Best Free Parametric Equalizer VST Plugins!

By Tomislav Zlatic // Updated on February 29, 2016 VST Plugins

Free parametric equalizer VST plugins!

In this latest addition to our VST Plugin Directory, I tried to cover the best freeware parametric equalizer VST plugins. In case your favorite free parametric EQ isn’t included in the list, please suggest it in the comments section below.

Note that there is a separate article covering freeware graphic equalizer VST plugins. If you’d like to learn more about different types of equalizers check out this great article by Ethan Winer. And here’s one of my favorite EQ tutorials.

Follow the links for more info:

AQ1 by Audiocation Audio Akademie (Windows)
BootEQ mkII by Variety Of Sound (Windows)
ColourEQ by DDMF (Mac, Windows)
Dust Equalizer by Signaldust (Windows)
EasyQ by rs-met (Windows)
Electri-Q (posihfopit edition) by AiXcoustic Creations (Windows)
Equilibre by AudioTeknikk (Windows)
Fnequalizer by Oceanturtle (Windows)
free Queue by VESCO|FX (Mac, Windows)
Gloria by 1982art (Windows)
IIEQ by DDMF (Windows)
MEqualizer by MeldaProduction (Mac, Windows)
N6 Paragraphic Equalizer by RAZ Audio (Windows)
NCL Phase EQ by Matthew Lindsay (Windows)
NyquistEq by Magnus (Mac, Windows)
Paris EQ by Matt Creig (Windows)
PQ33 by J1000 (Windows)
PTEq-1a by Ignite Amps (Mac, Windows)
PushTec 5+1A by leftoverlasagne (Windows)
ReaEQ by Cockos (Windows)
SlickEQ by TDR/VOS (Mac, Windows)
SonEQ by Sonimus (Mac, Windows)

My favorite three picks from the list would be SonEQ for creative purposes, ReaEQ for high precision tasks, and EasyQ for all-around use. I also like BootEQ a lot, it’s great for coloring, and IIEQ which is another fantastic plugin and slowly becoming my next go-to EQ.

SonEQ, a freeware parametric equalizer VST by Sonimus.

SonEQ is a fantastic freeware equalizer developed by Sonimus. I use it all the time for subtle sound enhancements, as well as for cleaning the low end of individual tracks with its fantastic low pass filter section. One of the finest freeware equalizers out there, highly recommended for use on bass guitars and kick drums.

SlickEQ is the latest addition to this list. It was released by the indie developer superstar team consisting of Tokyo Dawn Labs and Variety Of Sound, along with Vladislav Goncharov (the man behind Limiter6). SlickEQ is a highly flexible EQ which can quickly transform between being surgically clean and extremely vintage sounding.

Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed the article and added some useful new EQ plugins for your home studio. Leave your thoughts in the comments section below and support BPB by sharing links to this article on your blog, social networks, or your favorite forums. Happy mixing!

About Author

Tomislav Zlatic

Tomislav is a music producer and sound designer from Belgrade, Serbia. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief at Bedroom Producers Blog.

30 Comments

Luciano
on March 3, 2011 2:56 am

Indeed, they are all great but, I’m sataying with SonEq and Electric-Q. There are a few ones that aren’t listed in your post, like http://rekkerd.org/matthew-lindsay-ncl-phase-eq/ and http://www.wwaym.com/nweq.html .Anyways thanks for this excelent post!

Reply
- bedroomproducers
  on March 3, 2011 6:04 pm
  
  nice suggestion, i’ve completely forgotten about NCL Phase EQ. added it to the list, thanks!
  
  Reply
ronnie on March 3, 2011 11:11 am

Some more suggestions:
Phoenix in Flight Solid4010 and ThrillerEQ – http://phoenixinflightaudio.blogspot.com/
Antress Modern Console EQ / Black Dragon / Deep Purple – http://antress.er-webs.com/
Sir Elliot Brass Instrument EQ HD – http://sirelliot.wordpress.com/2010/09/24/sir-elliot-brass-instrument-equaliser-hd/

Reply
- bedroomproducers
  on March 3, 2011 6:19 pm
  
  cheers ronie, i’ve added Solid4010 to the list and will check out your other suggestions.
  
  Reply
- Piler
  on November 23, 2012 2:08 am
  
  I think the Solid4010 is very very far from the SSL sound.
  
  Reply
Robert
on March 4, 2011 4:24 pm

WWAYM NWEQ is really nice! A bit heavy on the cpu, but its very precise and crafty.

