DAW's or Plug ins that have the eq display like a normal mixing desk

[funkymunk]

I don't really enjoy the eq tables in most DAW's and was wondering if there were any that were laid out like an analog desk. I've seen Ardour and the new Harrison mixbuss sounds interesting. Just wondering if there were any with a neat graphic display that I could use with a controller.

[fossaree]

what are you after ? VUs ?

[LQM]

Samplitude/Sequoia I believe.

I don't find it a major inconvenience not to have the mixer laid out like that in Cubase 5 though, in extended mixer view you can see the EQs settings or graphical windows easily - plus, (especially on busses), I often use 3rd party VST EQs or channelstrips anyway, with more character/better sound, such as UAD, so having those EQs on display isn't helpful to me in some cases. Most bundled DAW EQ is fine for basic purposes and non surgical cuts, but has no 'character' and sometimes the filters are not as great (esp for boosting).

[funkymunk]

I'll look into Samplitude. Are there any other's, specific plug ins or DAW's that have the look of an analog desk eq. I use an Allan and Heath MixWizard 16:2 at work and would like to get something like that eq section in a graphic display (sweepable mids etc) that I can use with a controller.

[hilander74]

The URS Classic Console Equalizer Bundle could be worth a look.

Unique Recording Software

[nightscope]

Any channel strip you prefer + Nocturn.

ns

[theblue1]

After 20+ years of using a wide variety of hardware mixers (and I still use mine for realtime monitoring as well as for its pres, which actually like), and around 4 years of using a hybrid DAW/OTB setup, I moved to full ITB ~2001.

My DAW, like many, has a 'photorealistic' mixer interface complete with faders that look like sliders, trims and EQs that look like knobs, etc. I almost never use it because I just don't see any advantage... I can get more information in an easier to see and manipulate format by just zooming the track view -- my DAW can zoom a given track to take up the full track area, meaning you can quickly go from a collapsed or semi-collapsed view to one where you can see everything. In that view, I have easy access to both numerical values as well as easy-to-see and use graphic controls, typically in the form of sliders (I'm no fan of onscreen knobs... the whole up/down mouse gesture thing never made intuitive sense to me and then there's like one in ten that insist you use the more intuitive but nuttier still circular mouse gesture).

My favorite para EQ has two interface views, a 'virtual hardware' view with graphic sliders -- but it also has a fully graphic rubber band and ball display (the balls are the center points of the EQ bands, the rubber band shows the cumulative effect as one switches the parametric channels in or out, adjusts, etc), and below that is an animated spectral display, mapped against the linear display. A pic is probably better:




I've occasionally been accused of being a Luddite (I really don't think so but I have, nonetheless), and I've certainly got the whole hardware mixer thing pretty much in my DNA at this point (as they say), but I'm all for using the computer in ways that improve on previous practice -- not just try to emulate it.

[LQM]

I think along similar lines to you. I often use Sonalksis's SV517mkII EQ and prefer to see it's graphical mode rather than 3 or 4 retro looking knobs with 'hi'. 'mid' and 'lo' written on them.


Although I also like the sound of things such as URS, Sonnox or UAD plugins such as the Neve 88RS channel strip which is laid out in the more trad way.

[theblue1]

That also looks like a very helpful display. I don't know precisely what the colored cuvy band areas represent but I could imagine that they're the averaged bounds of the signal over time? That would be a great feature.

I assume it lets you mouse around in the graphics area? That can be a real timesaver. The TW EQ allows you to change center freq and amplitiude by simple dragging and holding the ctrl key while dragging up/down allows you to adjust the Q. Very quick. And the realtime display (blocky as it is) lets you see either the signal going in or the post-EQ signal in real time. (And it's got internal 64 bit math, for whatever that's worth. Not to say, mind you, that it's 64 bit OS ready. But that it has internal high precision.)

[LQM]

The Sonalksis plugins also have 64 bit internal resolution, but again, being ready to be used in a fully 64 bit system is something else ! Ah well, in a couple of years time, we should be able to have all that working nicely without glitches so we don't have to do things like install the 32 bit DAW app inside a 64 bit o/s to be able to run our 3rd party plugins properly.

[theblue1]

Yeah... actually this time of change (with finally some serious movement to 64 bit HW platforms not to mention OS-upheavals, particularly for us darksiders) is coming at kind of a good time for me, since I've pointedly decided not to upgrade anything for a while. (My dayjob business sector has been fairly hard hit by the economic crisis.) By the time I'm feeling like I have the breathing room to upgrade my [now strictly personal] recording rig/software, things should be settled down a little. In the meantime, I plan on using the hell out of what I've got.

[sscannon]

The new Record DAW software from Propellerhead has a mixer modeled after the SSL9000 console, and the eqs look like mixer eqs.
http://todaysbeats.net/wp-content/up...ord-pic-11.jpg

Also, Waves makes an SSL eq.

[Gordon]

Most of the GUIs are classic hardware are just plain stupid. How do you adjust amplitude and frequency at the same time using a mouse if you can't grab a point and drag it? The Q10/Sonitus EQ is perfect for this reason. Same with comps, best Comp GUI of all time is Waves Rencomp.

[Farshad]

Originally Posted by nightscope

Any channel strip you prefer + Nocturn.

ns

Pretty much what I have been doing for the last year : Waves SSL and Nocturn

I use the Nocturn for other stuff too.

[MikeyMike]

The world's best looking DAW mixer ever. Pure beauty. Thanks Samplitude

[funkymunk]

These are all great suggestions and I'll check them out. Thanks!