8 of the Best Plugins for Learning EQ

With so many plugin options these days, where’s the best place to start if you’re still learning how to EQ?

It’s almost too easy to find articles online touting the best audio plugins. But what does “best” even mean?

Depending on your experience and skill level, one person’s best plugin of all time can be someone else’s absolute nightmare.

I can’t tell you how many times I almost gave up producing and mixing because I was too overwhelmed by a plugin someone told me was the “best”.

As a beginner, I wish that I had known this simple fact: some plugins are better than others for learning how to produce and mix music. There are certain plugins that can help you build your skills in specific areas, while others expect you to know exactly what you’re doing right out of the gate.

In this article, I hope to give you what I was missing—a list of the best plugins (both paid and free) for learning production and mixing.

First, what do I look for in a learning plugin?

I’m lucky that my career as a teacher has helped me understand what makes for a good learning tool. With new plugins coming out every month, I want to make sure you know what’s worth checking out. Here’s my personal criteria:

Visual Feedback – Can you see what the plugin is doing? This can help beginners better understand what different parameters mean. At higher levels, you may actually want plugins that don’t give you visual feedback so you can practice your ear training.

Terms – If you see a knob called “magic”, “sweetness”, or something similar, steer clear. You want parameters to be clearly labeled as you’re learning, so that you can better understand what they do. A knob labeled 1 to 7 is going to be way less helpful than a knob labeled 1.5 kHz to 16 kHz.

Sound – Does it sound good to you? Are you able to achieve both subtle and more obvious effects? If your plugin is emulating a particular console, does it sound similar to the original?

User Interface – Are you immediately overwhelmed and confused by the design? Is it unclear what’s a knob and what isn’t? There’s no need for that. There are so many plugins that work well and have simple, clear designs. Find them!

Aesthetics – You’ll be looking at your plugins a lot. Dumb as it may seem, that little extra boost from enjoying what you see may be the difference between opening up your project and opening up Facebook.

Help – Is there a built-in explanation of what parameters do? This can save you from so much aggravation.

No plugin is perfect in all of these areas, and that may actually be a good thing. For example, as you get better at recognizing various frequencies, you may want to move onto equalizers that don’t give you visual feedback, so you can hone your listening ability even more. The key is to notice each of these features and decide if they are right for your current skills.

What is EQ?

EQ, short for equalization, is how we shape the tone or timbre of a sound. By raising or lowering the volume of certain frequency ranges (lows, mids, highs), we can help a sound fit better with the others in our song. Are you having trouble understanding the vocals because the guitar is too bright, but you don’t want to make the guitar feel quieter? Try lowering just the highs on your guitar’s EQ.

Here are some of the best plugins I’ve found for learning how to use EQ:

Fabfilter Pro-Q 3 ($179)

Fabfilter Pro-Q 3

Every single one of Fabfilter’s plugins feature clear parameters, beautiful design, built-in explanations, and more. Most of them also have unmatched visual feedback and incredible sound. You’ll see their plugins used by almost every professional producer and mixer.

+ Amazing visual feedback.

+ You can isolate frequency bands, which really helps with learning what different areas of the frequency spectrum sound like.

+ Basic options are easy to find, while advanced options are neatly tucked away so as not to overwhelm the user.

+ Clear and succinct explanations of all parameters when you hover the mouse.

– Some helpful options and parameters can be a bit hard to find, like the keyboard visualizer and the output volume.

Melda Productions MEqualizer (Free)

Melda Productions MEqualizer

Melda Productions is best known for their awesome MFreeFXBundle, which sports a comprehensive set of free tools for producing and mixing. Some are better than others for learning, but you should definitely go ahead and download the whole bundle!

+ Great visualizer with ability to zoom in and out.

+ Incredibly helpful chart overlay for learning ways of describing different aspects of common sounds, as well as what frequency ranges they occupy.

+ Good metering tools.

– You can’t isolate bands.

– Lots of buttons and clunky design may be overwhelming at first.

Soundtoys Sie-Q ($99)

Soundtoys Sie-Q

You’ll also see Soundtoys in several categories because of their unique and simply designed creative plugins.

+ Very simple design with few parameters to control.

+ No visualizer, which in combination with the simplicity make for a great ear-training tool.

– The effects are subtle, so you may have to crank knobs to hear differences at first.

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