Eq matching has become a popular way to either match or separate instruments quickly.With that in mind it helps to know which EQ Matching plugin offers the most for your money.

We decided to compare two of the most popular equalizers with EQ matching software, the Izotope Ozone 6 Equalizer, and the FabFilter Pro Q 3.

Although Izotope has updated it’s line of Ozone products, including the Ozone Equalizer, it should be noted that in terms of EQ Matching, the functionality has remained nearly identical.

We’ll be comparing CPU usage, ease of use, and overall functionality to see which one offers the best user experience and most mixing capabilities.

Room EQ VST can be used with free Equalizer APO as a system wide equalizer on Windows. Equalizer APO can use Room EQ VST in playback mode only and cannot be used for measuring your room. Consequently, you need to temporarily install and use any other host program to measure your room (e.g. Free Foobar2000 player).

Izotope Ozone 6 Equalizer:

• Izotope Ozone 6 Equalizer: Pros: Ease of Use. Using the Izotope Ozone 6 Equalizer or later models, really couldn’t be easier. It’s as simple as inserting the plugin on your output, clicking record for your reference audio, capturing it by playing the track, and then doing the same for your target audio.
• Some of the best EQ plugins are modelled not after standalone outboard units, but the EQ sections of classic mixing consoles. In particular, the term ‘British EQ’ became something of a selling point over the years since the 1950’s, and essentially refers to the quality and sound of the equaliser sections found in many classic British-made mixing consoles by the likes of Neve, AMEK,.

Pros: Ease of Use

Using the Izotope Ozone 6 Equalizer or later models, really couldn’t be easier.It’s as simple as inserting the plugin on your output, clicking record for your reference audio, capturing it by playing the track, and then doing the same for your target audio.

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Once this is complete you’ll be presented with a generated eq curve and the option to smooth and increase the amount of equalization applied.

Cons: Limited Functionality

Once you’ve finished capturing your audio, you may realize that the ease of use is due to limited functionality.

You won’t have the option to edit your generated curve intensely, or invert it’s gain for separating purposes.You can’t decide how many bands you want to have or the specific Qs for those bands.These options have all been reduced and simplified to the ‘Amount’ and ‘Smoothing’ functions.

Price: In order to purchase this equalizer you must pay for the entire 7 plugin mastering suite.In total this costs $250.00 USD.

FabFilter Pro Q 3:

Pros: Functionality

With the FabFilter Pro Q 3, once you match one track’s EQ to another, a world of possibilities open up.

You can select the numbers of bands in the curve, and then highlight these bands to affect them like you could in a typical eq setting.

You can adjust their gain, Q, placement, or delete certain bands that sound disharmonious.

Furthermore you can invert the gain of these bands, effectively causing the two tracks to be distinct and separate from one another.This is incredibly useful in convoluted mixes where instruments are fighting for sonic space.

Cons: Difficult to Operate at First

If you’ve gotten used to the ease of use with the Izotope Ozone 6, the FabFilter Pro Q 3 may seem confusing at first.

In my first few attempts to capture audio I noticed that I could accomplish it, but I couldn’t tell exactly from where the signal was being routed.

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This difficultly subsided pretty quickly however, as you explore the plugin’s options and looking into it’s eq match routing.

Price: $179.00 USD.This includes only the one plugin.

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CPU Usage Test:

For this test we had two sessions.One in which the Izotope Ozone 6 Equalizer was placed on 16 tracks, another in which the FabFilter Pro Q 3 was placed on 16 tracks.

The sessions were identical, except for their relative plugin inserts.

During playback the FabFilter Pro Q 3 peaked around 20% of CPU and averaged around 12%.

The Izotope Ozone 6 Equalizer peaked around 40% and averaged around 35%.

That being said, the FabFilter required significantly less CPU.

Conclusion:

The FabFilter Pro Q 3 offers increased functionality and low CPU usage, meaning it’s perfect for both mastering and mixing. It’s versatile enough to be used for both mixing and mastering applications.

The Izotope Ozone 6 Equalizer may be easier to use, but sacrifices functionality for the sake of simplicity.

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Although the FabFilter Pro Q 3 may cost slightly more, considering the Ozone package comes with 6 other plugins, it is definitely the superior plugin.

What is your go to equalizer?

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