# Eventide : Split EQ



## muziksculp (Nov 13, 2021)

*Eventide : Split EQ *

https://www.eventideaudio.com/plug-ins/spliteq/


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## muziksculp (Nov 13, 2021)

I think it's an amazing EQ.


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## Bee_Abney (Nov 17, 2021)

Any word on what it does differently or better than Wavesfactory’s Quantum or Melda’s MXXX, both of which can apply EQ (and other effects) to transients and tones separately (MXXX since 2016)?

The eventide on does less, but may do it better, and may be more suited to mastering and the master bus. But I can’t tell if it is better or just simpler. MXXX looks much more attractive to me, though for more money.


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## doctoremmet (Nov 17, 2021)

Ultimately MCompleteBundle for little over 1K € is one hell of a deal. MXXX, as well as all effects individually + all future new ones. Like a prepaid subscription for life. Of course… that lasts as long as Vojtek is alive / Melda will remain in business - fully aware. But the quality in terms of tweakability, sound, oversampling, creative options and musicality is ridiculous.


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## Bee_Abney (Nov 17, 2021)

doctoremmet said:


> Ultimately MCompleteBundle for little over 1K € is one hell of a deal. MXXX, as well as all effects individually + all future new ones. Like a prepaid subscription for life. Of course… that lasts as long as Vojtek is alive / Melda will remain in business - fully aware. But the quality in terms of tweakability, sound, oversampling, creative options and musicality is ridiculous.


The upgrade for me for the complete bundle is £568. It’s not money I can easily afford at the moment (my financial situation is in flux); but the fact that I have that money sitting in my account makes resistance tough, if not futile. It could be another year before there is 50% off the big one.

As to why my upgrade price is so low: by the way, I bought MSoundFactory!


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## Kamil Biedrzycki (Nov 17, 2021)

It's great idea  Obviously this will do the pulp with the signal phase  but I think it's great creative tool.


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## heisenberg (Nov 19, 2021)

Just watched the Snake Oil video on Split EQ. I am surprisingly impressed.


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## sostenuto (Nov 19, 2021)

heisenberg said:


> Just watched the Snake Oil video on Split EQ. I am surprisingly impressed.


As well ! Daily scenario fails to press for $99. expenditure. 
Still _ 'lack of Snake Oil' beckons.


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## heisenberg (Nov 19, 2021)

I know there have been some disparging remarks about Snake Oil's reviews & delivery of late but I am willing to bet that if one was to watch the review of Split EQ much of the approach and results of this plugin would be difficult to deny.

It begs the question though why did Eventide release this right in the lead up to Black Friday?! Boggles the mind.


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## Bee_Abney (Nov 19, 2021)

heisenberg said:


> I know there have been some disparging remarks about Snake Oil's reviews & delivery of late but I am willing to bet that if one was to watch the review of Split EQ much of the approach and results of this plugin would be difficult to deny.
> 
> It begs the question though why did Eventide release this right in the lead up to Black Friday?! Boggles the mind.


Perhaps to combine the introductory price with the general spending frenzy. It's all guesses in the marketplace. 

Please, though, what is it you think might be special about this plugin compared to the earlier ones that allow for the separate processing of attacks and sustains? It is so hard to navigate the bewildering range of options, and the company's presenting this approach as completely new without contra-distinguishing it from what look like similar products doesn't help.


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## heisenberg (Nov 19, 2021)

I wasn't aware (until just now) that Eventide had already tread down this path. I presume you are talking about plugins like Physion? I suspect that many people like myself have been exposed to the Harmonizer series and their reverbs. 

If you have used Physion and the like, maybe you should download the demo and see if it differentiaties what SplitEQ seems to roll into one plugin. Seems to me, on reflection now, that SplitEQ rolls in the functionality of Physion into a full blown EQ that has a lot of shortcuts built in that allow you to do a lot of tonal and transient massaging while performing EQ kung fu, at the same time. The interface and the way it combines all of this is where it excels.


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## Bee_Abney (Nov 20, 2021)

heisenberg said:


> I wasn't aware (until just now) that Eventide had already tread down this path. I presume you are talking about plugins like Physion? I suspect that many people like myself have been exposed to the Harmonizer series and their reverbs.
> 
> If you have used Physion and the like, maybe you should download the demo and see if it differentiaties what SplitEQ seems to roll into one plugin. Seems to me, on reflection now, that SplitEQ rolls in the functionality of Physion into a full blown EQ that has a lot of shortcuts built in that allow you to do a lot of tonal and transient massaging while performing EQ kung fu, at the same time. The interface and the way it combines all of this is where it excels.


