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moosers
Published on 01/02/11 at 09:39
The Waves Ltd. PuigTec MEQ-5 is a mid range EQ plug-in that comes in a number of Waves bundles, namely the Jack Joseph Puig Analog Legends pack. The plug-in is designed to be a software version of the Pultec equalizer of the same name. It's also meant to be a compliment to the EQP-1A program equalizer, a software version of which also appears in this bundle. No matter which bundle you get the plug-in in, you're going to install it all at once which should be quite simple as I didn't have any problems installing it along with the rest of the complete bundle of Waves plug-ins. It's interface is really simple and is a direct copy of it's hardware counterpart, consisting of three bands each with their own frequency and gain parameters. Two of them are just for boosting and one is for cutting. You don't have complete control over the frequencies as they are preset fixed frequencies. A manual shouldn't be necessary at all.
SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE
I've currently got the Waves Ltd. PuigTec MEQ-5 plug-in running in my Pro Tools 9 based home studio. I run it on a Mac Book Pro computer that has a 2.2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4 GB of RAM, while I've got Pro Tools 9 running with a Digi 002 rack version audio interface. I haven't had any problems at all running the PuigTec MEQ-5 within this system, and would think that most people would be in the same boat, but as always it's hard to predict how it will run on lesser systems.
OVERALL OPINION
The Waves Ltd. PuigTec MEQ-5 is probably the most realistic software version of this Pultec model that I've used. It has a great overall sound, regardless of how you would compare it to the original. Bomb Factory and Nomad Factory also have versions of the MEQ-5, but this is definitely my favorite. It has a very accurate interface and shouldn't be hard to use even if you haven't used any original Pultecs. As far as in the box EQ'ing goes, this is a great tool even when not comparing it to other Pultecs. The JJP Analog Legends bundle is one definitely worth checking out, especially if you love software modeled after real analog gear as I do...
SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE
I've currently got the Waves Ltd. PuigTec MEQ-5 plug-in running in my Pro Tools 9 based home studio. I run it on a Mac Book Pro computer that has a 2.2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4 GB of RAM, while I've got Pro Tools 9 running with a Digi 002 rack version audio interface. I haven't had any problems at all running the PuigTec MEQ-5 within this system, and would think that most people would be in the same boat, but as always it's hard to predict how it will run on lesser systems.
OVERALL OPINION
The Waves Ltd. PuigTec MEQ-5 is probably the most realistic software version of this Pultec model that I've used. It has a great overall sound, regardless of how you would compare it to the original. Bomb Factory and Nomad Factory also have versions of the MEQ-5, but this is definitely my favorite. It has a very accurate interface and shouldn't be hard to use even if you haven't used any original Pultecs. As far as in the box EQ'ing goes, this is a great tool even when not comparing it to other Pultecs. The JJP Analog Legends bundle is one definitely worth checking out, especially if you love software modeled after real analog gear as I do...