Scott H Posted Thursday at 05:55 PM Posted Thursday at 05:55 PM I downloaded the Chandler Limited Curve Bender demo yesterday and tried it out on several tracks and master buses. As promised, just about any way that you tweak the knobs, the results are quite musical and pleasing. I also like the work flow. It’s helpful to be able to turn off/on the individual curves without losing your settings. Before long, my Gear Acquisition Syndrome was at near critical levels. At $56.25, the Curve Bender is at an all-time low price! I succumbed to the GAS and bought it. It is funny. I've seen several YouTube videos claiming that you are an idiot to buy analog EQ emulations. The argument is essentially that Pro-Q4 can recreate any classic analog EQ curve. Vintage EQ emulations are simply marketing hype separating suckers from their money. The argument continues that any special vintage harmonics or "analog EQ mojo" (if it actually exists) can easily be recreated by adding the distortion plugin of your choice at the end of your effects chain. This is slightly depressing to hear and I suppose it could all be true. That said, as a rank amateur mixing hobbyist, the Curve Bender just might be exactly what I need. When it comes down to completing projects that sound borderline decent, I’ve discovered that I work best with fewer options and decision points, not more. Choosing from preselected notched frequency bands with stepped decibels, really does help to mitigate my analysis paralysis. Smoothly blended analog-style curves, that almost always sound good, keep me from going off the rails. Also, I don't want to have to add the analog vintage mojo after the fact. I would like it built-in please. So, it is a big Yes to the Chandler Limited Curve Bender for me. 3
Moon OverSea Posted Friday at 01:21 AM Posted Friday at 01:21 AM (edited) A good argument about less or more Edited Friday at 01:22 AM by Moon OverSea
Moon OverSea Posted Friday at 01:21 AM Posted Friday at 01:21 AM (edited) 11 hours ago, Scott H said: I downloaded the Chandler Limited Curve Bender demo yesterday and tried it out on several tracks and master buses. As promised, just about any way that you tweak the knobs, the results are quite musical and pleasing. I also like the work flow. It’s helpful to be able to turn off/on the individual curves without losing your settings. Before long, my Gear Acquisition Syndrome was at near critical levels. At $56.25, the Curve Bender is at an all-time low price! I succumbed to the GAS and bought it. It is funny. I've seen several YouTube videos claiming that you are an idiot to buy analog EQ emulations. The argument is essentially that Pro-Q4 can recreate any classic analog EQ curve. Vintage EQ emulations are simply marketing hype separating suckers from their money. The argument continues that any special vintage harmonics or "analog EQ mojo" (if it actually exists) can easily be recreated by adding the distortion plugin of your choice at the end of your effects chain. This is slightly depressing to hear and I suppose it could all be true. That said, as a rank amateur mixing hobbyist, the Curve Bender just might be exactly what I need. When it comes down to completing projects that sound borderline decent, I’ve discovered that I work best with fewer options and decision points, not more. Choosing from preselected notched frequency bands with stepped decibels, really does help to mitigate my analysis paralysis. Smoothly blended analog-style curves, that almost always sound good, keep me from going off the rails. Also, I don't want to have to add the analog vintage mojo after the fact. I would like it built-in please. So, it is a big Yes to the Chandler Limited Curve Bender for me. Actually it's almost true that Pro-Q4 can recreate any classic analog EQ curve which can be confirmed with tools like plugin doctor. But some times you will find the curve could be extreamly unbelievable strange while you normally won't make that happen in Pro-Q4, but it sounds good with your ears. I think that's the meanning of the many special plugins about EQ adjustment. Or else you could define the special presets in your Pro-Q4 that have similar curve with other EQ plugins, if so one plugin is enough. Besides the EQ, some plugins will add saturation with its flavour what could become different with one Pro-Q4 plugin. Edited Friday at 05:15 AM by Moon OverSea 1
Zo Posted Sunday at 12:57 PM Posted Sunday at 12:57 PM Most people think matching curves makes it tyhe same helas ..... the phase is where the money at ... 80 % of your eq struggling in a mix is due to bad phase management / alignement , so you compênsate with emphasis of some freq (fundamentals , cutting other stuff ect ..) Also curve you have with vintage HW , you will never think of it with ProQ4 or any equivalent sometime .... copying curve is one thing .... doing those straight from a blanc canva is another one .... as for the chandler eq : solid choice 3
MusicMan Posted Sunday at 01:19 PM Posted Sunday at 01:19 PM 20 minutes ago, Zo said: Most people think matching curves makes it tyhe same helas ..... the phase is where the money at ... 80 % of your eq struggling in a mix is due to bad phase management / alignement , so you compênsate with emphasis of some freq (fundamentals , cutting other stuff ect ..) Also curve you have with vintage HW , you will never think of it with ProQ4 or any equivalent sometime .... copying curve is one thing .... doing those straight from a blanc canva is another one .... as for the chandler eq : solid choice That's often my thinking as well Zo. There's also a lot to be said for inspiration that can come from working with things like this that you just like, without having to over analyze too. 1