It may come down to the interface and the quality of the EQ. 

Melda's MXXX has enabled users to apply full EQ plus other effects separately to transients and tones since 2016. Wavesfactory's Quantum has a simpler EQ plus effects, rather like Physion. For some reason, Eventide's Split EQ seems to have attracted more notice.


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## Gaffable (Nov 22, 2021)

Mastering engineer Mark Wingfield has reviewed SplitEQ and gives it the thumbs up.


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## paulwr (Dec 8, 2021)

Got the demo of SplitEQ, then quickly purchased. Now using on a couple of projects. One is a jazz funk track and I've never had another tool that can pull out the ride cymbal "tings" like this. I needed it to be heard, just not felt. I really leaned hard into it in the mid/hi area with the transient control and it continued to sound natural. This EQ is amazing. Also tending to us on bass, kick, snare. Little bit on piano for "air".


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## Bee_Abney (Dec 8, 2021)

paulwr said:


> Got the demo of SplitEQ, then quickly purchased. Now using on a couple of projects. One is a jazz funk track and I've never had another tool that can pull out the ride cymbal "tings" like this. I needed it to be heard, just not felt. I really leaned hard into it in the mid/hi area with the transient control and it continued to sound natural. This EQ is amazing. Also tending to us on bass, kick, snare. Little bit on piano for "air".


Sounds really good. I've just been trying on Broadway Brass. It has to be used carefully as things quickly got crazy, but I was impressed. 

While there are quite a few effects that can apply both EQ and other effects separately to transients and tones (including Eventide's own Physion, on an even better sale) I decided to go with SplitEQ as it is designed especially for my primary purposes. And I can always use it to send the transient and tone to separate effects chains if I want to. 

I'm still annoyed that the focus of the publicity and reviews have been on what isn't distinctive but is treated as if it is and have said so little about it's quality. 

Still, like you, in the end you have to demo it to see for yourself.


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## gsilbers (Dec 8, 2021)

Just throwing it out there because marketing does affect us all a lot.

but this plugin from eventide is bascially what sonible has been doing for a while. Maybe calling it something else and w/o as good marketing. 









sonible | Audio Soft- & Hardware made in Austria


Award-winning software for music and audio production, top-notch hardware for live and 3D audio – made by enthusiasts, made for enthusiasts




www.sonible.com





I have freirum and it does the split eq transient thing plus other stuff. The eventide does have a few different features and the sonible does have other the eventide doesnt have so give or take about the same but not exactly rhe same. 

They dont call it transient but it does affect transient similarly and by bands. 


And splitting tonal vs non tonal material 



plus the smart eq which i dont use it as much but seems cool. and dynamic eq. 



Again, not exactly the same but somehow thinking the eventide eq is doing something revolutionary, and hype etc might be too much. just because some people dont know sonible (bad marketing maybe) doesnt mean it doesnt exist or that this tech hasnt been doing before in a similar/yet different manner. 

so in other words, watch out w marketing hype.


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## Bee_Abney (Dec 8, 2021)

gsilbers said:


> Just throwing it out there because marketing does affect us all a lot.
> 
> but this plugin from eventide is bascially what sonible has been doing for a while. Maybe calling it something else and w/o as good marketing.
> 
> ...



Melda and Kilohearts can both do it, too.


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## paulwr (Dec 8, 2021)

gsilbers said:


> Just throwing it out there because marketing does affect us all a lot.
> 
> but this plugin from eventide is bascially what sonible has been doing for a while. Maybe calling it something else and w/o as good marketing.
> 
> ...



