Audio interfaces and EQ

[Mottlefeeder]

A question for any audio interface users in the community - what EQ facilities are built in to your audio interface?

 

The Steinberg UR22C has digital signal processing built in so you can adjust compression and 3-band EQ while it is connected to a PC (with or without a DAW running at the time). When disconnected from the PC, it retains that EQ profile. The screenshot below shows what you can set up.

 

The advantage for me as a hearing aid user is that I can set up an EQ profile that mimics my hearing aids, and then use the interface as a me-them monitor mixer feeding my IEMs.

 

Is this facility commonly available, or have I just struck lucky in my choice of interface?

 

David

Edited March 4, 2023 by Mottlefeeder
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[velvetkevorkian]

I have an SSL2, I'm pretty sure the control panel is very bare-bones, no EQ other than the "vintage warmth" emulation on the preamps.

[Mottlefeeder]

2 hours ago, velvetkevorkian said:

I have an SSL2, I'm pretty sure the control panel is very bare-bones, no EQ other than the "vintage warmth" emulation on the preamps.

Thank you - I shall cross that one off the list.

Any comments on M-audio, Tascam, Focusrite, Behringer...

David

[velvetkevorkian]

Yep, bare-bones...

 

[Mottlefeeder]

That's clear enough.

[Witch Hazel]

15 hours ago, Mottlefeeder said:

Any comments on M-audio, Tascam, Focusrite, Behringer...

 

the Focusrite interfaces i've used (2i4 v2, Solo v3, 18i20 v3) don't have any general-purpose eq.  i did just check in Focusrite Control to make sure it wasn't there and i just missed it... the only eq option is the 'air' preamp emulation (which i think is a mild treble boost or something like that). 

[Mottlefeeder]

40 minutes ago, Witch Hazel said:

 

the Focusrite interfaces i've used (2i4 v2, Solo v3, 18i20 v3) don't have any general-purpose eq.  i did just check in Focusrite Control to make sure it wasn't there and i just missed it... the only eq option is the 'air' preamp emulation (which i think is a mild treble boost or something like that). 

Thanks for this 

David

[Dood]

Mac users will love ROOM by : https://gingeraudio.com

 

Amongst other features it allows you to run plugins at the end of the signal path outside of a DAW. For example room correction software or EQ you like to add to taste rather than part of the signal path within the DAW. 
 

 

[Mottlefeeder]

24 minutes ago, Dood said:

Mac users will love ROOM by : https://gingeraudio.com

 

Amongst other features it allows you to run plugins at the end of the signal path outside of a DAW. For example room correction software or EQ you like to add to taste rather than part of the signal path within the DAW. 
 

 

Interesting, and it would be good if there was a pc equivalent, but not so useful for live event monitoring.

David

[Mottlefeeder]

Can anyone fill in the gaps?

 

Steinberg UR22C - yes

SSL2 - no

Focusrite - no

Presonus - no

Behringer - ?

M-audio - ?

Tascam - ?

Others - ?

 

Thanks

David

 

[BigRedX]

I've owned interfaces by Korg, MotU, Focusrite, Behringer and none of them had any kind of built-in EQ.

 

The MotU was used in conjunction with a TASCAM digital mixer so I had EQ on input that way, and these days my recording interface is a Line6 Helix which has plenty of EQ options.

 

If I wanted EQ on input I'd probably buy a small mixer to put on the front end of the interface. It would have the added advantage of being able to monitor the signals I was recording without having to pass them through the computer first, therefore avoiding any kind of latency.

[Mottlefeeder]

4 hours ago, BigRedX said:

...If I wanted EQ on input I'd probably buy a small mixer to put on the front end of the interface. It would have the added advantage of being able to monitor the signals I was recording without having to pass them through the computer first, therefore avoiding any kind of latency.

Thanks for your thoughts, but I think we are trying to solve different problems. I'm looking for eq between a mixer and IEMs to compensate for damaged hearing. A dedicated mixer with swept mids is not going to be small, and a typical fixed 3-band eq mixer varies the mids at 2-2.5kHz which is too low.

