# Softube : Weiss EQ-1 $549. (Really Worth it) ?



## muziksculp (Sep 6, 2022)

Hi,

I'm surprised at the super high price of this EQ from Softube.

Their *WEISS EQ-1 *is* $549*. Is it really worth this price, especially when compared to other high-quality mastering EQs ?

https://www.softube.com/weiss-eq1

Anyone here using it ?

What are other high-quality Mastering EQs you would recommend that cost much less than this one, that are very similar to it in quality ?

Just curious why this EQ is so $$$$$, and if it ever goes on Sale ? . 



Thanks,
Muziksculp


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## Marcus Millfield (Sep 6, 2022)

The price probably reflects the amount of work they've put in to get that 1:1 accuracy with the hardware equivalent. The Weiss endorsement and licensing of IP will probably cost a few dimes as well.

If it's worth it, is up to the customer.


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## muziksculp (Sep 6, 2022)

Marcus Millfield said:


> The price probably reflects the amount of work they've put in to get that 1:1 accuracy with the hardware equivalent. The Weiss endorsement and licensing of IP will probably have cost a few dimes as well.
> 
> If it's worth it, is up to the customer.


Yeah, I figure they spent a lot of time, and effort modeling it as accurately as possible to sound, and behave like the HW EQ model, but I have no idea how good the HW , or what makes the HW so special, that I would want to spend $549 to get it in a plugin format.


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## Trash Panda (Sep 6, 2022)

Only if you have more dollars than sense.


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## muziksculp (Sep 6, 2022)

What do you usually use for your Mastering EQ ?


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## Virtuoso (Sep 6, 2022)

Get the Weiss EQ-MP instead when it's on sale (or as part of Volume 5). Same very neutral sound and a MUCH better UI!









Weiss EQ MP


<p>Short description.</p>




www.softube.com


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## muziksculp (Sep 6, 2022)

Virtuoso said:


> Get the Weiss EQ-MP instead when it's on sale (or as part of Volume 5). Same very neutral sound and a MUCH better UI!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks. Yes, I did see it, and was thinking about getting it instead. I will look further into it. 

Any idea when do they go on Sale ?


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## Junolab (Sep 6, 2022)

Buying the EQ1 alone doesn't make sense and I do think the Weiss bundle is too expensive compared to the alternatives out there. I do own the bundle. However it does really sound good even when pushed and it's somewhat often on sale, so if you're earning a living on music then I would recommend it as cost is relatively low compared to the many years of use. But again, there's tons of alternatives out there.


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## Benbln (Sep 6, 2022)

There was a sale for Weiss products I think two weeks ago only for one weekend. If I remember correctly the EQ you mention was at 329 $


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## Trash Panda (Sep 6, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> What do you usually use for your Mastering EQ ?


Depends on the workflow of the day. Usually Ozone 9, Pro Q3, or Kirchhoff.


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## muziksculp (Sep 6, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> Depends on the workflow of the day. Usually Ozone 9, Pro Q3, or Kirchhoff.


Thanks for the feedback. I tend to use Kirchoff a lot these days.


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## muziksculp (Sep 6, 2022)

Benbln said:


> There was a sale for Weiss products I think two weeks ago only for one weekend. If I remember correctly the EQ you mention was at 329 $


Oh.. I missed it, but even $329. is too high for an EQ. these days. I'm really happy with what Kirchoff EQ is doing for me, I also have other options like PRO-Q3, Ozone 9, VSL EQ, and even got the AMEK EQ-250 from PA lately, but haven't put it in action yet. It seems to be very popular as a mastering EQ.

I might consider the WEISS EQ-MP when it goes on sale.


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## kgdrum (Sep 6, 2022)

@muziksculp 

Get on Softube’s mailing list, I get offers all of the time the Weiss stuff was recently on sale. I have and love most of the Softube plugins I have (No Weiss) but I never pay the list prices on anything from Softube.
What’s saved me lots of 💰💰 from overspending on EQ’s was the realization that my old drummer ears probably can’t really tell the difference on a really subtle level like a recording engineer would hear.
I have a bunch of great EQ’s,in my case it’s familiarity and just liking the functionality that’s really important to me and being able to get good results.
I have essentially stopped buying EQ’s.


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## muziksculp (Sep 6, 2022)

kgdrum said:


> @muziksculp
> 
> Get on Softube’s mailing list, I get offers all of the time the Weiss stuff was recently on sale. I have and love most of the Softube plugins I have (No Weiss) but I never pay the list prices on anything from Softube.


Thanks. I subscribed to their news letter. Hopefully I will know when they have their next sale. 

I love using their Weiss Maximizer, and Limiter.


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## Monkberry (Sep 6, 2022)

$549 is way too much for a software EQ. I've looked at the Softube Weiss plugins from time to time but even on sale they are too high for my wallet. I get that some of the ME's on Gearspace use it for mastering and it gets good reviews so it's a worthwhile investment and a tax right off. I'm good with Pro Q3, Pulsar Massive, a bunch from Plugin Alliance subscription. I've been looking at Kirchoff lately. It gets a lot of praise.


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## Zanshin (Sep 6, 2022)

Ditto on Kirchhoff. Kirchhoff EQ and DMG Audio TrackComp 2, TrackLimit, and Limitless (for the master) - are 90% of my non-instrument/reverb plugin use. All are fast to use, low latency and low cpu.

I'm not a mastering engineer though. The Weiss EQ might be just what the doctor ordered if I were.


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## muziksculp (Sep 6, 2022)

*Kirchoff EQ* is my go-to EQ right now. It's very flexible, and offers lots of options, and models of EQ. imho. One of the best EQs on the market today.


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## Monkberry (Sep 6, 2022)

Zanshin said:


> Ditto on Kirchhoff. Kirchhoff EQ and DMG Audio TrackComp 2, TrackLimit, and Limitless (for the master) - are 90% of my non-instrument/reverb plugin use. All are fast to use, low latency and low cpu.
> 
> I'm not a mastering engineer though. The Weiss EQ might be just what the doctor ordered if I were.


I use Trackcomp 2 all over the place. Limitless sometimes on the 2 bus. Both are top notch.


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## muziksculp (Sep 6, 2022)

I also have the UAD Manley Massive Passive EQ, which is another popular Mastering EQ, many Mastering Engineers use the HW unit. A classic EQ.


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## Virtuoso (Sep 6, 2022)

Softube do fully-functional free trials (20 days I think) - so while you wait for the next sale, you might as well grab EQ1 and MP and see how you get on with them.

I find the interface and general complexity of EQ1 too much of a headache, but MP is a pleasure to use.


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## muziksculp (Sep 6, 2022)

Virtuoso said:


> Softube do fully-functional free trials (20 days I think) - so while you wait for the next sale, you might as well grab EQ1 and MP and see how you get on with them.
> 
> I find the interface and general complexity of EQ1 too much of a headache, but MP is a pleasure to use.


Yeah, I might do that. Thanks. 

