Wasted Audio released WSTD EQ, a freeware equalizer plugin for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
There is something intrinsically charming about a no-frills workhorse equalizer. Wasted Audio has released WSTD EQ, a three-band equalizer, and it’s not a bad little freebie.
WSTD EQ is relatively simple in terms of features, having only three bands that can be manipulated at a given time.
Users can’t adjust the affected frequencies of the low and high bands, but the mid band is up for grabs. Each of the three knobs has 15dB of range, and the EQ itself seems to have something akin to a proportional Q as the resonance increased with the volume when cranked while I was testing it.
The bottom line is, WSTD EQ is virtually as simple as an equalizer can be. If you need a no-frills EQ to speed up your mixing workflow, this could be it.
WSTD EQ is a companion to Wasted Audio’s previous plugins WSTD 3Q and the WSTD Flangr. I do admire the shockingly austere presentation of the plugins themselves, as they are immediately functional with a minimal control set.
WSTD 3Q is an interesting equalizer that shares a lot of similar design DNA with WSTD EQ. Where it diverges is in its ability to separate its outputs into three different bands. No clue how usable this is for most producers, but it is a novel feature nonetheless.
WSTD Flangr has an equally straightforward interface, with intensity, speed, feedback, and mix controls present on the plugin. In motion, this sounds perfectly adequate and is a great little flanger. Will this replace your flanger of choice? That’s hard to say, but it’s hard to argue with the pricing.
All Wasted Audio releases are open source and come in a variety of plugin formats. Supported operating systems are Linux, macOS, and Windows. Plugin formats provided are LV2, VST, VST3, and CLAP (also available as a standalone application).
Where a standalone EQ is useful, I couldn’t possibly tell you, but it’s a nice option, I suppose.
All of Wasted Audio’s releases are free, but you can support the developer with an additional donation if you so choose.
Download: WSTD EQ
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7 Comments
Numanoid
onSampleScience has released free Analog Waveforms v2 today, for Win and OSX
Chris S
onφ(゜▽゜*)♪
Artex
onWhat is the point of such an equalizer?
prismatic.brain
onSome people assert that a simple tool that gets quick results get better sounding results when you don’t have to overthink the use of the tool and fatigue the ears with endless A/B comparisons that produce diminishing returns.
DRMR
onDev here. The 3Q can be used as a cross-over with different parallel processing chains behind it. Wasn’t that obvious? :)
https://i.imgur.com/8my0SPW.png
RT
onThis is really cool!! I’m instantly thinking you could use it split a big old reese bass and process it into some neuro madness.
Jeppespelar
onI also love the design! So simple, yet tasty and somehow inspiring. Would love to see more types of plugins from them!