The WING has some great processing available for every channel and bus. This is a look at the Equalizers that are available to be used on every channel without having to insert an effect from the effects bank. Remember that the effects in the WING channel can be arranged in any order.
Select the Effect to be Inserted.
WING EQ
The WING channel eq is a very flexible Six Band digital EQ. The Low and High Band can be changed from shelves to parametric in the EQ settings (found in the top center by clicking the gear icon).
WING EQ Settings
The Low Band and High Band can be Shelves or Parametric as discussed above. The rest of the settings customize the RTA. If you don’t know where to start the above settings are a good starting point and you can further customize it later.
RTA Overlay With Freeze
The RTA and RTA Freeze are available with all of the EQ’s.
The Freeze button gives you the ability to Freeze the RTA so you can quickly hone-in on frequencies. You can change the transparency of the overlay as well as the color in the eq settings.
SSL Channel EQ
This is the four band channel EQ from what is probably one of if not the most used recording console in major studios. The two mid bands have a button to shift their frequencies- divide by 3 for the LMF (Low-Mid Frequency) and multiply by 3 for the HMF (High-Mid Frequency).
Neve 88
The Neve 88 is a more modern Recording console Equalizer from Neve that has more control than the vintage models but is a modern classic of it’s own.
Neve 1084
This is a recording studio classic known for being big, warm, and smooth. It is mostly the same as the famous Neve 1073 but with more options in the EQ.
Focusrite ISA 110
The Focusrite Console was a high end recording console that was incredibly expensive and very rare. It was known for being very clean but retaining some of the Neve character (Rupert Neve worked on the design). You can read about the console at the following link.
https://focusrite.com/en/news/sounds-focusrite-studio-console
Pultec EQ
The Pultec EQ is a classic and predates all of these other EQ’s. It was not in a console but rackmounted and the WING version actually incorporates two different Pultec models into one. The original Pultec EQs came in two versions, one broadband focusing on the Lows and Highs, and another focusing on the midrange. The broadband version has a unique ability to boost and cut the same frequencies creating a resonant shelf, an often used way of tightening up the low end on an instrument or mix.
MAAG EQ4
The MAAG EQ4 is a modern classic EQ designed to be transparent while providing a presence or “air” band not available on other EQs. The frequencies are set for all but the Air Band so this EQ is more for tone shaping that surgically cutting.The Air Band is a shelf that goes up to 40k! This is often used to add presence to vocals in recording studios but like anything else you should try it on different sources to see how it sounds . I think the Auto Button is a gain control, as the original had a trim there to compensate for the gain added while boosting but I need to test to confirm.
Takeaway
One possibly overlooked advantage to the vintage EQ models is the lack of choices one has. With the digital EQ you can do whatever you want, the analog models had limitations and because of that they were designed to do as much as possible within those limitations. Frequencies and bandwidths were selected to be musical or useful so once you learn how the different models work you may find yourself getting results faster. Or you may just think they are fun.
Which EQ should you use if you are just starting out? The WING channel EQ is probably the best place to start. As you get used to the mixer you may want to try adding in an analog model EQ on certain channels. The WING gives you far more options than the X32/M32 and the best way to learn them in and out is by running a virtual soundcheck and experimenting. See the article on setting up the WING for virtual soundcheck.