Acon Digital Equalize

[stian]

Thank you very much for the thorough testing, Theo! I'm working on the next update and will look at the play head issue. I extended the frequency range of the bands up to 40 kHz regardless of sampling rate. There will also be VST3 support and some CPU optimizations. There are numerous changes under the hood and we now use C++11 extensively which makes it impossible to support OS X 10.6, so the new version requires 10.7 and newer.

Best,
Stian

[ObsoleteAcc99]

Thank you very much for the thorough testing, Theo! I'm working on the next update and will look at the play head issue. I extended the frequency range of the bands up to 40 kHz regardless of sampling rate. There will also be VST3 support and some CPU optimizations. There are numerous changes under the hood and we now use C++11 extensively which makes it impossible to support OS X 10.6, so the new version requires 10.7 and newer.

Best,
Stian

this is huge news,thanks Stian!

Yeah that issue is really weird.. Did you reproduce it or should I do a video? Remember all those EQ's are on the zero latency min phase mode, yet it throws the whole project out of time for a moment too (each track is out of time with the other).

In big projects with lot's of acon EQ's this would be an issue.

Anyway i am already certain you will get to the bottom of it and fix it so i'm not worried

the 40khz thing is awesome, more cpu optimisation and a vst3 for cubase is also awesome news. Cheers mate

So glad i bought this one for that amazing price instead of anything else.

[Zexila]

So so much for the guy that said no way to get more than 200 acons no matter what, or that it uses more than proQ2. I wanted to do this before my proQ2 demo expired.

From November in Reaper x64 on Windows 10 x64 used Equalize x64 as vst

Did again ProQ vs Equalize test with 11 bands on 512&1024 buffer, pretty much in best case scenario Equalize looses by 20%, but that's just most demanding linear mode, everything else is crazy, 130 instances is maximum for Equalize in any mode vs 176+, 200+, 250+, 350+, 450+, 625+ instances for ProQ, it's crazy.

I had one EQ per channel tho, if that counts for something, but either way, that's what I got back than on mine i5 4gig's RAM machine, I'm not lying or anything, Equalize used overall more CPU than Pro-Q and that didn't changed on long run during that test.

But nonetheless, I'm glad you have situation like this going on your setup, there's something for both developers to look at than, because as I reported back than, there was difference in x86 and x64 versions of Equalize and usage is buffer dependent also, not in Pro-Q, uses the same on all buffers I tested and both x86 and x64, also there's different plugin formats and platform variants, so all valuable info at least for Stian to tighten up his end, as he probably did by now, didn't touched DAW in a while, so I couldn't tell really.

[comfortablynick]

Or maybe put a bullet of the band color on the tab and next to it the number, maybe not even in color as dark blue or violet text on dark background tends to be a bit hard to read.
I agree though that it wouldn't make sense unless you manage to fit all twelve bands in tabs without sacrificing legibility and handling.
ReaEQ e.g. adds extra arrow buttons if you have more than 10 bands, which may be the convention for tabs, but isn't optimal imho. .

Thanks for the input! We'll see if and how this would be best implemented. Avoiding arrows would be crucial since there are already arrow buttons in the tab content itself.

Oh, misunderstanding. I meant to write bypass/un-bypass band with a right click. Kind of like TB_Equalizer does.

Now I understand! Yes, that could be handy, but it would be great to allow for a context menu in the future. Maybe right click could open a pop-up menu where the bypass is easily accessible?

Best,
Stian

Sorry I just noticed this post. I think taking some design cues from ReaEQ is a great idea! I generally don't like its interface but the way it handles the tabbing would be a great addition to Equalize IMO. Also, there's definitely room to put a small number on the "dot" for the band, just as ReaEQ also does. These are probably the only things I like about the ReaEQ interface!



I think the arrows could be implemented without adjusting the current interface. The arrows for the additional tabs could pop up in the corner next to the tabs, and the arrows that currently allow moving from band-to-band could be retained. Here's an (admittedly crude) example of how it might look:



As for the right-click, perhaps it could be implemented to allow multiple things? I think a pop-up menu is great, and perhaps shift+right click could bypass the band, and ctrl+right click could solo the band. I know they do this now but perhaps the right click could be "sticky" and stay that way unless the operation is performed again.

Just some suggestions.

Nick

[stian]

Sorry I just noticed this post. I think taking some design cues from ReaEQ is a great idea! I generally don't like its interface but the way it handles the tabbing would be a great addition to Equalize IMO. Also, there's definitely room to put a small number on the "dot" for the band, just as ReaEQ also does. These are probably the only things I like about the ReaEQ interface!



I think the arrows could be implemented without adjusting the current interface. The arrows for the additional tabs could pop up in the corner next to the tabs, and the arrows that currently allow moving from band-to-band could be retained. Here's an (admittedly crude) example of how it might look:



As for the right-click, perhaps it could be implemented to allow multiple things? I think a pop-up menu is great, and perhaps shift+right click could bypass the band, and ctrl+right click could solo the band. I know they do this now but perhaps the right click could be "sticky" and stay that way unless the operation is performed again.

