Huge EQ plugin shootout

A

Adam Ben Amitai

New member
Hi everybody, check this out:

swww.shootout.fm/eq

I'm really looking for some feedback from pro musicians.

Its a project i'v been working on for a long time. It lets you compare the sounds of different audio gear, using a very simple interface.

I took around 40 EQ plugins and ran some tracks through them, using different settings.
On the site, you can instantly switch between the different plugins and easily hear their differences. There's also a cool blind test mode you can check out.

Here's a video of how it works: (the vid shows guitar pedals but its the same for plugins)



I'd love to hear your thoughts on it..
 
I think this is extremely cool. One of the coolest things I've seen here in a while.


The video explains it well and I took a quick look at a few EQ's. I'm going to check out the mic shoot out later. I have a feeling I'm going to have fun with this.

Thanx.
 
If I was going to nit-pick, I'd say that I wish that either we could adjust the Q settings on the EQ's, or you tell us where you have the Q on each one somehow. Other than that, this is lots of fun so far.
 
Wow, this is actually pretty cool.

I'm having a few problems loading the catagories. Is this a flash player problem?
 
I'm trying to follow his tutorial video. None of the catagories load for me :/
It does the spinny circle in the middle and then it stops and nothing shows up.
 
Schwarzenyaeger said:
I'm trying to follow his tutorial video. None of the catagories load for me :/
It does the spinny circle in the middle and then it stops and nothing shows up.
Click to expand...

Really? I was able to check out the mics and the EQ's so far, and I opened the distortion pedals page, but had no interest in that.

Hopefully the OP didn't just pull a drive-by and will come back and answer your problem.
 
That's weird. I have Avast and had absolutely no virus problem.
 
Hi guys thanks a lot!

Categories not loading is a technical difficulty thing i just ran in to. i'm sorry about that!
i'll probably be fixed in 30 minutes or so.
the other categories actually have stuff in them they're just not showing for some reason ):

i'm on it!
 
ido1957 - i'm 100% sure there's no virus/malware in our site, i just noticed in the pic you attached the URL is not out site's URL, are you sure the problem is in shootout.fm?


RAMI said:
If I was going to nit-pick, I'd say that I wish that either we could adjust the Q settings on the EQ's, or you tell us where you have the Q on each one somehow. Other than that, this is lots of fun so far.
Click to expand...

Yeh being able to adjust the Q would be awesome but right now i have no way of doing it.
I thought a lot about the Q thing, whether i should find some Q setting that will work on all plugins or not and how should i do that.
the problem was that not all plugins let you control Q and not all of them measure Q the same. i decided to just go with the default Q setting for each plugin, that way its easily replicated and it lets you learn something about how the plugin works.
make sense?
 
Great site, but needs some adjusting.
Keep getting errors when choosing between les paul/stat and what song is playing:
"This item is already selected" and
"There was an error loading a needed audio file. Please make sure your internet connection is working and try again later."
 
It looks cool....the idea is cool....but honestly, without being able to actively turn dials, you don't get much of a comparison other than the broad general comparison based of your presets....and pedal plug-ins are not the same as the real pedals. :)

I find that with most pedals just a single notch up/down on one of the knobs can bring a pedal into or out of its sweet spot...and that sweet spot will be different every player and every amp.
Your presets also only focus on two knobs for every pedal....even if the pedals has many other options.

I still prefer to hear a player demo a pedal on YT, as most will go through a variety of settings, which gives you a better overall idea of what the pedal does and how it sounds...and there are already tons of demo videos, some very well done....but I guess this might be helpful to some folks, though I don't know if it will really be a deciding factor in pedal purchases because of the general/preset thing.

Oh...the pop-ups as you move the mouse are a bit too much...otherwise nice site, nice effort...keep at it. ;)
 
I tried the EQ plugins. Very interesting. Of the five I tried, it was immediately obvious which one I *wouldn't* choose - it was way too bright, and the fact that it was so far out of line with the others made me suspicious. It was also cool how little difference there was between the other four, despite very different pricings.
 
That is the problem right there. If you cannot adjust the setting of an eq, or stomp box, or whatever with the gear you are using, then it is only an example of what someone else used on tracks that are not yours.

I do think it is kind of a cool toy to play with, but I would not make a purchase based on what this site shows alone.



My personal faves that I own; PSP Noble Q is my favorite 'colored' eq so far. The Fab Filter Pro-Q 2 is the cleanest/most accurate one I have ever used.
 
Yeah, I don't disagree with you guys saying that it's limited, but I had some fun with it. Like Dobro said, it was easy to eliminate the ones that stood from the others in a bad way.

I found myself saying "Wait a minute. I'm comparing different EQ's that I already own. Why don't I do the same shoot out with MY stuff on MY tracks with MY voice?" So, I spent the night doing that and actually ended up changing a couple of EQ's I was using on my drums. So, in the long run, this website indirectly helped me take a closer look at what I was doing and I ended up finding something within my own set up that really improved my sound.


Anyone ever heard of the "JS teej EQ"? It comes with REAPER. It's based on some "RBJ filter harmonic cook book" or some shit like that. It has no Q, just 12 frequencies you can cut or boost. It might even be a graphic EQ. Anyway, this thing ended up being the best thing I ever put on my bass drum. I never thought a different EQ could make such a difference. You guys have to try this thing. If you have REAPER, you have this plug. Try it, I'm telling you.
 
I don't want anyone to post until you've tried the JS teej EQ. That's an order! :(
 
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