Actually, I'm leaning more towards the EQ MP. hopefully they have a sale on it in the near future. I don't think it offers any Dynamic EQ functionality, but the overall quality of the EQ is what I feel is the main attraction. Also scalable, GUI, and Dark Mode is nice to have.


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## Monkberry (Sep 6, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> I also have the UAD Manley Massive Passive EQ, which is another popular Mastering EQ, many Mastering Engineers use the HW unit. A classic EQ.


Yeah, the UAD Massive Passive is great. When I stopped using UAD plugs I went through withdrawals and it took some time to find native replacements. That was a long time ago. I still have all the plugins I bought back then in my UA account. I didn't want to be tied to their DSP cards or interfaces so I moved on.


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## jcrosby (Sep 6, 2022)

Unless you're earning money mastering or mixing other artists music (and making good money doing it), paying this much for a linear phase surgical EQ with dynamics is ridiculous. (Even if you're a mastering engineer I personally think this is a silly price given that's it's not a hardware box).

This EQ was deisgned to be surigcal, colorless, ordorless, and uncharacterful. Something digital surgical EQs already do perfectly well for far less. Pro-Q3 and Ozone both do all of the same things with more or less the same level of surgical precision.

At the end of the day the consumer listening to your music; the publisher, label, or music supervisor; none will not know, care, or ask what you used if you deliver a great sounding final mix/master.

IMO Softube are using the brand recognition to charge and exorbitant price. And, while I like Softube quite a lot, this is just silly. They're essentially selling digital fairy dust that you can more or less replicate with a tool you most likely already have.

For shits and giggles here's a blind comparison.


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## muziksculp (Sep 6, 2022)

jcrosby said:


> Unless you're earning money mastering or mixing other artists music (and making good money doing it), paying this much for a linear phase surgical EQ with dynamics is ridiculous. (Even if you're a mastering engineer I personally think this is a silly price given that's it's not a hardware box).
> 
> This EQ was deisgned to be surigcal, colorless, ordorless, and uncharacterful. Something digital surgical EQs already do perfectly well for far less. Pro-Q3 and Ozone both do all of the same things with more or less the same level of surgical precision.
> 
> ...



I agree. That's why I posted this topic to find out if it makes any sense selling an EQ Plugin for $549. It just made no sense to me. Especially given the multitude of high-quality Software EQs available these days, at much lower prices.


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## Virtuoso (Sep 6, 2022)

If you do want dynamic functionality, check out the Sonnox Dynamic EQ:-




__





Oxford Dynamic EQ | VST, AU, AAX | Sonnox


5 bands of musical Oxford Type-3 EQ that can process and/or detect from mono, stereo, mid or side channels. Available in VST, AU & AAX.




www.sonnox.com





Or, for a different kind of workflow, Sonnox Claro:-




__





Toolbox Claro | Produce | Tweak | Mix | Sonnox


Claro is a comprehensive EQ plugin available for VST3, AU and AAX. Claro serves the production process from composition to final mix, with three distinct views, progressively adding deeper insight and precision to prevent mud, clutter, or harshness, helping you blend your tracks into a clear and...




www.sonnox.com





Both have 15 day free trials and are likely to be on sale around Black Friday. Back in June, there was a great bundle with Dynamic EQ, Inflator and Limiter for £95!


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## muziksculp (Sep 6, 2022)

Virtuoso said:


> If you do want dynamic functionality, check out the Sonnox Dynamic EQ:-
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I have Sonnox Claro, but haven't used it much. 

Will check the Sonnox Dynamic EQ. but given I have Kirchoff EQ, and PRO-Q3, I don't know if I need it.


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## Joël Dollié (Sep 7, 2022)

My best price is 29$. And I need to absolutely love that particular EQ and interface to spend that much on an EQ plugin. 

So over 500 bucks I think not.

There's plugins nowdays that allow you to pretty much copy curves and replicate any EQ curve.. And the analog color can be had in other ways. And this one is supposed to be as clean as possible?

Hard to find value in ''another EQ plugin''. There's very few exceptions.


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## muziksculp (Sep 7, 2022)

Joël Dollié said:


> My best price is 29$. And I need to absolutely love that particular EQ and interface to spend that much on an EQ plugin.


Which EQ are you referring to ?


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## Henu (Sep 7, 2022)

Completely overpriced. That being said, though, the compressor is absolutely the best I've ever used for transparent mastering compression and completely worth the price.


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## Hendrixon (Sep 7, 2022)

For me to splash $549 on a plugin they will need to model freaking John Powell's talent.



And even then I'll probably wait for 50% off...


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## re-peat (Sep 7, 2022)

The Weiss EQ-1 wasn’t made for us. ‘Us’ being the typical VI-C members whose main source of audio consists largely of sample libraries and virtual instruments, nearly all of which generate audio of rather mediocre quality. At best. Which is then often further degraded by being stacked and blended with other less-than-stellar audio (often with a completely different sonic stamp), thrown into virtual spaces of questionable aural solidity, submitted to all sorts of DAW-based processes that favour instant convenience above quality, and, if that’s not problematic enough already, sent and summed through chains of ‘awesome’ $29 plugins.

Now, for most of us, there’s nothing wrong with any of that and it might even give wholly satisfactory results — if you don’t worry too much about audio quality, anyway—, but it does disqualify most here, it seems to me, to speak out on matters such as whether a tool like the Weiss EQ-1, when used or evaluated in a way that is in accordance with the quality it claims to offer, is reasonably priced or not.

There is, after all, more to a digital EQ than meets the untrained, inattentive or indifferent ear. It’s not just about curves or modeled flavours, it is in fact much more about several highly complex processes, about the most pristine and musical sounding built-in solutions for various nasty imperfections inherent to digital audio processing, and about the uncompromising accuracy with which all of that is handled, addressed and/or implemented. Curves and flavours are relatively easy, it’s everything else that isn’t. It is about that final, very subtle yet defining 2% difference between merely great and supremely excellent. An awfully expensive difference which not everyone cares about, let alone wants to pay for, as this thread illustrates, but which to some people is of vital importance.

It’s not because we can’t hear a difference between the Weiss and a plugin that costs ten times less, when comparing them both doing their thing on our tracks or mixes, that well-trained, experienced professionals, working in the right surroundings on high-definition audio material, monitored on the best possible equipment, don’t hear it.

It’s true, for many of us, stuff like the Weiss — the MAAT eq’s are another similarly priced example — is on the expensive side. But I can imagine that for pro engineers, bona fide mastering engineers and producers who work with expertly performed and recorded audio (the first and absolutely essential requirement in this context, I would think) in a high-end studio environment (where they have ADDA conversion that costs more than most of our studios cost in their entirety, software included) — in other words, an environment where software like the Weiss EQ-1 has a chance to show off its best and shine — the matter of its price will be viewed completely differently than it's viewed here on VI-C.

Only to say, I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss this thing as ridiculously overpriced. I’m not stating as fact that the Weiss EQ-1 is priced sensibly — like most people here, I have no way of knowing —, but I’m certainly open to the idea that it might be. And I wouldn’t be in the least surprised if it is.

