There’s another simple yet clever graphic EQ feature on the LS9 that’s worth mentioning.
The eight internal processors in its “virtual rack” can be programmed as either effects or 31-band monographic EQs.
To economize DSP, they also provide the innovative stereo “Flex15GEQ,” which allows up to 15 of the 31 graphic EQ filters to be used on either of two channels, effectively doubling the amount of graphic EQ, with hats off to the old chestnut of using “half the graph.”
The DEQ-60L from Rane is another stereo digital equalizer with analog front-panel sliders.
As a digital processor, the synthesized filters can be created with steeper slopes whose narrow shoulders produce less interaction between bands.
The DEQ-60 offers a choice of classic proportional Q filters, or their proprietary non-combining “Perfect Q” filters, designed to provide response that accurately emulates graphic fader settings.
With the advent of digital consoles, there’s interest in keeping the signal in the digital domain. An additional feature is that Serato’s Rane Series TDM plug-in provides the benefits of Rane’s DEQ-60L while living inside a Digidesign Venue console.
The Lab.gruppen purchase of Lake from Dolby, along with the LM 26 Lake processor, was great news for hundreds of professionals who rely on the Lake Contour and Mesa Quad, the Clair iO or Dolby’s subsequent stylish Dolby Lake Processor with its Portal front-panel.
Lake’s “Ideal Graphic EQ” employs their patented “raised cosine” topology, a hyped version of the traditional bell-shaped parametric profile, with narrower skirts for third-octave filters without overlap that provide a flat summation response.
One striking feature they share is use of Lake Controller software from a wireless tablet, giving the system engineer the ability to EQ from the “sweet spot” or the “zone of interest.”
Also, integration of Smaart within the Lake Controller interface provides nearly all of Smaart’s features from the same wireless tablet.
Besides the rich graphics of Smaart, the benefit of graphic EQ outside the mixing console is its ability to evolve independently of various consoles and to integrate with wireless control and monitoring.