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zigula
on March 5, 2011 1:55 pm

Electri-Q is really great, “must try” for every freeware guerilla !

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Alex
on March 30, 2011 9:41 pm

my favorite is MEqualizer by MeldaProduction

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Barril
on April 15, 2011 7:51 am

IIEQ is my all purpose EQ for everyday tasks. Amazing plugin! Also, SonEQ is great for that extra low end on kicks and basses.

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bob
on March 19, 2012 2:11 pm

Eq22 / RoughDraftAudio

Coded eq with tube saturation, 2x internall oversampling, adaptive transient system manegment and warm sounding.

http://www.roughdraftaudio.com

Reply
- bedroom producers blog
  on March 19, 2012 10:48 pm
  
  hi bob, thanks for the suggestion. EQ22 is already featured here:
  
  https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2011/05/11/bpb-freeware-studio-best-free-graphic-equalizer-vst-plugins/
  
  Reply
michael
on July 27, 2013 8:32 pm

Electric-Q, despite of being theoretically the best, is actually the buggiest vst I’ve ever used in my life, so buggy it gave me eternal nightmares. Like the piece of shit would automatically reset itself in every damn project I’ve used it in, after reloading that project, regardless of everything.

I dunno, perhaps the problem could of been related to something else, but it’s the only vst that has ever pulled that type of horror on me, ever.

I had to uninstall it.

Reply
Zeljko
on November 13, 2014 1:45 pm

Pushtec 5+1A, another great one :)

http://www.leftoverlasagne.com/leftoverlasagne/plug-ins.html

Reply
Zeljko
on November 13, 2014 1:45 pm

Pushtec 5+1A, another great one and light on CPU :)

http://www.leftoverlasagne.com/leftoverlasagne/plug-ins.html

Reply
Zeljko
on February 10, 2015 1:39 pm

Maag-a-like ikjb – Luftikus is missing.

Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on February 10, 2015 3:18 pm
  
  Cheers Zeljko, I’ll include Luftikus in the next update of this article (in a day or two).
  
  Reply
- Jeff
  on December 6, 2020 4:31 pm
  
  Yes, the Luftikus should be here. Compares quite well to the Maag Eq4
  
  Reply
willie
on March 11, 2015 8:49 am

thanks bro.. luv this site.. ausome free pluggins

Reply
Joe
on August 19, 2015 6:30 pm

Another EQ that should be on the list is the free Mellowmuse EQ1a. Very nice, clean, 6 band EQ.

http://www.mellowmuse.com/EQ1A.html

Reply
- Joe
  on August 19, 2015 6:32 pm
  
  Woops its actually 5 bands. Hi/Lo shelf, 2 peak EQs and an HPF
  
  Reply
makeingcool
on September 24, 2016 5:01 am

If you want to free download the alternative to Foobar2000 for Mac andindows to play MP3, MP4, AAC, CD Audio, WMA, Vorbis, Opus, FLAC, etc and convert between any audio formats.I suggest Avdshare Video Converter

Reply
Terry
on December 27, 2016 8:27 am

How about SplineEQ by Photosounder? It is pretty amazing from what I can tell. I just installed it (free version) and am impressed. It has 4 nodes you can move around and has a unique (to me at least) way to adjust the curve. Adjustable from +or- 60db. I had never heard of such a thing! It’s a linear phase EQ. There’s a paid version with 60 adjustable nodes also. I’m gonna check out some of the ones listed here, but SplineEQ will be hard to beat. Even has a nice active background that follows the music. Super easy to use.

Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on December 27, 2016 12:42 pm
  
  It is very good, indeed. I think it’s more suitable for our list of linear-phase EQs, though (already included there).
  
  Reply
tgirl~amy
on May 26, 2017 11:12 pm

if you want the ultimate freeware mastering suite i highly suggest
Variety of sound and dead duck softwares stuff these plugins working together is one heck of a combo and it works great for EDM

Reply
joe
on April 29, 2018 5:14 pm

The VESCO one is no longer free FYI

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Joe
on August 6, 2020 4:11 pm

For reaper users REEQ is the best free parametric EQ BY FAR. Its got most of the features of PRO-Q3.
https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=213501

I love Slick EQ but the 3 band layout makes it more useful as a tone shaping eq than a traditional parametric EQ which I would use for more surgical purposes.

Reply
Helman Frow
on October 2, 2021 5:20 am

TDR Nova is also fantastic.

Reply
rajkumarbajikar
on January 9, 2022 7:56 am

i want get this free vst

Reply