_


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## Crossroads (Sep 8, 2022)

re-peat said:


> The Weiss EQ-1 wasn’t made for us. ‘Us’ being the typical VI-C members whose main source of audio consists largely of sample libraries and virtual instruments, nearly all of which generate audio of rather mediocre quality. At best. Which is then often further degraded by being stacked and blended with other less-than-stellar audio (often with a completely different sonic stamp), thrown into virtual spaces of questionable aural solidity, submitted to all sorts of DAW-based processes that favour instant convenience above quality, and, if that’s not problematic enough already, sent and summed through chains of ‘awesome’ $29 plugins.
> 
> Now, for most of us, there’s nothing wrong with any of that and it might even give wholly satisfactory results — if you don’t worry too much about audio quality, anyway—, but it does disqualify most here, it seems to me, to speak out on matters such as whether a tool like the Weiss EQ-1, when used or evaluated in a way that is in accordance with the quality it claims to offer, is reasonably priced or not.
> 
> ...


The problem is that, whilst I do want to believe that you are completely correct, I have never ever heard this mysterious high-end audio in the first place; and I have listened to a whole lot of music in my life. Could you point me to an example where I could hear the difference between music for us ordinary people and the supposed ''high end music for the gods among us?''


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## telecode101 (Sep 8, 2022)

I quite like Softube stuff. I usually just buy the volume bundles. I am hoping they will add another Weiss item into the next upgrade.


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## Nimrod7 (Sep 8, 2022)

For what is worth, I paid $377 in 2019 for the entire Weiss Bundle, the EQ, Limiter and De-esser.
I bet there will be better offers these days, but even with that price comes at $125 per plugin which is reasonable.

The Weiss stuff if I recall correctly are 1:1 code transfer from their hardware counterparts worth >10k (probably loyalties need to be paid to Weiss).

I love them, super high quality plugins, well worth the price. I don't think is a replacement for them directly, but if you're looking for a transparent mastering EQ there are plenty out there.


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## Henu (Sep 8, 2022)

Crossroads said:


> Could you point me to an example where I could hear the difference between music for us ordinary people and the supposed ''high end music for the gods among us?''


There is no such a thing in general. The thing is that plugins like the Weiss EQ are meant to be sounding like clean hardware. And with clean hardware EQs like....say, Sontec or SPL is that you can dial in good-sounding stuff with less work. _Especially_ with hardware, and that's what the Weiss EQ plugin is emulating: the workflow. You can do all that with e.g. Fabfilter as well, but with clean quality hardware you are able to do it usually much quicker and with less trouble.

Enter, clean quality software. What I agree with Piet is that the Weiss hardware EQ isn't meant for hobbyists first in mind, just like that Sontec hardware EQ isn't either. But software is code. No expensive chicken-head knobs or calibrated transformers. What justifies the _hardware_ price is the quality of the parts and the general manufacturing costs. I understand fully that the Weiss software has gone a lot of iteration and development costs, not to mention the slice Weiss is going to take for the branding, but the retail price is almost competing with Waves' prices in it's absurdity. 300 € could be justified for a very high quality EQ like this, 550 for a piece of software is just ridiculous. It's like trying to justify 8Dio's retail prices.


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## re-peat (Sep 8, 2022)

It’s not about the difference between hardware and code, Henu — and frankly, I’d much rather have the software Weiss than the 25-year old digital hardware, no matter how good its components were considered at the time —, it’s about the difference between pro-level, high-quality processing, on the one hand, and affordable ‘consumer’-type processing on the other. I’m not suggesting people should care about that difference, everyone does what he/she/x likes, but that difference is real, and ending up on the right side of it (or what is perceived as the right side anyway), is worth a lot of money to some. And hardly any money at all to others. (The definition of what is the right side in matters such as these tends to differ quite a bit depending on whom you ask.)

How many here check phase shifts after doing a high-pass filtering? How many here listen for pre-ringing? How many check bell cramping? How many invest time and money in the best possible sample rate conversions of their samples and/or audio sources? How many have spent more than $4000 on an audio interface? Again, I’m not saying that we all should start doing these things, but some people — in the Land of Audiophiles and Audiofidelity, far far away — do: there’s a level of working with digital audio at which these things receive due attention because, to those people, they matter. Sure, you won’t hear it through ear buds, you won’t hear on your smart phone or tablet, you won’t hear it on YouTube or Soundcloud, but you will hear it (assuming Nature blessed you with the physical ability to do so) if you like to listen to well-recorded and well-produced music on better-than-average equipment in a good, listening-friendly environment.

Check the last 100 entries in the Members Compositions & Mockups subforum. Or a few hundred more, if you have the time. There’s not a single one among them that sounds good. Strictly sonically speaking, I mean.

I don’t think it’s for us to say which prices are ridiculous and which aren’t. People have to determine that for themselves and I’m sure that those who are serious enough about their work to consider the Weiss EQ-1, can judge the sanity or insanity of its price perfectly well without our aid, misplaced cynicism or inverted snobbery. Me, I find €49 for a Brainworx channel strip, or ten of them, a complete waste of money. (The only reason I still visit Plugin Alliance, once in a while, is to check if Unfiltered Audio has released something new.)
At the moment, I have no experience with the Weiss, but should I ever find myself in a situation where purchasing such a tool might make sense, there’s every chance I’d be very pleased and utterly satisfied with what it does. At which moment I will consider it 549 euros well and wisely spent.

_


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## GtrString (Sep 8, 2022)

500squid for a fcn EQ!!!!! lololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololollololololololololololololololololololololololololol


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## Joël Dollié (Sep 8, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Which EQ are you referring to ?


Sorry I just meant like in general if I'm gonna buy an EQ plugin it needs to have something truly special that parametric EQ's can't do, or at least something that's much harder to replicate.

But even so, I don't think it's possible to make a static EQ plugin that valuable nowdays. ProQ3 is too good and versatile. I still grab my pultec for kicks since it's quick and easy though (and it's in the waves bundles) but I would never have bought a dedicated pultec for over 80 bucks, no way, I would have found a proQ3 pultec curve haha.


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## vitocorleone123 (Sep 8, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Yeah, I figure they spent a lot of time, and effort modeling it as accurately as possible to sound, and behave like the HW EQ model, but I have no idea how good the HW , or what makes the HW so special, that I would want to spend $549 to get it in a plugin format.


As far as I know, there's NO modeling at all (maybe some to emulate any hardware aspects?) in any of the Softube Weiss plugins. This is the digital code directly from Weiss that runs on the hardware. That's a big reason for the steep price of the Weiss plugins.

If you think $500 is expensive, look at the hardware prices that supposedly runs the same code.

Now, whether you or I could get $500 value from this plugin is a separate question. Fortunately, it's regularly on sale - still not cheap, but less expensive. There's also the rrp of PA EQs, as well as MAAT, for example.


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## cedricm (Sep 8, 2022)

For me to entertain such a purchase, I would need to drink about 4 bottles of Ukrainian Vodka.