For me it isn't just that 'it does the transient/tonal separation thing'.... it is how well it does it. I should probably comment again in a month or two, but damn, this is a top shelf reach for it a bunch plugin. Example: I have a number of transient designers including the best from Izotope and others, but I wound up using SPL Transient Designer Plus most of the time even though it has less controls. It just sounded better most of the time to me, I liked it a lot. But now, nothing even approaches what I get with SplitEQ and I'm only days into using it. I'm not saying everyone has to love it, but I am strongly suggesting everyone demo it that has the time. It's special.
​


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## Bee_Abney (Dec 8, 2021)

paulwr said:


> For me it isn't just that 'it does the transient/tonal separation thing'.... it is how well it does it. I should probably comment again in a month or two, but damn, this is a top shelf reach for it a bunch plugin. Example: I have a number of transient designers including the best from Izotope and others, but I wound up using SPL Transient Designer Plus most of the time even though it has less controls. It just sounded better most of the time to me, I liked it a lot. But now, nothing even approaches what I get with SplitEQ and I'm only days into using it. I'm not saying everyone has to love it, but I am strongly suggesting everyone demo it that has the time. It's special.
> ​


Yes, I was just lamenting the lack of focus on just how good it is at what it does, rather than that it does it at all. That's what was so helpful about your post. It's good to hear, thank you; and that's what I've been trying to work out. I think it's the right choice for me, too.


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## Pier (Dec 8, 2021)

I'd be very surprised if FF Pro-Q didn't include this feature in the next version (whenever it comes out).


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## Bee_Abney (Dec 8, 2021)

Pier said:


> I'd be very surprised if FF Pro-Q didn't include this feature in the next version (whenever it comes out).


I think that's likely. It's odd that it has taken so long to go mainstream. Or to take prominence in marketing. Any experts are welcome to correct me, but I was under the impression that it was well-known that the frequencies of the transient are of special interest independently of the tone. De-essing, of course. But also to create a higher, thinner impression to the sound without having the whole of it become harsh or metallic.


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## jl303 (Dec 12, 2021)

Maybe I'm crazy, but does anyone hear weird artifacts in the audio?
It's hard to describe but it sounds like transients smearing. It's very subtle but similar to poorly encoded audio that messes with high frequency of cymbals.
The concept is very cool though.


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## muziksculp (Feb 7, 2022)




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## OHjorth (Feb 9, 2022)

I wonder how this would work in the context of cinematic percussion-ensembles. For example taikos where you often want to keep/enhance the transient boom but often wanna lower the energy of the sustained rumble.


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## Bee_Abney (Feb 9, 2022)

OHjorth said:


> I wonder how this would work in the context of cinematic percussion-ensembles where you often want to keep/enhance the transient boom but often wanna lower the energy of the sustained rumble.



I should think it would work well. For de-essing, you only lower high frequencies on the transient not the tail. For your purposes, you'd cut back whichever frequencies rumble, but only on the tail. Whether it helps a lot or not, I don't know. I find the subtler the changes, the better the results sound.


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## OHjorth (Feb 9, 2022)

Bee_Abney said:


> I should think it would work well. For de-essing, you only lower high frequencies on the transient not the tail. For your purposes, you'd cut back whichever frequencies rumble, but only on the tail. Whether it helps a lot or not, I don't know. I find the subtler the changes, the better the results sound.


Right now I'm doing it with manual volume automation, so not exactly subtle 
Would be nice if it could work as a time saver.


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## Bee_Abney (Feb 9, 2022)

OHjorth said:


> Right now I'm doing it with manual volume automation, so not exactly subtle
> Would be nice if it could work as a time saver.



For that, yes. But maybe a gate/enveloper could handle the volume adjustments without reshaping the sound. It's certainly worth a free demo to see if Split EQ does the trick. That is, it will definitely achieve the effect you want, it's whether it sounds good to you as it does it.


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## davidson (Feb 9, 2022)

I bought this on release after watching the demos and reviews and deciding I absolutely needed it ASAP. Still haven't used it, not once. I think I forget I own it, or maybe I never actually needed it after all...


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## Bee_Abney (Feb 9, 2022)

davidson said:


> I bought this on release after watching the demos and reviews and deciding I absolutely needed it ASAP. Still haven't used it, not once. I think I forget I own it, or maybe I never actually needed it after all...



I think using it more makes you hear its benefits more. I certainly like having it available, but I'm still more used to solving issues in other ways. I'll have to take the time to try it out at least once on every mix for a while, just to learn its strengths and weaknesses better.


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## muziksculp (Feb 9, 2022)




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## Fleer (Mar 5, 2022)

Would a similar tonal/transient split compressor make sense as a mixing or mastering duo with SplitEQ?
Does anything resembling such a split comp even exist?


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## Bee_Abney (Mar 5, 2022)

Fleer said:


> Would a similar tonal/transient split compressor make sense as a mixing or mastering duo with SplitEQ?
> Does anything resembling such a split comp even exist?



