So....  I knew I wanted to buy a Voxengo EQ, to go with my Elephant and AnalogFlux but which one ?

I wanted an EQ for Mastering purposes, that is, to sit in my Master Buss section, following my Compressor and just before Elephant.  I mainly like to use EQ at this stage to add some gloss or sheen to the mix, and perhaps get better low end.

I imported a CD track that I like into my Tracktion project, and soloed the track.  I then brought Curve EQ in and put it into Capture mode.

I then muted my CD track and played my own mix through Curve EQ and selected 'Match' to match the response from the reference track to my own song.

Now, the first learning point for me was that, although my reference CD track normally sounds wonderful on my stereo system and in my car, it sounded very "middy" through the headphones that I was using to mix.  This made me realise that I had been mixing my own songs to the headphone sound (which is far from neutral), and as a result my songs sometimes sound harsh when I play them back elsewhere.

When I ran my own mix back with the 'matched' settings from Curve EQ, sure enough, it sounded quite harsh in the uppermids (around 3khz) but it did sound spectrally exactly like the reference mix.

Now what was unusual was that the point where I shouted out "Wow" was actually the point where I *BYPASSED* Curve EQ.  When I switched it out, my mix suddenly became dull, and muffled in the lower mids.  It went from sounding just like the pro CD track, to sounding like a flat demo recording again!

Now I haven't yet heard what a Curve EQ 'Match' processed track will sound like on my main stereo playback system but I have heard enough to know that this is one clever, clever tool that I have to buy.  Absolutely perfect in the mastering capacity.

Yet another first class product that helps give us the sound we're looking for!

Thank you Mr V !

Thank you for your feedback..  Unfortunately, I have to warn you about using matching function - it does not always perform well since it may create some very nasty resonances that are statistically correct, but do not sound well.

Aleksey,

I know what your referring to but I've had no issues with my own source material.

The other point is that CurveEQ is an educational tool.  I do now tend to use the capturing and matching of spectral profiles but the real use was in being able to 'see' what a nice sounding track looks like.

From capturing many reference songs that I oved and viewing them in CurveEQ, I have learned that my own material benefits from quite a significant EQ cut in the 200 - 500Hz region, and a boost in the *presence* area of 3-5kHz area.

What I had been doing before getting Curve EQ was boosting at around 90Hz and then a shelving boost from 6Khz upwards.  But although this was adding 'gloss', my mixes didn;t have enough 'cut through'.  Curve EQ taught me that the area that I needed to focus on was the *presence* area of the spectrum, rather than the *air* side, and also cutting in the *muddy* area.

With this learning, I do not now tend to use the 'match' facility but I am instead dialing in my own settings into Curve EQ and getting brilliant results on the finished mix.

I'm glad CurveEQ is serving you well. :)

Can CurveEQ export the captures as bitmaps?

No, it can't.