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## re-peat (Sep 8, 2022)

Cédric, maybe try four of these instead:


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## sostenuto (Sep 8, 2022)

re-peat said:


> Cédric, maybe try four of these instead:


Now wondering how well Acustica Audio does _ with 'some' of its stronger efforts _ fitting in this different realm of fine-tuning /sampling vintage hardware _ yet in a more moderate cost category.


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## glyster (Sep 8, 2022)

Recommend folks reading some articles by Bob Katz to appreciate the details in the mastering process. Bob is a real mastering engineer who's been doing this for his whole career (he did mention Weiss and some others).






Articles - Digido.com


Digital Domain - we ensure musicians, independent artists and record labels get the best sound possible. Bob Katz provides the articles to help.



www.digido.com





Although I bought the bundle, I realize it's probably not really for people like me. I'm using it for learning mostly.


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## Henu (Sep 8, 2022)

re-peat said:


> I’m sure that those who are serious enough about their work to consider the Weiss EQ-1, can judge the sanity or insanity of its price perfectly well without our aid, misplaced cynicism or inverted snobbery.


I'm not arguing with that at all. Hell, I've spent almost 10k on mastering hardware myself, so I do get the point farily well. :D But the thing for me is that even though the Weiss EQ plugin is a tool obviously meant for "serious" work (hence, Weiss and stuff), I find the pricing still too highly aimed even for that serious work because we're talking about a plugin. A piece of code, no matter how well it's modelled. But I guess that's more of a personal thing, so we can agree to disagree on the set price level.


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## vitocorleone123 (Sep 8, 2022)

Henu said:


> I'm not arguing with that at all. Hell, I've spent almost 10k on mastering hardware myself, so I do get the point farily well. :D But the thing for me is that even though the Weiss EQ plugin is a tool obviously meant for "serious" work (hence, Weiss and stuff), I find the pricing still too highly aimed even for that serious work because we're talking about a plugin. A piece of code, no matter how well it's modelled. But I guess that's more of a personal thing, so we can agree to disagree on the set price level.


They describe it as being the actual code used in the hardware. Licensed (presumably). It is a digital version of the digital hardware.

A "piece of code" has value determined by the market. There's code that costs a hell of a lot more than this. Or many others that are hundreds of dollars rather than $29.



> serious work because we're talking about a plugin



So... people who use plugins don't do "serious" work? That'll be news to a lot of people that don't use dedicated hardware units for things.


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## glyster (Sep 8, 2022)

Henu said:


> I'm not arguing with that at all. Hell, I've spent almost 10k on mastering hardware myself, so I do get the point farily well. :D But the thing for me is that even though the Weiss EQ plugin is a tool obviously meant for "serious" work (hence, Weiss and stuff), I find the pricing still too highly aimed even for that serious work because we're talking about a plugin. A piece of code, no matter how well it's modelled. But I guess that's more of a personal thing, so we can agree to disagree on the set price level.


How much does kfc recipe worth to you? :D


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## muziksculp (Sep 8, 2022)

Looking at the price of the HW EQ-1 WEISS Unit, makes me feel a bit better about the high Plugin pricing. I also wonder if the WEISS EQ-1 plugin is quite CPU efficient ? 

https://vintageking.com/weiss-eq1-l...ayte7T4IjbqbWIfnz9eakAn48wePdCgQaAmIREALw_wcB


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## vitocorleone123 (Sep 8, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Looking at the price of the HW EQ-1 WEISS Unit, makes me feel a bit better about the high Plugin pricing. I also wonder if the WEISS EQ-1 plugin is quite CPU efficient ?
> 
> https://vintageking.com/weiss-eq1-l...ayte7T4IjbqbWIfnz9eakAn48wePdCgQaAmIREALw_wcB


I believe Softube generally prices things to sell on sale, though not quite as badly as PA.

The list of the Weiss stuff is pretty high, but that doesn't mean you have to pay that price if you just wait for sales. There's definitely a few other "high end" EQs that sell for ~$200 - $300+. Other than MAAT, there's also ones by Vertigo, DMG Audio, and Massenberg.

Theoretical example: when shopping for an analog polysynth I ended up falling in love with the OB-6. I looked and looked for a software plugin that was close to the same. There still isn't one (yeah yeah you can always find overlap on this thing or that thing, but not the whole). I'd have paid up to $1,000 for a plugin version of the hardware - that still would've saved me $1,300 and I'd have more desk space.


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## muziksculp (Sep 8, 2022)

What are some of the other Mastering High-Quality EQs that are on the same calibre of the WEISS EQ-1 ?

I have the UAD Manley Massive-Passive EQ Plugin, the HW version is very popular with Mastering Engineers. I don't know how close UAD modeled the Plugin version in terms of its behavior, and quality.

I recently got the PA AMEK EQ 250, and the SSL X EQ-2 but haven't tested them yet.

https://store.solidstatelogic.com/plug-ins/ssl-native-x-eq-2

https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/amek_eq_250.html


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## Junolab (Sep 8, 2022)

Perhaps it depends on which country you live in (wages and such), but if I worked professionally with mastering or mixing I couldn't care less if the plugin costs 50$, 100$ or 500$. It's such a small cost compared to everything else and it's a one-time fee. I'd worry more about updates and bug fixes which could take time away from what can be invoiced. 

And honestly, guys, how much have you spent on 29$ a-peice plugins over the years? I bet you'd want to give up a bunch of those for just a single too-expensive plugin.


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## Henu (Sep 8, 2022)

vitocorleone123 said:


> So... people who use plugins don't do "serious" work? That'll be news to a lot of people that don't use dedicated hardware units for things.


No, you got it wrong. I meant that "I find the pricing still too highly aimed _even for that serious work_ because we're talking about a plugin." So my point was that no matter how serious your work is or isn't, it's a _piece of computer code_ and doesn't have any expensive hardware parts which cost money. Sorry if was placing my words awkwardly! Needless to say, I also use a ton of plugins myself and prefer most of them before hardware for obvious reasons.

So even though it's aimed for (a term used in another post, which I referred) that "serious work", I still find that price too much because it's a plugin. Yes, we can do the KFC recipe comparison, which I _do_ get, but for the love all that is good and decent, let me just have my opinion that no matter how good a piece of software EQ is, it shouldn't cost 550 dollars in my personal opinion! And before you ask, I think around 300 would be a fair price.

EDIT:



vitocorleone123 said:


> I believe Softube generally prices things to sell on sale, though not quite as badly as PA.


Which is why Softube's sale prices are way closer in my opinion to the actual value of the products. I got my Weiss comp/limiter collection from a sale, because I thought the retail price was simply absurd even though I knew how good they were. So it kinda sums my point up as well from my perspective!


