Acustica Audio has announced the release of Red EQ, a freeware 3-band coloring equalizer VST plugin for Windows and Mac based on Acqua technology.
The Red Eq equalizer provides three fixed bands at 80Hz, 1.8kHz and 8kHz, and though the EQ may look limited compared to a parametric, it actually sounds nicely musical and the frequencies have been chosen with care.
The equalizer features three fixed bands with up to 6 dB boost/cut per band. The low and high bands act as shelving EQs, while the mid band has a standard bell response. The interface also features input and output gain controls, along with a power button which can bypass the EQ section.
The input meter located on the right side of the interface is useful for preventing unwanted distortion of the audio signal on the input. If the red warning lamp lights up, you should reduce the input gain in order to prevent clipping of the signal.
If you like the Acqua technology approach to equalizers, you should definitely also take a look at ARQ High EQ by CDSoundMaster. If works great for enhancing the higher frequency ranges of audio signals, adding just the right amount of sparkle and air on top. For a nice selection to more traditional EQ plugins, take a look at our list of freeware parametric equalizers. The one which I currently use the most is SonEQ by Sonimus. Another brilliant pick is obviously SlickEQ by VOS and TDR.
To grab your free copy of Red EQ, add it to your shopping cart on the product page linked below and proceed to free checkout. You’ll need to create a free Acustica Audio user account, after which the download link will appear in your browser Window. You could either choose the VST plugin version or the library pack for Nebula Free.
Download
Red EQ is available for free download via Acustica Audio (53.8 MB download size, ZIP archive, 32-bit & 64-bit VST/AU plugin format for Windows & Mac).
12 Comments
Crazey
onUI doesn’t load for me in Reaper, but the plugin does sound sweeeeet.
SAndef
onMy Reaper is load!
giancarlo
onhi, during installation select “legacy mode”
giancarlo
Hunz n' Kunz
onGenerous offer, Thanks!
I also regularly use some of the demo Acqua VSTs by CDSoundmaster, especially the R2R Revox Tape Program, the Neve Channel EQ and the Nice EQ Demo – limited functionality – but very useful plugins. Too bad they are so CPU hungry and introduce so much latency – otherwise I would say Acqua / Nebula is the way to go.
Bedroom Producers Blog
onOh yeah, that R2R demo is simply awesome. I love it!
shredenvain
onI have always found that the CdSoundmaster and nebula plugins sound amazing. As stated above they can cause latency but an effective work around this problem is too bounce the track with the effect then import it back into your session.
Hunz n' Kunz
on@shredenvain
Yeah, while this is possible, it destroys the “intuitiveness” of mixing. You want to tweek your settings on the go, apply little changes in the context of the whole song.
Today, many “bedroomproducers” don’t seperate the processes of recording/arranging/composing and mixing – it’s all one big process. Latency and cpu-hunger becomes a real problem here, especially in in-the-box productions with virtual instrruments that need to be played and processed in realtime.
Bob
onThere’s also VST and AU for Mac as well :)
Todd
onYeah! Lucky I checked.
Bedroom Producers Blog
onOops! Sorry about the mistake and thanks for letting me know! I’ve updated the article now.
I was excited to try this but (just like every other Acoustica plugin) there is no 64bit AU and 32 Lives does not let me use it properly.
psi
onAt last it looks like vst users have themselves a Joe Meek EQ plugin.
This is clearly a TFPro P3 and its what became of the old ‘British’ Meeks after Ted Fletcher sold the Meek name and set up TFPro.
Nice!