[Dana Nielsen]

Hey, @lucastlee! What an excellent question. I’ll respond briefly here with my practical “take” on EQ differences rather than diving deep into a technical answer. I’m also going to assume you’re referring to EQ plug-ins rather than analog hardware EQ units.

Here are a few possible reasons as to WHY:

1. Physical model: When plug-in manufacturers attempt to capture the sound of, say, a vintage Pultec EQP-1A (one of my favorite musical EQs), the resulting plug-in’s “sound” is derived from a specific hardware unit; and hardware units can vary in tone (and electronic components) from year to year, model to model, and serial number to serial number, especially as they age. This is one explanation for why a Waves Puig-tech might sound different from an Avid or UAD Pultec, even when they’re all EQP-1A models.

2. Algorithms, processing, and math: Each manufacturer will employ different means by which they recreate a familiar analog sound or circuit into a digital plug-in, which can also create sonic differences for the end-user to notice and compare.

Here is my philosophy and WHAT I do about it:

1. “huh … interesting.” I notice these differences all the time.

2. Move on. 😂 I, long ago, took a decidedly “meh” approach to gear paranoia and elitism with regard to hardware and software. Arguing over 1176 revs is so not my style and utterly pointless to me. You won’t find that kind of attitude here on Mix Protégé. There’s already plenty of that whining on Gearspace (see below).

3. I’ve got LOTS of options to choose from in my plug-in EQ collection. Several versions of the EQP-1A by different brands, several Neve and SSL recreations that are identical by model number but differentiated by plug-in manufacturer. I try them ALL, and honestly for the most part I LOVE them all! But choosing my “favorites” will come down to a few simple considerations:

• It sounds great and operates as expected
• It loads fast in my DAW and isn’t a processing-power-hog (bonus points if it’s available in AAX DSP, since I’m on a Pro Tools HDX system)
• It has some extra features that make my life easier and/or routing more flexible, especially for dynamics processors — like a mix/blend knob, key input, input/output control, sidechain filter. Even when those features are not true to the vintage analog version, they sure make my life easier and are welcome additions in a plug-in emulation.

Lastly, FWIW, here’s ….

My process for any EQ -digital or analog- and any other effect. Err, scratch that, this is pretty much my process for MIXING ANYTHING:

1. Have desired sound in brain/imagination
2. Pick tool that will get me there quickest (with zero F$%#s given about the brand name of the tool)
3. Experiment with tool until the sound in my brain is coming out of the speakers
4. Repeat steps 1-3

Hope this helps you (and anyone else reading), and sorry, I guess it wasn’t so “brief” after all! 🤓

[Dana Nielsen]

Yeah man, I think the main difference is Mac compatibility on the regular one. If you’re not planning on switching to Apple in the near future the new X USB one would be fine. They both have two UAD processors (i.e. “duo”), tho it looks like you can order the original Twin X in quad configuration too (four processors).

The original X says it’s linkable with additional apollo units (which is a handy futureproof feature when you want to expand your studio with more inputs). However, I don’t see that option listed for the X USB version. (My guess is this is a data throughput thing only possible with Thunderbolt).

Also worth noting (tho not that important) is the X version comes with “legacy” plugins whereas the X USB comes with the newer “heritage” plugin versions. Honestly, this is just naming/marketing… both plugin sets will be robust and awesome and similar.

Hope this helps! Stoked for your new studio gear!

[Dana Nielsen]

DUDE!! Fantastic work here, man!!! Seriously, great job. Here are a few things that came to mind:

• the telephone effect on the intro vocal is cool but I expected the vocal to become more full-range hi-fi once the band entered (or was the stem sent w/ the radio/telephone voc effect baked in throughout?). If ur the one adding that cool effect, I’d try leaving it on for the intro and outro but let him be hi-fi “classy expensive” vocal sound for the main part of the song
• Kick attack and top end sounds sick – the drum kit in general sounds fab! Makes sense … you’re a drummer! haha. The snare is rich and beefy and full of body, but has way less top end than the kick and rest of kit. Maybe try adding some 5-10k to that snare to match the top-end profile of the kick? Or a diff route could be to dial back the top end on the Kick, but then add a healthy 5-10k boost on the entire kit sound altogether.
• If that acoustic guitar in the center plays throughout the song u could try boosting that, as it gets lost in the sauce at times.

Again tho, amazing work @Jon_Plett!!! Keep it up!!

[Dana Nielsen]

Really lookin fwd to listening to this, @Jon_Plett! 🤘🤘 Will circle back soon – thanks for sharing! And thanks @JLEW for your sweet feedback!