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## vitocorleone123 (Sep 8, 2022)

Henu said:


> No, you got it wrong. I meant that "I find the pricing still too highly aimed _even for that serious work_ because we're talking about a plugin." So my point was that no matter how serious your work is or isn't, it's a _piece of computer code_ and doesn't have any expensive hardware parts which cost money. Sorry if was placing my words awkwardly! Needless to say, I also use a ton of plugins myself and prefer most of them before hardware for obvious reasons.
> 
> So even though it's aimed for (a term used in another post, which I referred) that "serious work", I still find that price too much because it's a plugin. Yes, we can do the KFC recipe comparison, which I _do_ get, but for the love all that is good and decent, let me just have my opinion that no matter how good a piece of software EQ is, it shouldn't cost 550 dollars in my personal opinion! And before you ask, I think around 300 would be a fair price.


Fair enough! Thanks for clarifying. 
And I SUPPOSE you're entitled to an opinion, and all that, too


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## jcrosby (Sep 8, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> What are some of the other Mastering High-Quality EQs that are on the same calibre of the WEISS EQ-1 ?
> 
> I have the UAD Manley Massive-Passive EQ Plugin, the HW version is very popular with Mastering Engineers. I don't know how close UAD modeled the Plugin version in terms of its behavior, and quality.
> 
> ...


Maselec and Sontec are probably the other most common, (at least the ones I've seen frequently enough). But there are a bunch of others as well ranging from SPL to Crane Song to small batch boutique EQs.

Acustica have models of a bunch of these. They sound great, but the high CPU demands Acustica requires have always been a headache, for me at least. High single core use that isn't ideal for large scoring/production templates. If you have the luxury (i.e. time) to print your tracks and do a separate mix they do sound quite good though. If curious some of the ones I have that you might check out are Scarlett, Magenta and Ivory, but they have a bunch on offer.

EDIT: I will say this... I have the UAD Massive Passive and Magenta. There's a pretty noticeable sonic difference between the two, and Magenta does sound nicer IMO. If there ever were an argument in favor of outboard DSP it would be Acustica, but they've said several times over the years that that's a road they have no plans going down unfortunately...


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## Trash Panda (Sep 8, 2022)

re-peat said:


> Check the last 100 entries in the Members Compositions & Mockups subforum. Or a few hundred more, if you have the time. There’s not a single one among them that sounds good. Strictly sonically speaking, I mean.


Glad to know you still love us enough to poop on our passion projects en masse.


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## Nimrod7 (Sep 8, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Looking at the price of the HW EQ-1 WEISS Unit, makes me feel a bit better about the high Plugin pricing. I also wonder if the WEISS EQ-1 plugin is quite CPU efficient ?


Curious on why you're interested about CPU efficiency, 
It doesn't supposed to be used on tracks, but on the mix itself. I guess best case scenario on stems.


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## Joël Dollié (Sep 8, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> Glad to know you still love us enough to poop on our passion projects en masse.


See if they had the Weiss EQ, every track would have sounded like a million dollars (I mean 550 to be exact)


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## Nimrod7 (Sep 8, 2022)

Henu said:


> No, you got it wrong. I meant that "I find the pricing still too highly aimed _even for that serious work_ because we're talking about a plugin." So my point was that no matter how serious your work is or isn't, it's a _piece of computer code_ and doesn't have any expensive hardware parts which cost money.


So, research and development doesn't matter?
There are plugins that requiring years of research from multiple people, if you calculate the salaries alone, we are talking about hundreds of thousands.

This is a plugin costing 5K. It's the leader in post production:








CEDAR Audio Studio 8 Complete


Studio 8 Complete, Download




www.adorama.com


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## muziksculp (Sep 8, 2022)

Nimrod7 said:


> Curious on why you're interested about CPU efficiency,
> It doesn't supposed to be used on tracks, but on the mix itself. I guess best case scenario on stems.


Yes, I know it's a mastering EQ, but just curious about how complex the code is, and if it requires a lot of CPU power because of that.


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## jcrosby (Sep 8, 2022)

Nimrod7 said:


> Curious on why you're interested about CPU efficiency,
> It doesn't supposed to be used on tracks, but on the mix itself. I guess best case scenario on stems.


This is actually a relevant concern. AFAIK anything you stick on your output channel has a compound effect with anything being processed on a single core, like armed instrument tracks, instruments routed to busses that are then routed to an output with processing, etc.

In Logic for example this can have big consequences, once you arm a track you activate live mode, the buffer drops, and any processing on your output channel gets compounded with the real time processing needed to record or play back armed instruments... If you have bus processing or sends, in addition to output processing on that instrument you can see single core use start to creep up...

But, (at least AFAI understand), every DAW has some version of this, not just Logic... I've dabbled in S1 over the past few years, the moment you arm a track CPU use climbs, once processing other gets involved you start to see the same issue. Same with Ableton Live... So it's a smart concern to have.


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## vitocorleone123 (Sep 8, 2022)

jcrosby said:


> This is actually a relevant concern. AFAIK anything you stick on your output channel has a compound effect with anything being processed on a single core, like armed instrument tracks, instruments routed to busses that are then routed to an output with processing, etc.
> 
> In Logic for example this can have big consequences, once you arm a track you activate live mode, the buffer drops, and any processing on your output channel gets compounded with the real time processing needed to record or play back armed instruments... If you have bus processing or sends, in addition to output processing on that instrument you can see single core use start to creep up...
> 
> But, (at least AFAI understand), every DAW has some version of this, not just Logic... I've dabbled in S1 over the past few years, the moment you arm a track CPU use climbs, once processing other gets involved you start to see the same issue. Same with Ableton Live... So it's a smart concern to have.


Audiogridder (on the same computer) greatly reduces CPU concerns for me - but adds a dependency on what's currently freeware developed by one person.


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## Henu (Sep 8, 2022)

Nimrod7 said:


> So, research and development doesn't matter?


You know, just buy the freaking plugin and dance while doing it for all that I care. Get Cedar and get the fucking Waves update plan too. Choose life. Choose Chris-Lord Alge Compressors for 750 €. Choose Plugin Alliance retail prices. Choose a Mac. Choose your future and so forth.

I've been doing professional audio stuff for living for years, and I just stated that this one is overpriced in MY OPINION. Because opinions were asked by the OP. And now I'm going to start my workday and do stuff with my plugins instead of arguing in the internet about those prices.


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## re-peat (Sep 8, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> Glad to know you still love us enough to poop on our passion projects en masse.



Panda, you must know that that wasn’t the intention with which that remark was written. (Besides, among those few hundred, there are a couple of mine as well.) Merely saying, as I said at the start of my first post in this thread, that when doing mock-ups, especially orchestral ones, not only are there limits related to performance, timbre and ensemble integrity & definition, but there’s also a severe limit to the quality of sound you can achieve. Nature of the beast.

For starters, nothing that comes out of Kontakt, Sine, Synchron, Opus or whatever, can ever have the living presence, dynamics, imaging and natural, organic interaction with its surrounding space that a well-recorded real performance has. And blending or stacking those very different sounding sources only makes matters worse.

