DARE 2 COMPARE
by Eddie Ciletti
NEVE 1064 EQ
Samples provided by Tom Garneau and Adam
Krinsky
Immediately below you will find an audio
comparison between an analog Neve 1064 Equalizer and a "generic" Soundscape
Equalizer tweaked to emulate it. Inspriation came when the Neve-specific
URS plug-in failed to come close, using "identical" settings. This
is not a fair comparison for the URS plug because control settings on an
analog NEVE Equalizer are not repeatable enough to be phase accurate across
two channels.
FIGURE-1: Settings used to replicate
the analog Neve equalizer used in the audio samples.
The Soundscape graphics below show that
two instances of their "generic" EQ plug-in were required to achieve a
near-null condition. A separate "equalizer" for each channel solved
the channel-to-chanel discrepancies. I believe this lack of accurate
channel balance creates phase issues and is one of the reasons analog gear
is considered to have more spatial depth.
To exaggerate "depth" and tickle the stereo
imaging, try using two separate mono equalizers on stereo tracks and purposely
set them differently OR use sum and difference (mid-side) techniques to
achieve a similar effect. This will be explored later...
analogNEVEemulationLOOP(5MB):
Alternate loop of Neve 1064 and Soundscape EQ shows that a respectable
job can be done by any EQ.
Raw Drum
Clip: Flat Reference
Neve EQ
Clip: Analog Neve 1064 EQ
URS Plug-in
Clip: Plug-in version of the above using "identical" settings
Soundscape
EQ: Neve Emulation using the null method (see images below)