[Dana Nielsen]

@Jon_Plett, will you try something for me? Can you edit your original post and instead of using the dropbox link could you try using the “attach files” button and see if you can upload an mp3 of your mix? That way, your mix and mix progress will be saved on the site here for future readers to learn from. (currently, as folks change or delete their dropbox items, many shared mixes are no longer available, so this method might help!). Mucho mucho thanks!

[Dana Nielsen]

Ooh, love this idea, @JLEW! Can’t wait to hear the sounds you create during your reamp extravaganza! ⚡️⚡️ Here are a few thoughts:

• It might be difficult to reproduce massive Moog-y sub-y low-end through anything less than an 8×10 cab, lol. Kidding aside … when re-amping things, I’m not always looking for an accurate reproduction from the amp. I’m usually looking for something different from the direct sound … something creative, interesting, mangled, distorted, etc. Often times, I’m hoping to create (or stumble upon) something cool that I can combine, to taste, with the original source. With that in mind, your Princeton will be sick!

• You could let the direct sound (the MIDI/Softsynth in your DAW) carry the sub low end and dial in something saturated and reverb-y through the amp, getting the best of both worlds
• You could close-mic the amp, or…
• You could stereo-mic the room so the amp adds more of a stereo ambience when combined with the direct sound
• You could record several full passes of the song, each with drastically different amp settings. Then, chop those up into a checkerboard so that parts of different passes are featured in different sections of the song to add contrast. And/or…
• You could combine those multiple passes into one giant mega-sound, spread across the stereo spectrum for a cool effect
• You could “perform” the song on the amp in realtime as you’re recording. For example, dial in a clean dark tone for the verse; then, as you’re listening to the song in your headphones, gradually ramp up the drive and brighten the tone during the pre-chorus so by the time the chorus hits it’s all mean and tough; then at the bridge you suddenly blend in a ton of amp reverb for a floaty vibe
• So many fun things to try! 🎹 🔊

Have fun, homey!

[Dana Nielsen]

My pleasure, man!

[Dana Nielsen]

DUDE – u are set!! Very exciting!

[Dana Nielsen]

Hahah, what a great informative hilarious reply @Jon_Plett 😂 – and very true, there are lots of really good interface options on the market these days! I would also even add the Focusrite stuff! All of my system sounds and most of my voiceover for video/zoom etc all is done on a Focusrite Scarlet 6i6 and I’ve got no complaints whatsoever about that thing!

@KNGGRG the preamps in the UAD are amazing – probably one of their strongest attributes! I love the UAD interfaces. They do, however, tend to be some of the most expensive when compared to other brands with similar number of inputs and outputs. This is due to the built-in processors used to run their proprietary UAD plugins. UAD make very high quality plugins and they’re very popular, but they’re not “mandatory” haha. There are lots of other brands of interfaces on the market, as mentioned by Jon, that will perform well if you find you’re not satisfied with the UAD.

[Dana Nielsen]

Sweet!! Congrats on your new awesome gear, man!! That’s super exciting.

Definitely will need an XLR cable to connect the mic to the interface. That said, it seems odd that there’s no thunderbolt or USB-C cable included with the UAD interface … hmmm. Always good to have extras of all that stuff anyway, so I would pick up some cables from Amazon or your local store. Other things you’ll likely need:

• Mic stand with boom arm
• pop filter
• headphones

[Dana Nielsen]

Oh interesting u didn’t get a notification … huh. Lemme know if u get this one!

[Dana Nielsen]

Well hello there, @MoM! What a nice surprise! I think all of these mics would sound perfect on your sweet voice and the V67 would be a winning choice! Hey, that rhymed!

[Dana Nielsen]

Love it man – so happy you’re getting lots out of the community and courses. That means a lot to me 🤗. And … you’re crushing it! Keep up the awesome work, @Jon_Plett, and look fwd to hearing what u do next!

[Dana Nielsen]

Try the 3 dots menu for “Edit Post”. It’s possible that only I have that option as admin? 🤷🏻‍♂️. Lemme know, man, thanks! And thanks for trying out the mp3 file attachment – that’s perfect, and I think will be the best route moving forward 🙌

[Dana Nielsen]

Heck yeah man! Usually when I combine multiple mics, DIs, reamps etc I do so using a “group” and an Aux input channel.

The group is mostly to make editing easier across all related tracks. The aux is used to “collect” all the grouped track outputs into one single channel, which not only makes mixing the combined sound easier also it’s very easy to send your combined mega-moog-stereo-reamped-synth-behemoth sound out to other effects using the aux’s inserts and sends.

Might be easier to demonstrate via drawing or video haha – I’ll add one here this week if I can!