I think a multiband compressor should be close enough. Many have four bands. I think the are generally used to target specific resonances.

Split EQ should reduce the need for compression, as you can target the specific resonance in just the tail, leaving the transient intact, much as a long attack on a compressor would.

But, on the other hand, it is usually better to spread that sort of job over a few plugins. That way, no one of them is adjusting any particular feature too much, too unnaturally or with artifacts. If that's an issue, then using Split EQ and a multi and compressor may be just the thing.


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## SupremeFist (Mar 5, 2022)

Fleer said:


> Would a similar tonal/transient split compressor make sense as a mixing or mastering duo with SplitEQ?
> Does anything resembling such a split comp even exist?


I don't have it but maybe Wavesfactory Quantum does this?


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## Bee_Abney (Mar 5, 2022)

SupremeFist said:


> I don't have it but maybe Wavesfactory Quantum does this?


I think it does. But you can use SplitEQ to send the transient and the tail to different effects buses for separate processing.

But I would think that adjusting the attack and release on a multiband compressor would cover this ground adequately.


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## Fleer (Mar 5, 2022)

SupremeFist said:


> I don't have it but maybe Wavesfactory Quantum does this?


Or Eventide Physion?


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## Bee_Abney (Mar 5, 2022)

Fleer said:


> Or Eventide Physion?



Yes, that too. But with SplitEQ, you can apply any effects you have to transients and tails separately. So it would only really be worth buying something like Physion if you want to use it for creative effects. Or just want to simplify your effects chain.


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## Joël Dollié (Mar 5, 2022)

After using it for a while.. It's not something I use as a main transient control tool, say for drums. But it's great to tame clicks that are not as detectable by a transient designer. Or say acoustic guitar high end clicks.


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## Fleer (Mar 5, 2022)

Bee_Abney said:


> Yes, that too. But with SplitEQ, you can apply any effects you have to transients and tails separately. So it would only really be worth buying something like Physion if you want to use it for creative effects. Or just want to simplify your effects chain.


Or maybe even that new Skulpt plug-in 





ADPTR AUDIO SCULPT


The future of dynamic and tonal control. Thoroughly and cleanly reshape your sound in ways that other processors simply cannot.




www.plugin-alliance.com


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## Bee_Abney (Mar 5, 2022)

Fleer said:


> Or maybe even that new Skulpt plug-in
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Oh, yes! That looks great. I demoed it briefly. It causes quite a time lag, but it sounded good. I don't have the time to really learn it right now; but I might get it later.


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## Fleer (Mar 5, 2022)

Bee_Abney said:


> Oh, yes! That looks great. I demoed it briefly. It causes quite a time lag, but it sounded good. I don't have the time to really learn it right now; but I might get it later.


Yeah, I had some time on an early version but now I’m thinking it could work like a kind of split comp.


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## jonnybutter (Mar 5, 2022)

Bee_Abney said:


> It may come down to the interface and the quality of the EQ.
> 
> Melda's MXXX has enabled users to apply full EQ plus other effects separately to transients and tones since 2016. Wavesfactory's Quantum has a simpler EQ plus effects, rather like Physion. For some reason, Eventide's Split EQ seems to have attracted more notice.


Maybe two things set split eq apart? The main one is just how great it sounds. Then, there’s a feature I use a lot, esp on drums: panning the transients and tone separately (don’t know if the Melda or Wavesfactory ones do that). It can be very sweet. You can also raise or lower *overall* transient or tonal level, which is nice, though I assume the others do that.

It’s a great plug to experiment with. Maybe ease of use is a bigger feature in that respect than it seems? I don’t know. I don’t have the other plugs you mention but I love split eq, and use it a lot.


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## Bee_Abney (Mar 5, 2022)

jonnybutter said:


> Maybe two things set split eq apart? The main one is just how great it sounds. Then, there’s a feature I use a lot, esp on drums: panning the transients and tone separately (don’t know if the Melda or Wavesfactory ones do that). It can be very sweet. You can also raise or lower *overall* transient or tonal level, which is nice, though I assume the others do that.
> 
> It’s a great plug to experiment with. Maybe ease of use is a bigger feature in that respect than it seems? I don’t know. I don’t have the other plugs you mention but I love split eq, and use it a lot.



