Which is the smoothest/nicest/most musical EQ?

[arifd]

I'm finding the EQs that I've used (can't remember right now, can list later) to quickly sound rather nasally/phasey. I have some pretty bad acoustics in my recording environment, which calls for some rather sophisticated corrective EQing, but once i start applying some EQ, the EQ itself becomes quite apparent (if that makes sense).

I can't fix it without introducing unwanted artifacts.

[sysrqer]

Eq by its nature introduces artifacts with phase but you could try linear phase eq although these have their own compromises. I think LSP might have an option for linear phase. Or maybe try notch filters.

Honestly though if the artifacts are that noticeable then you might be over doing it with too much cutting or too narrow a Q.

Overtone DSP has some nice eq which have built in saturation as far as I remember so you could try those.

[bluebell]

I'm finding the EQs that I've used (can't remember right now, can list later) to quickly sound rather nasally/phasey. I have some pretty bad acoustics in my recording environment, which calls for some rather sophisticated corrective EQing, but once i start applying some EQ, the EQ itself becomes quite apparent (if that makes sense).

I can't fix it without introducing unwanted artifacts.

Audio recordings in a really bad room can't be fixed. If you try to recover phased-out frequencies by applying 20 dB boosts in extremely narrow bands then no EQ will make the result sounding good.

And if you just make minor tweaks then nearly every EQ will do the job. I am happy with the Calf parametric EQs but there are many others you can good results with.

[arifd]

Even cutting though quickly sounds like something is missing/scooped. And I'm talking about boosts/cuts of like 6dB.

I'll have a look at the overtone EQ, thanks.

What is built in saturation, and how do you think that will help?

I want to avoid linear phase because i want it for live work; want minimal latency.

Thanks both

[bluebell]

Some people like those distortions and saturation effects that analog equiment introduces. They can make the sound more "remarkable". In the clean, digital world those effects have to be computed. There are saturation plugins like Calf Saturator and of course those effects can be built into every plugin.

It's never about a „natural sound“ – even if they say so.
It's all about a pleasant sound (that includes all kinds of imperfections).

[arifd]

Right, I understand how saturation adds harmonics to a signal, but i was wondering what it could mean when it's built into an EQ. I guess though yeah, likely just a global saturation stage either pre or post EQ - Thought maybe it could have something to do with individual EQ bands as a way to mask the issue i was describing in my previous post...