I had hoped to post this as a viable solution in the IEM bible thread, but it's looking like only one interface offers this facility.

David

[bloke_zero]

UAD interfaces have a slot for a very low latency plug in (the interface also acts as the plugin host so you're in their world) . You could put anything in there including EQ.

[Mottlefeeder]

11 hours ago, bloke_zero said:

UAD interfaces have a slot for a very low latency plug in (the interface also acts as the plugin host so you're in their world) . You could put anything in there including EQ.

Thanks for that - I'll check it out. Is it available at the budget end of the range or does it appear part way through?

David

[bloke_zero]

I bought the cheapest one I could get at the time, B-stock 'Arrow' - looking at their new range 'Volt' I don't *think* that does - though it has a compressor emulation.

 

So it's the 'Apollo' range that do hosted plug-ins. Overall I'm really pleased with it. It's very limited audio in out (basically stereo), but has impedance matching and a really nice quality of preamp and D/A. I don't feel that I must go into a studio to get a good signal in.

[BigRedX]

On 11/03/2023 at 18:05, Mottlefeeder said:

Thanks for your thoughts, but I think we are trying to solve different problems. I'm looking for eq between a mixer and IEMs to compensate for damaged hearing. A dedicated mixer with swept mids is not going to be small, and a typical fixed 3-band eq mixer varies the mids at 2-2.5kHz which is too low.

I had hoped to post this as a viable solution in the IEM bible thread, but it's looking like only one interface offers this facility.

David

 

Sorry. In that case I'd be looking for a 1U rack mounted two channel EQ. You should be able to pickup something excellent at a bargain second hand price.

[Mottlefeeder]

6 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

Sorry. In that case I'd be looking for a 1U rack mounted two channel EQ. You should be able to pickup something excellent at a bargain second hand price.

Agreed, a rack-mount two-channel 15-band graphic eq would work, and be cheap to source, but it's big, and you are only using about a third of the sliders. Getting that function in a small box was the starting point of my quest, but when you start adding in the cost of say 2 graphic eq pedals followed by a headphone amp, the cost goes up very quickly.

David

 

[Mottlefeeder]

6 hours ago, bloke_zero said:

I bought the cheapest one I could get at the time, B-stock 'Arrow' - looking at their new range 'Volt' I don't *think* that does - though it has a compressor emulation.

 

So it's the 'Apollo' range that do hosted plug-ins. Overall I'm really pleased with it. It's very limited audio in out (basically stereo), but has impedance matching and a really nice quality of preamp and D/A. I don't feel that I must go into a studio to get a good signal in.

Nice looking kit, but at £800-£1000 for a dual channel Apollo, I think it would be out of budget for many people looking to fix this specific problem.

David

[bloke_zero]

Ack! Sorry - when I bought mine it was B-stock at £300

[Witch Hazel]

i happened to be reading a review of the RME Babyface Pro the other day, and noticed it includes an equaliser.  however it sounds like the EQ is quite awkward to use in standalone mode, so it probably wouldn't work for what you want (also, it's pretty expensive).

 

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/rme-babyface-pro

[Mottlefeeder]

4 hours ago, Witch Hazel said:

i happened to be reading a review of the RME Babyface Pro the other day, and noticed it includes an equaliser.  however it sounds like the EQ is quite awkward to use in standalone mode, so it probably wouldn't work for what you want (also, it's pretty expensive).

 

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/rme-babyface-pro

Thanks for this. Looks nice, but as you say, the eq in stand alone is a bit clunky - set it by connection to a computer and is is baked in - provided it stays powered up. 

David

[Elfrasho]

I've always wondered about this. I would find an eq quite handy on the output, as I know my speaker set up is not particularly accurate! I know I could get a hardware eq, but having it inbuilt would be very handy!

 

The Roland rubix range does not have this.

[Mottlefeeder]

Thanks for the info @Elfrasho.

Just to be clear, the interface may only have eq on the incoming signal, sending that signal to USB and to monitor. I haven't seen one that has eq on the output side.

In my case I'm using an audio interface as a stand-alone headphone amplifier with baked-in eq.