both only lose 2 feets to their height.. which means the troll is now 10 feet tall and the dwarf 1 feet short. Now in case you are wondering: "But Gerhard, dynamic EQs don't always substract the exact range I put in" .. I'll explain it to you. You set the Threshold and the range.. now if if you set the range to -2 dB for instance and the signal is only 1dB over the threshold, only 1 dB of reduction will occur - (no compression) clean reduction. But it doesn't matter wether the signal is 2, 4, 6 or 12 dB over the Threshold.. it will never reduce more than 2 dB, if the range is set to -2 dB. Hope that helps :)
@@akagerhard Sounds like your just describing how one specific dynamic eq works. By that definition TDR Nova isn’t a dynamic eq. Tokyo Dawn seem to think differently.
I Have This EQ For A Few Months And Love The Way Sounds At The Top End
3 года назад
An interesting attempt to tackle phase mismatch especially in the bass region: Sound Radix Pi. It is a tricky and original plugin. Many times it produces unpleasant artifacts. But when it works, it is amazing how much it can fix, for example, the punchiness of a kick drum + bass + distorted guitar low growl. I recommend a thorough demoing of it if you care about phase issues.
I would seriously buy this just because of all these convenient features. Cant wait for them to implement maybe dynamic eq or linear phase then im 100% sold
Good presentation! The features you discovered are also available in the previous Native 6 versions with the exception of the new "Anit-Cramping" algorithm. Would suggest that you load the SSL Channel Strip across normal tracks of a mix and see how fast you can pull a mix together. One trick for the channel strip compressor is to slam the threshold and slowly increase the ratio, adding peak & fast mode as needed.
Thanks I was looking for a upgrade from my f6 today and was considering fabfilter but with that 179 price tag is steep for a home studio guy like me but this one looks like it fits me best! Thanks for the honest reviews! Appreciate you big bro!✌🏼
If you guys are recommending Dan Worrall's eq cramping video to Wytse, he obviously watched it in preparation for this video. Have you ever seen him null two eq's by adjusting the q before? That's Dan's methodology! But, I hadn't seen Dan's video before so I'm glad that you guys recommended it to ME. Thanks!
It’s a great marketing point to add to your product. So if you meant a secret to the customer, nah I think they’d flaunt it instead. But to other developers, maybe they would
This ssl native eq2 is More Build it in the way of the Software-eq‘s in the Bigger live & broadcast consoles from ssl like systemT s500/s300 or l550 ... and they are really Good!!!
Phaseshift doesn't automatically mean frequency cancellation, that you are presuming @ ~ 16:00 . Phase cancellation is more likely to be occuring between multi mic/channel recordings of the same signal (e.g drums or bass with di and amp signals etc..) But linear eq settings sometimes come with a pre-ringing effect, so you never know, what the bigger problem is, untill you're actually running into it... I generally don't care unless something unexpected/audible happens.
There's a video on RU-vid called "don't cramp my eq" or something. That explains it all. I found this video - this video here as a recommendation after watching that one
You are talking about Dan Worrall's - Don't Cramp My EQ Style? Are you not? If people do not know about Dan Worrall btw, deffo check out his vids. He has tonnes of knowledge.
Preferred the Fab filter sound TBH. Interesting EQ Protools tip : hold CTRL + SHIFT while selecting an EQ band in the GUI . Cool as phuq. ( works on PT eq and some other 3rd party plugs}
check out dan worral's eq testing videos, he talks about cramping quite a bit. i think the fabfilter was one of the first eq's that prevented cramping from happening, but most newer revisions of stock eq plugins have it now built in too. when i remember correctly, what they do is to combine the deformed peak-eq curve with a shelving filter when the nyquist limit is approached. but for a true (meaning analog equivalent) phase response, there is no way around oversampling.
Hey, such a nice review, could you please review Acon Digital equalize 2. Please. + I have ssl bundle, do you recommend using this eq over my main acon digital equalize 2?
According to Dan Worrall, oversampling kind of tackles cramping since nyquist moves up one octave, but iirc overall regular digital eqs should not need oversampling at all and instead be programmed in a way to tackle cramping.
I don’t think the phase shifts matter much between different instruments, because different frequencies are already partially out of phase. That phase shift shown is only the difference between the original sound and after eq, but it doesn’t mean that a signal will be more or less in phase with other instruments. Dan Worrall even made a video showing that parallel eq doesn’t make a huge difference.
The type of Q control you are talking about is called "asymmetrical". It was made popular by early Studer Consoles and later by API Consoles. Every Brand has their own Q factor style so a Q of 1.0 will not be the same. This is why the lines on the background of these EQ's is consistent across professional EQ plugins, it allows you to match the EQs based on the logarithmic frequency scale. Most parametric EQ's have this option. Even REA-EQ, Pro-Q, SSL & others. It's from old school graphical analyzers. Back then there were 2 types the Logarithmic scale with the lines which became the default way, and Bar Graph analyzers which didn't catch on in Pro Audio but were popular in consumer stereos.
