The Frequency EQ is currently available in at least Cubase Pro and Nuendo.
Frequency (steinberg.help)
Till now, Dorico Pro 3.5 only has a built-in 4-band EQ on the channel strip. This EQ is not a plugin EQ, hence being unable to be inserted multiple times in a channel.
I want to apply an EQ on the master channel to optimize the overall sounding of NotePerformer, but 4 bands are not enough.
Definitely understand your desire… For myself, EQ is one of the plugins I “carry around” and I rarely use the DAW version in anything. I’m not sure there is that much value in saying what I personally like, but I will suggest the value of having options that are not dependent on what the host provides.
With a master channel, I will say that I’ve had better luck with dynamic EQ for something like that - so that I’m applying EQ to a certain band just when that one part starts to get a little shrill - but not changing the tone all the time. Since that freq space gets used by other parts at other times and I don’t want it to become dull.
I’m sure there are plenty of free parametric EQ vsts. There isn’t anything special about it being built in.
Dorico already shipped some plugins from Cubase. The only lack of a Multiband EQ (which is the “Frequency” plugin I mentioned above) is a misfortune. I believe this is simply something unintentionally ignored by Steinberg at this moment.
Will EQ and reverb plug-ins supplied with Cubase all work with Dorico?
If not, might they all work at some point in the future?
They are all Steinberg official VST3 plugins. Some of them are shared across Steinberg Products (Cubase, Nuendo, Sequel (discontinued), WaveLab, Dorico…etc.).
It sounds like a good idea to me, something that would definitely add value to Dorico Pro. The kind of thing that might be included as part of a big Mixer upgrade?
Review of it here: Cubase Pro: Frequency EQ
Side note: This is the second thread in as many days that raises the issue of getting Note Performer to sound better. If anyone has any good EQ setups / tweaks for NP - it’d be great to read about them.
This may not work, but is that plugin included with the Cubase demo? If so, when you download the demo and it is included, will it work with Dorico after you whitelist it? When the Cubase demo expires obviously the Cubase program will no longer work, but will the EQ plugin still be able to be run within Dorico? Or do each of the plugins need their own licensing?
It seems to be in the “Pro” version of Cubase only, at least according to the link David posted, so I don’t think you’d have access to it otherwise. I totally get wanting your favorite EQ, but that might explain why its not in Dorico by default.
Without throwing any shade towards the Steinberg EQ: Slate, Toneboosters, Tokyo Dawn, all have powerful alternatives if the answer is “no”. Or as an alternative to usein the mean time. That’s the main reason I answered as I did, as I hate to see anyone left hanging.
IMO though, there is only so much you can do to improve the current sound of Note Performer. Or maybe I should say, it is beyond my own limited ability to make it competitive with what else you hear in broadcast. I do think that all polishing techniques have their limits.
The free version of Tokyo Dawn EQ doesn’t have enough bands.
I am using QRange which is a 12-band EQ … but this is a workaround rather than a Steinberg official solution.
I thank all replies here who offering workarounds to fit people’s temporary needs, but I don’t feel helpful if any non-Steinberg individual is trying to use workarounds to suppress any request of a Steinberg official solution.
You need two EQs on the master channel: Put Voxengo Overtone GEQ at first, and then a super-multiband EQ (like QRange):
Here’s my EQ Setup.
First, Voxengo Overtone GEQ (simply use its “Stereo Sheen” to enrich overtones):
After that, QRange:
or other EQ, supposing that someone migrated the Logic Pro EQ:
P.S.: I got the EQ curve by using Match EQ to compare between the output from Voxengo GEQ and the final output from Cloudbounce Desktop app:
Thanks for that - appreciated. I’ll try emulating something similar with my own setup.
That one I posted above is only used for exporting mix from Dorico.
If you want better sound, please consider exporting stems. Steps are as follows:
Put only the Voxengo Overtone GEQ (Free) at the master output with its Stereo Sheen preset.
Change Dorico playback sample rate to 48000Hz and export all stems as wav files and use Voxengo r8brain to upsample them to 24bit (providing better downmix results in other DAW).
(If you are using flac-incompliant DAWs like Logic Pro X, You may want to convert the 24bit stems into FLAC to save a hell lot of hard disk space.)
// By the way, I guess Dorico 4 will support direct export of 24bit FLAC files.
Export MIDI file from Dorico and use a DAW like Studio One Professional to read the MIDI file. Make sure the project is 24bit 48000Hz. If Cubase / Nuendo, set the project recording file format to FLAC (to save disk space).
Import all 24bit stems you prepared above. Cubase / Nuendo / Studio One supports importing FLAC files as project audio file. Logic Pro X (as of Feburary 2021) doesn’t read FLAC files, but you can convert its imported WAV / AIFF files to compressed Apple Loseless 24bit files inside the Logic Pro X.
Add a shared FX bus (it can be an FX channel or bus, depending on how your DAW calls it) and insert a reverb. I prefer using Native Instruments RC48 with preset “Classic Random Halls → Small Round Hall”. You can tweak as you wish.
Configure all audio stem tracks to make sure they have a post-fader send to the shared reverb FX bus. (I send -6dB per each stem track).
If you want to make bass frequencies sound better, You can use bass plugins like Waves MaxxBass. I prefer its preset “Hedges Mix Bass Fixer” with 6dB/8ve highpass settings. This plugin is placed in the Master Output channel prior to the Multiband Compressor and Limiter.
You can use a Multiband Compressor here. It doesn’t have to compress something hard, but it helps you prevent some frequency bands being too wet. You can use my settings migrated from Waves L3 (but to me this Studio One built-in plugin sounds better than L3), and I am afraid that this reduces our needs of a master EQ. See screenshots below. HOWEVER, it doesn’t always sound good for all of your projects. You can still try the Master EQ here as I mentioned in my previous reply.
Regarding Limiter, please don’t do any amplification unless necessary. Ceiling can be set to -0.2dB. True Peak mode is recommended if the plugin supports it. If the plugin has threshold settings, beware that tuning threshold down leads to amplification. If you want to amplify, try threshold first (if that doesn’t work enough, you change the gain).
You are good to go.
Thanks again - a huge amount of work there. Much appreciated.