Ease of use and quality of sound are quite enough to make it a worthy addition. I think the panning can be done with other plugins, but perhaps not as easily.

I just found it odd - or unfortunate - to present it as doing something completely new. Especially when the self-same developer has an earlier plugin that can do the same thing. I wanted to hear more about what made it a better choice over the others. Ease of use and the quality of the EQ are top of the list.

I'm glad you are finding it so useful.


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## jonnybutter (Mar 5, 2022)

Bee_Abney said:


> Ease of use and quality of sound are quite enough to make it a worthy addition. I think the panning can be done with other plugins, but perhaps not as easily.
> 
> I just found it odd - or unfortunate - to present it as doing something completely new. Especially when the self-same developer has an earlier plugin that can do the same thing. I wanted to hear more about what made it a better choice over the others. Ease of use and the quality of the EQ are top of the list.
> 
> I'm glad you are finding it so useful.


I think of the GUI as not an incidental but rather an essential part of what a plug is. The GUI has a point of view, as it were. 

But I think the main attraction to Split EQ is the sound - it’s smooth and pleasing, and very fast to get good results. That means more time and ability for experimenting, happy accidents, etc. Cheers!


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## Orville (Mar 9, 2022)

FYI, we just updated SplitEQ to v1.0.12 and are offering new users a $50 discount from today through Monday, March 14th, 2022.







https://etide.io/SplitEQSale 

Software update details: (v1.0.12)
- Updated the UI with 3 distinct themes: Normal, Dark, and Colorblind Accessible
- Swapped the default transient / tonal band handle tab direction, and added a user setting to configure their direction
- Added mouse wheel Q control to EQ plot
- Fixed a bug where the UI would appear as blank in certain hosts on macOS Mojave
- Updated the User Guide to reflect new changes, and fix some typos
- Various other small bug fixes and improvements


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## Bee_Abney (Mar 9, 2022)

Improving its usability for those who are colourblind is a great move. The other updates should be very good too.


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## Russell Anderson (Mar 10, 2022)

jonnybutter said:


> But I think the main attraction to Split EQ is the sound - it’s smooth and pleasing, and very fast to get good results.


Unfortunately my super-DSP-knowledge friend has informed me that the absolute best filter topology is undoubtedly IIEQPro, and thusly I cannot use anything else anymore.

…I’m only partially kidding, but for what SplitEQ does, it’s tough to justify spending $100 on it when MXXX and Entropy EQ are SO CLOSE to the same functionality… One update to MXXX and suddenly SplitEQ would be redundant for me. Otherwise, I am in love with the idea of SplitEQ. My favorite stereo workflow from SlickEQ M and the transient crossover mode from Entropy/Melda MB are a match made in heaven, so props to Eventide for making it happen.


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## Wes Antczak (Mar 10, 2022)

I just upgraded to Anthology XII and SplitEQ is included in the update!


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## hlecedre (Aug 30, 2022)

I've downloaded the trial version of SplitEq and question its usefulness. Like some others who mentioned Fab Filter Pro Q3 and why isn't FF implementing their EQ plugin with transient/sustain EQing? I think the answer is because you could use a gate to capture the transients and eq that info independently and do the same for the sustains. So, EQ'ing transients and sustains separately isn't anything new under the sun.

On a similar thought, does anyone remember the old BBE Sonic Maximizer racks? I'm seeing SplitEq fall along that same type of blackbox hype. I could be wrong, but that's how this product is sounding to me.


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## Russell Anderson (Aug 30, 2022)

its closest analog is dynamic eq I believe. And you can also use melda's transient detecton/separation by routing the two signals out of melda's free MRatioMB. Who knows what FF is planning as ProQ 4 hasn't been teased yet  but I'm willing to bet we'll see something along these or the lines of improved dynamics. Maybe a mixed phase mode or something, ...and maybe some awesome paradigm shifting workflow improvement. EQ does a lot of things and I doubt ProQ4 will be a Kirchhoff clone lol

The biggest benefit of SplitEQ is workflow and the different sound that it gets you (like you say there are other ways to get this effect, but they all have a sound because of how they work)


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## hlecedre (Aug 30, 2022)

Russell Anderson said:


> The biggest benefit of SplitEQ is workflow and the different sound that it gets you (like you say there are other ways to get this effect, but they all have a sound because of how they work)


Good point. I can see how this could add value as a workflow improvement over using other methods to achieve a similar outcome.


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