Zo Posted Sunday at 02:21 PM Posted Sunday at 02:21 PM 57 minutes ago, MusicMan said: That's often my thinking as well Zo. There's also a lot to be said for inspiration that can come from working with things like this that you just like, without having to over analyze too. Indeed ....and this can surely be interpolated to HW versus HW , sound generations as Fx .... Had this discussion with friends talking about elektron versus Akai mpc .... (me i went elektron , he pusshing me to go akai mpc libve 3 ) On paper the mpc live 3 is like ProQ4 , features iwes it's a beast ... But the digitakt 2 is like an instruments , not a pack of features , and a superb workflow : RESULTS : with the first i go on place i use to go , on the second i go places i would never with the first one , simply because the workflow makes it so unrational that i mainly focus on ideas and not process ..... 2
Carl Ewing Posted 20 hours ago Posted 20 hours ago (edited) On 11/14/2025 at 12:55 AM, Scott H said: It is funny. I've seen several YouTube videos claiming that you are an idiot to buy analog EQ emulations. The argument is essentially that Pro-Q4 can recreate any classic analog EQ curve. Vintage EQ emulations are simply marketing hype separating suckers from their money. The argument continues that any special vintage harmonics or "analog EQ mojo" (if it actually exists) can easily be recreated by adding the distortion plugin of your choice at the end of your effects chain.  Amazingly, you can use both. It's not an all or nothing thing. There are certain EQs I like the sound of - and i go to those EQs for specific curves in a simple interface. I don't want to be pulling Pro Q or Kirchoff for doing simple air band or low end control. What usually happens with these plugins is I spend 20 minutes ****ing around with dynamics or complex curves, when I already know a 1081 or Maag4 or Manley can get me amazing results in 10 seconds. Some would say we like these emulations because we've been listening to music for decades that uses these specific EQ curves & saturation in mixing / mastering. That's probably true. But they wouldn't be used if they sounded terrible. Ha. An unusual and excellent take on why unlimited band parametric EQs shouldn't be your first choice. Timestamp 1:17. (helps that I really like this guys' mixes, and I've heard this philosophy from other mixers I really like): I tend to agree here. Also - it's likely most of your favorite sounding albums were made using fixed band / fixed Q EQs & channel strips. With more complex EQs being used sparingly for problematic areas. I actually started overly relying on Pro-Q the last few years, and it's led to so many overcomplicated mixes, with infinitely more complex curves than I actually needed, and when I started switching back to channel strips - or fixed band EQs like the 1081, things got much easier, and imo started sounding better and more glued together. Although - I would add - don't give up on EQs like the Curve Bender, if you bought it and mess around with for a week. I think a lot of people buy an analog EQ, then buy another one, then another one, and then you have 50 channel strip EQs and stand alone EQs, and have no idea what any of them actually sound like. These are incredible EQs that could easily be used to master (or mix in some cases) entire albums. But it takes a LONG time to learn what they sound like and what they're good for. (EDIT: Was going to recommend - if you're starting out, and want a blend of a mastering EQ like the Curve Bender, with switchable freq / q) but also with a spectrum analyzer and visual curve like Pro Q, check a demo of the Lindell EQ825. It sounds a lot different than the Chandler, but having the EQ graph / spectrum analyzer (which is optional in the U) in an analog EQ is a fantastic learning tool...and it shows you how versatile / complex you can get even with limited bands.) Edited 19 hours ago by Carl Ewing 1 1
Scott H Posted 8 hours ago Posted 8 hours ago 11 hours ago, Carl Ewing said: Although - I would add - don't give up on EQs like the Curve Bender, if you bought it and mess around with for a week. I think a lot of people buy an analog EQ, then buy another one, then another one, and then you have 50 channel strip EQs and stand alone EQs, and have no idea what any of them actually sound like. These are incredible EQs that could easily be used to master (or mix in some cases) entire albums. But it takes a LONG time to learn what they sound like and what they're good for. (EDIT: Was going to recommend - if you're starting out, and want a blend of a mastering EQ like the Curve Bender, with switchable freq / q) but also with a spectrum analyzer and visual curve like Pro Q, check a demo of the Lindell EQ825. It sounds a lot different than the Chandler, but having the EQ graph / spectrum analyzer (which is optional in the U) in an analog EQ is a fantastic learning tool...and it shows you how versatile / complex you can get even with limited bands.) Thanks - Very sound advice! I'll hold off on buying more EQ's and take some time to properly learn the Chandler Curve bender. With regard to having a visual EQ learning aid, Softube has already solved that problem... https://www.softube.com/us/plug-ins/mixing/eqs/equalizers-chandler-limited-curve-bender Also - That was a great YouTube on the different categories of EQ's.  2
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now