Just some suggestions.

Nick

Thank you very much for this, Nick! We'll do something similar, but I'd prefer to get access to all bands from the tabs. To get enough space, we skipped the "Band" prefix except for the selected band. There's no context menu yet, but that would be easy to implement and we'll consider it.

Best,
Stian

[ObsoleteAcc99]

Stian if you need me to beta again just let me know.

[fese]

I think the arrows could be implemented without adjusting the current interface. The arrows for the additional tabs could pop up in the corner next to the tabs, and the arrows that currently allow moving from band-to-band could be retained. Here's an (admittedly crude) example of how it might look:



Nick

Thank you very much for this, Nick! We'll do something similar, but I'd prefer to get access to all bands from the tabs. To get enough space, we skipped the "Band" prefix except for the selected band. There's no context menu yet, but that would be easy to implement and we'll consider it.

Exactly, it is important to have access to all the tab with one click, that arrow-clicking in ReaEQ is not a good solution. And I agree, the "Band" prefix isn't really necessary, a colored dot or just the number in color will do.
Will definitely give Equalize another try when that version goes public...

[ObsoleteAcc99]

fese this is the best value commercial PEQ plugin on the market. I used to give that honour to DDMF but acon just does so much more and has a MUCH better feel to the ergonomics (plus the ddmf is just buggy).

I think you would be very happy with it. I must admit i am really hoping some of my FR's will still be considered some day (S/C input for second analyser curve to compare clashing frequencies, a dynamic option like gliss EQ, there were a couple other things but I forgot). But overall this thing is a monster.

[mutantdog]

Hey Theo. Since you do such a good job of comparison tests, i wondered if you'd done any CPU comparisons between this and Live's EQ8, also Ozone's Standalone EQ and TDR Nova (I know the last one is really a unfair since they differ so much but...)?

I'm quite happy with EQ8 for most general purpose tasks, and I've got SlickEQ for character but i am still looking at a decent high-end EQ and this one is perpetually in the top few of my list.

Anyway, if you fancy doing something along those lines or anything more in depth, i would certainly appreciate it.

[ObsoleteAcc99]

Hey Theo. Since you do such a good job of comparison tests, i wondered if you'd done any CPU comparisons between this and Live's EQ8, also Ozone's Standalone EQ and TDR Nova (I know the last one is really a unfair since they differ so much but...)?

I'm quite happy with EQ8 for most general purpose tasks, and I've got SlickEQ for character but i am still looking at a decent high-end EQ and this one is perpetually in the top few of my list.

Anyway, if you fancy doing something along those lines or anything more in depth, i would certainly appreciate it.

sorry it's just too much work to do more tests especially to set up all over again in a different daw to test against the daw's own EQ. I did it against pro Q as that is the most obvious competitor, and proQ is known to be the lightest eq plugin on the market (it is). Lives EQ8 is superb and when using live i use it for 80% of stuff and then acon for the other 20%. But no daw eq is as good as live's, it's a very good fully featured product.

[mutantdog]

No worries dude. I could probably have a go at it myself although i doubt i'd be as thorough as yourself.

I agree about EQ8, as onboard effects go it's pretty damn good. I only wish it had 24db slopes on the cuts.

[comfortablynick]

Thank you very much for this, Nick! We'll do something similar, but I'd prefer to get access to all bands from the tabs. To get enough space, we skipped the "Band" prefix except for the selected band. There's no context menu yet, but that would be easy to implement and we'll consider it.

Best,
Stian

That's fantastic news! I suppose the reason ReaEQ uses the arrows is because the number of bands is unlimited, but since Equalize has 12 bands, it should be easy enough to see all tabs at the same time.

Can't wait to see your implementation!

Nick

[sunny_j]

@stian: Hey mate, is the new version in beta now?

Best,

[stian]

Stian if you need me to beta again just let me know.

Thank you very much, Theo! You'll be informed when the beta is ready.

I think you would be very happy with it. I must admit i am really hoping some of my FR's will still be considered some day (S/C input for second analyser curve to compare clashing frequencies, a dynamic option like gliss EQ, there were a couple other things but I forgot). But overall this thing is a monster.

I haven't forgot about those requests, Theo. Side chaining is much more likely now that we get VST3 support where it's properly supported (the VST2.4 solutions is more a hack), but I don't think I'll get it into the next build. Dynamic EQ is very interesting, but a tricky one with the current topology. I'm thinking about it, though...

Stian

[stian]

@stian: Hey mate, is the new version in beta now?

Best,

Not yet, I'm afraid. There were a couple of issues with VST3 and some additional feature requests I wanted to implement. It's coming, though...

Best,
Stian