The Best EQ Plugin for Each Job: Surgical, Dynamic and Analog

The best EQ plugin for most mixing is a clean parametric EQ with a spectrum analyzer, and FabFilter Pro-Q is a common default for mixing engineers. For tone rather than surgery, a Pultec-style analog EQ adds broad, musical shelves, and the free TDR Nova covers dynamic EQ without costing anything.

Most mixes use two kinds of EQ: a precise one for fixing problems and a colorful one for shaping tone. The picks below are sorted by those jobs, with the stock EQ in your DAW for each.

Best EQ plugins at a glance

Best parametric EQ plugin: FabFilter Pro-Q

FabFilter Pro-Q is the parametric EQ plugin many mixers load first. You double-click the display to add a band, drag it into place, and watch a large real-time analyzer behind the curve. It can run any band dynamically, switch to linear phase for mastering, and process the mid or side of a stereo signal separately. It's clean, fast and hard to outgrow.

Stock alternative: Ableton's EQ Eight, Logic's Channel EQ, FL Studio's Fruity Parametric EQ 2 and Pro Tools' EQ3 7-Band are all excellent parametric EQs. Logic also includes a Linear Phase EQ. Our guide on how to use EQ covers the technique that matters more than the plugin.

Best dynamic EQ plugin: TDR Nova

A static EQ cut is always on. That's a problem when a resonance only appears on certain notes, or sibilance only hits on some words: cut it permanently and the sound gets dull the rest of the time. A dynamic EQ only cuts when the frequency gets too loud.

Tokyo Dawn Labs' TDR Nova is a free dynamic parametric EQ that's good enough to stay in a professional toolkit. Each band has its own threshold and ratio, so it doubles as a de-esser or a frequency-specific compressor. Pro-Q's dynamic mode does the same job in the paid world.

If you want dynamic control of whole frequency ranges rather than narrow bands, a multiband compressor like our Apex is the related tool.

Best analog-style EQ plugins for tone

Analog EQ emulations aren't about precision. They have few bands, fixed frequencies and broad curves, and they're used to make things sound bigger, warmer or more open with very little effort.

• Pultec-style EQs: emulations of the Pultec EQP-1A passive tube EQ, such as Universal Audio's and Waves' PuigTec. The famous trick is boosting and cutting the same low frequency at once for a tight, heavy low end.
• Maag EQ4: known for its Air Band, a very high shelf that opens up vocals and mix buses without harshness.
• Console EQs: SSL channel emulations like Waves SSL E-Channel are punchy and quick; Neve 1073 emulations from Universal Audio and others add a thick, warm midrange.
• TDR SlickEQ: a free, analog-flavored EQ with a few well-chosen bands.

Contour (ours): a fast parametric EQ with analog-shaped highs

Contour is our everyday EQ: five bands (low shelf, three bells and a high shelf) plus low and high cut, with a live spectrum analyzer behind the curve. Grab a point and drag it; the mouse wheel sets the width. Its bells and shelves keep their analog shape all the way up to 20 kHz, so air boosts stay smooth instead of cramping the way basic digital EQs can near the top of the range.

Contour is a static EQ, not a dynamic one, and doesn't try to replace Pro-Q's feature list. It's for quick, clean moves on every channel, with presets for common jobs: Vocal Clarity, Mud Remover, Kick Punch, Snare Crack, Bass Tighten, Air Lift and Mix Bus Polish. It costs €39 and runs as VST3, AU and AAX.

Vocal Clarity, below, is a classic vocal EQ in four moves: a 90 Hz low cut, -3 dB at 280 Hz for boxiness, +2.5 dB at 3.2 kHz for presence and a +4 dB shelf from 11 kHz for air.

Free EQ plugins worth having

• Your DAW's stock EQ tools: genuinely good enough for professional work in every major DAW.
• TDR Nova: free dynamic EQ.
• TDR SlickEQ: the free version of an analog-style EQ, quick for broad tone moves.

Mid/side and EQ match plugins

Mid side EQ plugin: the center and the sides

A mid side EQ plugin processes the center of a stereo signal (mid) and the difference between the channels (side) separately. That lets you brighten the sides of a mix without making the vocal harsh, or clear low end out of the sides so the bass stays focused. Pro-Q can switch any band to mid or side, and Ableton's EQ Eight has an M/S mode. For width rather than tone, our free Spread uses mid/side processing too.

EQ match plugins

An EQ match plugin measures the frequency balance of a reference track and builds a curve that moves your mix toward it. Logic Pro's stock Match EQ does this, as do the match features in Pro-Q and iZotope Ozone. Use the result at low strength, as a hint: a reference in a different key or arrangement will pull your mix in odd directions.

How to choose an EQ plugin

• Start with one clean parametric EQ and learn it thoroughly. Speed with one EQ beats owning five.
• Add dynamic EQ when you keep finding problems that come and go.
• Add one analog-style EQ for tone once your corrective work is solid.
• Look for a good analyzer, but use it to find problems, not to decide what sounds good.
• Check the top end. Boost a high shelf at 12 kHz and listen for smoothness; this is where EQs differ most.

For the frequencies that matter on specific sources, see how to EQ vocals and how to EQ drums, and parametric vs graphic EQ if you're choosing between the two styles.