Touch Loops and Waves are offering the V-EQ4 Vintage Equalizer plugin (currently $35, down from $129) for free until February 12, 2025.
Waves V-EQ4 is a release for macOS (VST, AU, AAX) and Windows (VST, AAX).
To score your free copy of the EQ, log in to a Waves account using the link at the bottom of the article.
If your Waves account isn’t up to date, you’ll need to complete a brief but mandatory survey before claiming the plugin.
After that, click the ‘Get V-EQ4 Free’ button, and a plugin serial number will appear on the screen.
You’ll also receive a link to a nine-step guide to activating the plugin. The first step is to launch the free Waves Central app.
V-EQ4 is a four-band EQ that Waves modeled after the Neve 1081 EQ. This classic EQ was originally part of the Neve 8048 mixing console, which debuted all the way back in 1973.
The plugin is designed to offer a middle way between vintage EQs that offer broad brush tonal shaping and the modern surgical EQ approach.
The V-EQ4 offers two 10-position midrange parameters with Hi-Q switches, high and low shelving, and high and low pass filters.
The setup is designed to offer musical tonal shaping, and the transformer modeling is made to deliver a warm, present midrange.
Waves describes the V-EQ4 as having rich lows and sparkling highs and notes that the Class AB design is perfect for the latter.
Naturally, with it being a Waves plugin, there’s a huge amount of demos online that show off the V-EQ4, including an official vocal demo and tutorial from Waves.
The V-EQ4 forms part of Waves’ V-Series, which is rounded out by the V-EQ3 and the V-Comp. All three plugins are based on ‘60s and ‘70s hardware units.
Waves debuted the V-EQ4 all the way back in January 2007, so the plugin is almost vintage itself at this point, 17 years after its release.
I think it’s safe to say that the technology used to create the emulation wouldn’t be equal to more modern, high-quality plugin releases.
That said, it’s not like vintage EQ plugins really need to change all that much over the years, and hey, who doesn’t like free stuff?
Check out the deal: V-EQ4 (FREE until February 12th – Waves account needed)
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