Waves Phase can do some helping with the tone phasing adjustments........helps a lot....plus, it could be bypassed for certain parts only and turn off when no needed in automation.......
Pro Q-3 sounds quite different In “Linear Phase-Medium” mode. Was noticing comparisons early on with Pro Q set to “zero latency”. That will indeed sound very different from the X-EQ2
Brother that q factor peak is already part of Pro-Q3 , when u increase band gain the q becomes narrower on the top. There is a small button beside band gain knob.
"Cramping" is a real term, and a problem of most digital EQs. If you' ever seen a boost or cut getting narrower when you move it closer to 20 KHz, that's cramping, and it' one of the reasons why a digital EQ could sound worse than an analog one, or a digital EQ with anti-cramping measures. Bear in mind though: Anti-cramping isn't anti-aliasing, so a digital EQ can have one but not the other or to have both, but it all depends on the specific EQ you're using. PD: IIRC Pro-Q 3, TDR NOVA and the Izotope EQ already have anti-cramping inside.
TDR Nova uses oversampling to get rid of cramping. But TDR SlickEQ in zero-latency mode (non-oversampled) internally uses pure "digital" IIR EQ but then additional FIR EQ correction to 100% match the "analog" amplitude response (and thus get rid of cramping). De-cramping implementations with or without oversampling lead to similar amplitude responses but also leads to different phase responses near Nyquist frequency ("natural" phase response as called by FabFilter or "digital" phase response).
@@vladgsound Hmm, so that's why NOVA and SlickEQ sound different on the high-end. Interesting. Now, I know both EQs have different factors so that's to be expected, but not in the way they manage cramping, as I know you guys like high quality stuff in all your plugins. I don't know which anti-cramping method is better though, which is it in your opinion?.
@@heavymetalmixer91 Yes, the simplest very CPU lightweight "cookbook" EQ implementation has cramping effect. And next it's possible to add corrections to fix this frequency response "distortion". The goal is to find balance between CPU cycles and how perfect this response should be in the end.
On ❤️ Valentine offer right now… and if like me there’s already two in your Basket, at a cost above this sale offer price of this then actually, this is FREE as a bird, now I’m geeking about the Beatles x
There doesn't seem to be a way to zoom the DB scale or make the plugin full screen. This results in very little working area if you're trying to be very precise without resorting to typing or moving the scrollers around one pixel at a time. This seems to be something alot of graphic eq plugin makers get wrong. The best way is to allow mouse wheel scrolling on the DB scale to give any zoom level you want. the worse way is set multiple choices, and what stops me from buying fabfilter pro-q or kirchhoff. The two problems with multiple choice zoom levels, like 3db, 6, 12 etc is that's for fine mastering, 2 db or less is what I'm doing most of the time to well mixed material. I want as much screen space to work as I possible. Why should I take up an extra 1 db of range at top and bottom for no reason? The other problem is still what if I want alot of screen range between say 4 and 6 db? The biggest zoom gets me only 0-3db, to see 4-6 I have to go smaller. The two EQs I know the get it right with the non-interval mousewheel vertical zoom are Izotope Ozone which is my go to, but also Kilohearts Slice. Slice gets it even better than Ozone because Slice lets you zoom to a db scale of 1.3db +/- where Ozone is only about 2.2. Still the Gui of Ozone is better, with it's color coding, and easy to spot band parameter display/entry available at the bottom. I was checking out X-EQ 2 based on owning Flexverb. I'm absolutely floored by how good flexverb sounds and how easy it is to control. X-EQ 2 seems to give less than 1/2 inch of screen resolution for 1 db. The space for 6db is about 1 inch. That's pretty rediculous for this kind of EQ, unless I'm wrong about how it works. I mean really, if you're boosting/cutting 6db often, you either don't know what you're doing or probably have terrible material you're working on.
I’ve been using Pro Tools since V5, and this is the first time I’ve heard of Anti-Cramping 😅 I did abandon Avid’s EQ for FF, many years ago. Nice UI on the SSL. The price might be a lot for some, but it sounds good.
I personally have this bundle and I have to say I use their EQ the least out of all the plugins in their bundle. Would be interesting to hear your opinion on the other plugins maybe in the future.
@schell take you bundle and shove it subscription is a rip off!! Slate is a lying ego maniac ugly pos- there’s enough life monthly bills now they way you to add another 7-10 or more subscription bills! Gtfo all you greedy companies! Hope you all go BNKRPT!!
One of them has no cramping, the other one has it built in -> (comparison) after the phase invertion there was a total silence... So, how was it possible? :) What is more interesting - what we found this "cramping" is a mystery... So, does it exist at all? :)
IMO when we finally get a plugin that will get rid of any artefact (flat phase, flat impulse, no ringing etc.)... then it will sound so unnatural that we will not like it at all. For me, LP EQs are already 'not ear-friendly.