Furthermore, mock-ups, by way of being, invariably struggle with countless issues related to frequency build-ups, frequency cancellation, phase problems, spatial inconsistencies or incompatibilities, conflicting stereo images, dubious sample quality, the list goes on and on … And I’m not even talking about the all-important musical handshake between sound, musical content and performance — something which happens so naturally and effortlessly in a well-recorded real performance, but which is as good as impossible to achieve or simulate in a mock-up.

Saying all that is not 'pooping', it’s simply stating fact. I’m not implying that a fairly decent-ish and quite enjoyable sound isn’t possible with the tools we choose (or are forced) to work with — there are examples of that too among the entries I pointed at —, but that’s still a long, long, long, very long way removed from the results expert engineers will get when capturing a great performance in a great-sounding venue, using the finest equipment.

Our only real weapon, as I see it, to battle our huge disadvantage (inherent to sample-based production) with, is the quality of the music itself. Great music, on its own, won’t improve the sound of course, obviously not, but it does have the power to reduce the technical weaknesses of the way in which it is communicated to be a far less distracting and less relevant element.

_


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## fakemaxwell (Sep 9, 2022)

Nimrod7 said:


> So, research and development doesn't matter?
> There are plugins that requiring years of research from multiple people, if you calculate the salaries alone, we are talking about hundreds of thousands.
> 
> This is a plugin costing 5K. It's the leader in post production:
> ...


The R&D costs were already factored for the hardware unit. Making this cost 5x the price of the EQ plugins people are already using to great effect is a marketing cash grab, no more. 

People are also claiming that the hardware version sounds better, even though it's a 1:1 port. Absurd. After reading things about this plugin and others I think I'm done considering review for expensive plugins without audio examples. If plugin A sounds better than plugin B with the same settings,

p r o v e i t.


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## Nimrod7 (Sep 9, 2022)

fakemaxwell said:


> The R&D costs were already factored for the hardware unit. Making this cost 5x the price of the EQ plugins people are already using to great effect is a marketing cash grab, no more.


The comment was a response on high cost of plugins is unjustified because "they don't have expensive hardware parts", not for this specific plugin. The cost on this specific plugins have to do most likely with royalties that need to be paid.


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## AudioLoco (Sep 9, 2022)

If you do mastering by trade it's not such a horrific number for the importance this kind of tool has in the process (Main clean EQ). Mastering engineers spend tens of thousands on the room alone, monitors, cables, outboard... 500 is not so terrifying.

For anyone else it's an absolutely silly number I believe. 

I do have the MP and I really do like it's sound, I find it more transparent then FabFliter ProQ3 on most of its CPU friendly settings at least...


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## JacquesMathias (Sep 9, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Hi,
> 
> I'm surprised at the super high price of this EQ from Softube.
> 
> ...



I don't own this one, but I have tried it. I love plugins, and I'm addicted to them. I confess!

It does sound transparent. It does help when you're mastering and need to enhance a particular region without being too obvious. It's what we would describe as smooth. 
However, do I need it? No. 
Do I want to own it because it's smooth as butter? Yes! 

So, after getting a UAD-2 Satellite, I decided to save and invest in the UAD ecosystem instead...

...anyway, I'll end up getting these Weiss plugins in the future! They're really good!


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## muziksculp (Sep 9, 2022)

JacquesMathias said:


> I don't own this one, but I have tried it. I love plugins, and I'm addicted to them. I confess!
> 
> It does sound transparent. It does help when you're mastering and need to enhance a particular region without being too obvious. It's what we would describe as smooth.
> However, do I need it? No.
> ...


Thanks for the feedback.

My current mixing workhorse EQ is Kirchoff , I have a bunch of other EQs to choose from for mixing, but for mastering applications, I find the UAD-2 Manley Massive Passive very transparent, and smooth, I haven't tested some of my other EQs in a mastering scenario, I also got the AMEK 250 EQ, and the SSL X EQ-2 Which are high-quality EQs, suitable for Mastering applications.

What drove me to post this topic is mainly the price of WEISS EQ1, I tend to receive special discount emails from Softube, so I hope they offer a nice deal on it in the near future.

Enjoy your plugins, UAD-2 Satellite with their UAD ecosystem should offer you a lot of plugin options. And if you happen to get the WEISS EQ-1 , it would be nice to hear more from you about your experience, and thoughts about it.

Cheers,
Muziksculp


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## JacquesMathias (Sep 9, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Thanks for the feedback.
> 
> My current mixing workhorse EQ is Kirchoff , I have a bunch of other EQs to choose from for mixing, but for mastering applications, I find the UAD-2 Manley Massive Passive very transparent, and smooth, I haven't tested some of my other EQs in a mastering scenario, I also got the AMEK 250 EQ, and the SSL X EQ-2 Which are high-quality EQs, suitable for Mastering applications.
> 
> ...


If you don't need them right now, wait for the prices to drop. Please don't take me wrong! Especially if Softube is following this thread, they are tasty! But, yeah. I think we would all agree that price isn't their strength. I guess that with time, it'll drop. I might be wrong, though!

It's a 1:1 code port of a sought-after hardware unit:

_A line-by-line code port boasting 1:1 accuracy of the pioneering original hardware, known as the standard of digital mastering EQs."_
It sounds smooth!


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## muziksculp (Sep 9, 2022)

JacquesMathias said:


> If you don't need them right now, wait for the prices to drop. Please don't take me wrong! Especially if Softube is following this thread, they are tasty! But, yeah. I think we would all agree that price isn't their strength. I guess that with time, it'll drop. I might be wrong, though!
> 
> It's a 1:1 code port of a sought-after hardware unit:
> 
> ...


Yes, no rush, I plan to wait for an attractive price on the WEISS EQ-1, will most likely buy it once the price is back down to earth.


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## tressie5 (Sep 9, 2022)

Weiss is quite expensive if you're a poor bloke such as myself. But for your Massenbergs, Schoeps, Oldhams, Lord-Alges and others, $600 is a drop in the bucket. They write checks for $3500 Waves plugins without breaking sweat.


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## fakemaxwell (Sep 10, 2022)

AudioLoco said:


> I do have the MP and I really do like it's sound, I find it more transparent then FabFliter ProQ3


What does this mean? Do you have examples?


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## mat1 (Sep 10, 2022)

I imagine the high price is due to a combination of small target market and cannibalisation of the hardware unit sales..

If you are in the market for the $10,000 hardware version a plugin version for $500 seems like a great deal. It's not a million miles off UAD pricing and they are a much bigger company than Softube.


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## AudioLoco (Sep 10, 2022)

fakemaxwell said:


> What does this mean? Do you have examples?


You have to set ProQ3 to pretty CPU demanding settings to have proper transparent operation, while the Weiss does it by default without being too taxing on the CPU.

To my ears, on lower settings (Processing modes), ProQ3 smears the sound in a way I don't like. Subtle but definitely it does something.
It's nothing "horrendous" for use on single tracks etc (I'm talking subtle differences, not day and night), perfectly usable, but on the master bus for example, it becomes pretty obvious if you test it in an environment with proper monitoring/room/DA conversion.
I don't hear any harm done to the original signal when it is set on the more CPU demanding settings, while I avoid all together the Zero Latency mode, even for single tracks, and use Natural Phase mode in those cases, or the Weiss.


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## vitocorleone123 (Sep 10, 2022)

AudioLoco said:


> You have to set ProQ3 to pretty CPU demanding settings to have proper transparent operation, while the Weiss does it by default without being too taxing on the CPU.
> 
> To my ears, on lower settings (Processing modes), ProQ3 smears the sound in a way I don't like. Subtle but definitely it does something.
> It's nothing "horrendous" for use on single tracks etc (I'm talking subtle differences, not day and night), perfectly usable, but on the master bus for example, it becomes pretty obvious if you test it in an environment with proper monitoring/room/DA conversion.
> I don't hear any harm done to the original signal when it is set on the more CPU demanding settings, while I avoid all together the Zero Latency mode, even for single tracks, and use Natural Phase mode in those cases, or the Weiss.


I'd be curious if you've compared the Weiss (plugin) vs. Slick EQ M.
I don't hear any issues with ProQ3 and use it on every track in Natural mode.


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## AudioLoco (Sep 10, 2022)

vitocorleone123 said:


> I'd be curious if you've compared the Weiss (plugin) vs. Slick EQ M.
> I don't hear any issues with ProQ3 and use it on every track in Natural mode.


tried Slick some time ago... don't remember being very captivated ... but have not compared the two


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## vitocorleone123 (Sep 10, 2022)

AudioLoco said:


> tried Slick some time ago... don't remember being very captivated ... but have not compared the two


I can only go by what people post online and say that a number of people list SlickEQ M in the same sentence as the Weiss EQ1 as their favorite mastering EQs (along with Equilibrium). I do know Slick EQ M incorporates behaviors similar to analog devices, plus even has more bandwidth on tap than the Weiss (not that that guarantees anything). Perhaps it's merely good enough for those of us that are not MEs 

I see people mention both, but I've not heard a "professional" comparison.


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## AudioLoco (Sep 10, 2022)

vitocorleone123 said:


> I can only go by what people post online and say that a number of people list SlickEQ M in the same sentence as the Weiss EQ1 as their favorite mastering EQs (along with Equilibrium). I do know Slick EQ M incorporates behaviors similar to analog devices, plus even has more bandwidth on tap than the Weiss (not that that guarantees anything). Perhaps it's merely good enough for those of us that are not MEs
> 
> I see people mention both, but I've not heard a "professional" comparison.


Yes i heard that too, even though Equilibrium gets mentioned even more often.


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## Henu (Sep 10, 2022)

Equilibrium is _really_ good. It's quite heavy and definitely not for the weak-hearted for what it comes to the UI and workflow, but it does give some seriously good results.


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## kevinh (Sep 10, 2022)

Back in 2019 there was a likely glitch where DS-1 was available for sale for $199 for a very short time. I think was supposed to be an upgrade only at the time. Then In 2020 during a sale you could upgrade to entire bundle from ds-1 for $249. So some of us got the whole enchilada for $448 which was amazing. So advice is look out for ds-1 to go on sale. Typical flash discount (without glitches) is 30% off (around $380) and then upgrade sales to entire lot for around $250. So don’t pay full price for ds-1 as you can get entire collection for same price. As for sound, I really like the entire collection.


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## fakemaxwell (Sep 10, 2022)

AudioLoco said:


> it becomes pretty obvious if you test it in an environment with proper monitoring/room/DA conversion.


Great, I have those so it should be easy to hear what you're referring to. Do you have any examples?


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## Gerhard Westphalen (Sep 11, 2022)

Is it expensive? Yes. Is the price largely just a reflection of the hardware which at the time was a unique piece of gear (before plugins were decent)? Yes. Would I pay that much if I like it (haven't tried it)? Yes.

The main EQ I use nowadays is Equilibrium. I used to be happy with ProQ3 but after comparing with Equilibrium, I was very disappointed with ProQ3. Would most people hear the difference? No. Is it going to help grow my business? Probably not but I want to have the best tools possible. 

If Equilibrium was twice the price I would still buy it. I make a living staring at that thing all day so in the long run it's not that expensive and I'm happy to pay the developers a premium to keep doing what they're doing (a little different with the Weiss where you're paying a fee for essentially replacing the hardware units).

While I don't own the Weiss EQ, I own their deesser and it's fantastic. That's the plugin which stands out the most and gets the most use from mastering engineers. From what I've heard from friends, the other plugins are good but don't stand out much.


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## vitocorleone123 (Sep 11, 2022)

Henu said:


> Equilibrium is _really_ good. It's quite heavy and definitely not for the weak-hearted for what it comes to the UI and workflow, but it does give some seriously good results.


I did the demo and found, after using ProQ3 for a few years, that Equilibrium was unpleasant to use - and I'd rather have tools I like using and can use quickly than the opposite. But, then, I'm no M.E.

All of the non-ProQ3 EQs are a decided step backward in interface design. If something was as easy to use (or better) AND sounded noticeably better to me, I'd consider switching. So far, I've not found a substitution - not Equilibrium, Crave, nor Kirchoff.

That said, I use Slick EQ M on my mixbus, ProQ3 on my tracks and busses.

I plan to demo the Weiss EQ just to find out what I hear, vs Slick EQ M. It's possible I may not have the gear and room to hear a difference. Or at least not a difference worth a few hundred dollars.


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## Henu (Sep 11, 2022)

To be honest, Equilibrium _is_ a pain in the ass to use. :D I should use it more often myself to implement it better to my workflow, as I know I could be taking a ton more of advantage of it's features.


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## muziksculp (Sep 11, 2022)

I would like to mention the* SSL X-EQ2* which I have been using lately, got it at a very attractive low Sale price, and love the quality of this EQ. Very musical, especially for the mid, and high frequencies, easy and fast to use, and has some cool Q-Curve features. Low-CPU usage as well. I wouldn't mind using it on the Master Bus.

Anyone using this EQ from SSL ?


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## re-peat (Sep 12, 2022)

Henu said:


> Equilibrium _is_ a pain in the ass to use.



There are friendlier ones, yes. I always felt though that Equilibrium is not unlike a musical instrument: you have to practice with it and learn how to play it. Once you have all the possible mouse interactions in your fingers and are familiar with what the controller keys do, Equilibrium becomes quite friendly to use as well, I find. Given its complexity, never quite as friendly as a standard stock EQ of course, but, let's say, a few notches more friendly than it may appear at first.

Also important: you have to set it up the way you feel most comfortable with it. Which you’ll only know after a few weeks or even months of working with it and slowly finding out what sort of set-up suits you best. The options and possibilities may at first boggle the mind. (And once you find your preferred set-up, save those settings as the default ones of course, to avoid having to go through the rather tedious procedure all over again.)

But yeah, certainly not a piece of software that can be used intuitively to its fullest potential after only a few sessions with it. Takes time. Like most DMG Audio plugins.
That said, if I were allowed to keep only one software EQ, Equilibrium would definitely be it.

__


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## novaburst (Sep 12, 2022)

Joël Dollié said:


> See if they had the Weiss EQ, every track would have sounded like a million dollars (I mean 550 to be exact)


I am not sure what a million dollar track sounds like, but i think eq tools of what ever developer are meant to give you the sound you want or at least help you to do what you could not do with the tools you have, 

its not about getting the greatest sound, its about getting your personal sound that's in your head or imagination in to your workstation or recording,

If you see a tool that can do this and are able to get a hold of it then IMO get it, at the end of the day its how far you want to go with your project, or how important your project is to you, 

if you work for people they more or less don't care about your tools, so its really up to you what you use and how far you want to go,


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## muziksculp (Sep 21, 2022)

The Softube *WEISS EQ1* is on sale today Sept. 21st, until Sept. 23rd . It's (54% OFF) ! 

So, I finally decided to purchase it at *$249.* (Reg. $549). I got a discount code by email today.


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## vitocorleone123 (Sep 21, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> The Softube *WEISS EQ1* is on sale today Sept. 21st, until Sept. 23rd . It's (54% OFF) !
> 
> So, I finally decided to purchase it at *$249.* (Reg. $549). I got a discount code by email today.


Congratulations! Looks like a fine EQ, for certain.

Would love to hear your thoughts after you've had some real time with it, and any comparisons you'd be willing to make (subjective is OK!).

Also, I'm assuming the latency is large, being meant to use during mixing / mastering - is this accurate?


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## muziksculp (Sep 21, 2022)

vitocorleone123 said:


> Congratulations! Looks like a fine EQ, for certain.
> 
> Would love to hear your thoughts after you've had some real time with it, and any comparisons you'd be willing to make (subjective is OK!).
> 
> Also, I'm assuming the latency is large, being meant to use during mixing / mastering - is this accurate?


Thanks. 

I will post some feedback about it after using it for a while.


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## muziksculp (Sep 21, 2022)

By the way, once I purchased the WEISS EQ1, I also saw the *WEISS EQ-MP* included in my account. So, you get two EQs with this special discount deal.

https://www.softube.com/weiss-eq-mp


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## nas (Sep 23, 2022)

It's relative. I paid nearly 1,000 USD for Logic Platinum during the Emagic days and that was without the EXS24, Space Designer, Loops, Soft Synths etc.. The emulation of the Lexicon 480L by Relab was about 500 USD , a fraction of the hardware back in the day. The Weiss plugins by Softube are excellent and are also a fraction of the hardware and virtually sound identical.

So it's really your own judgement call - is it worth it to you? part of your business that will pay for itself ? or a hobby and something you still want (not necessarily you need) and money is not a consideration?

I have purchased some amazing sounding plugins that list for 500-1,000 USD but got them on sale for 30 USD - they still sound incredible regardless of cost and perhaps If I felt I really "needed" those tools I would still purchase them even if they were not on sale. I've certainly paid a lot of money for libraries, mic preamps , monitors, converters etc.. in pursuit of better tools and better audio quality (my own personal skills not withstanding  and have seldom regretted my purchases because they have inspired me to try and do better work and have helped me produce better results.

Could I do without a lot of them? for sure. I've spent a lot of time and energy honing my skills with much less expensive tools from when I started doing this in 1991 and funds were very scarce. I still don't consider these more expensive tools a luxury... I just find them a logical next step to step up my game.

While the lines between pro and "prosumer" are increasingly blurred and some great sounding tools can be had for much much less than 10 or 20 years ago, for myself as someone who makes a living composing music for various mediums, I welcome the advantages and inspiration these "more expensive" tools can provide... and feel that in some cases (not all) the extra expense is worth it.

FWIW: I don't own the Weiss EQ-1 but do have the Softube Weiss Compressor/Limiter and it is superb - gets used a ton over here.


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## Sebastian GF (Oct 24, 2022)

Interesting Tread
I work with mix and mastering, Own UAD Manley Passive, The Sontec, Knif, and Maselec Acustica Audio plugins, and of course the not mention Massenburg EQ and TDR Nova Ge (60$) to name my go-to.
. All of them serve in whatever scenario the song asks. For example to my ears, the Uad MP is my choice for mid and hi mid-range, the Sontec for the low end, and so on. This means that before I go for a new one, I really stress the time to hear in use and master upside down what I have in my hands first
The purchase happens in a 6 years arc. no in a few months.
So my point is: really expend your money following your needs, how your work grows, and not the marketing behind the brands.

Pd: a fan of softube stuff when I mix by the way


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## muziksculp (Oct 24, 2022)

Sebastian GF said:


> I work with mix and mastering, Own UAD Manley Passive


I Like this one !


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## KEM (Oct 24, 2022)

Wait, how is Equilibrium better than Kirchhoff?


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## Trash Panda (Oct 25, 2022)

KEM said:


> Wait, how is Equilibrium better than Kirchhoff?


It's better in the same way that a canary is superior to an avocado.


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## kgdrum (Oct 25, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> It's better in the same way that a canary is superior to an avocado.


OK but just to be clear……..I totally agree as long as you’re not trying to make guacamole. Correct?


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## Trash Panda (Oct 25, 2022)

kgdrum said:


> OK but just to be clear……..I totally agree as long as you’re not trying to make guacamole. Correct?


What if you're trying to make guacamole in a coal mine? 🤯


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## kgdrum (Oct 25, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> What if you're trying to make guacamole in a coal mine? 🤯


I’m still going to use avocado,if we are talking paté yes canary can be quite tasty & might be preferable but please let’s stay on topic.


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## Russell Anderson (Oct 25, 2022)

Try a demo of this alongside a demo of IIEQPro, some unknown little EQ from DDMF. Weird suggestion, I know.


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## timbit2006 (Oct 25, 2022)

KEM said:


> Wait, how is Equilibrium better than Kirchhoff?


there is no multichannel support for Kirchoff so in 2022 it is not very useful.


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## JSteel (Oct 26, 2022)

I can imagine that Manufacturer have to overthink their Price-Policies in the near future, due to the fact that a lot of people will need their money for, let's say, more essential things in life.

Beside that, in general, i miss the point how many units they sell, to be able to determine if it's overprized or not.

In the end i think it comes down to what you personally think/feel about the price or the "worth".
In the best case there is a trial to find out the "worth". There are quiet often no trials where there should be some, in my opinion.


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## novaburst (Oct 26, 2022)

I think anything is worth the price if it helps you accomplish a sound you are looking for, i have actually seen producers use the software version and the hardware, 

A friend came to me and said that she wanted to purchase a phone for her mother what one do you think i should get her, i replied get your mon an i phone if you can, i do not own an i phone myself but i do understand the quality of the components that are used to make the phone,

someone would say a phone is a phone why pay so much money for one.

User satisfactions differs from one to another, some do not care, some cant understand why its so expensive, some will use nothing else but an iphone because the knowledge, and long relation and experience they have with that brand, 

but someone who has never used an iphone will most likely always question its value of it


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