4020 Retro EQ — measured — Pro Audio Plugins

On the bench

48 kHz · 512-block · offline · same procedure for every plugin

Magnitude responsestepped sine, −12 dBFS

Output level vs. frequency.

It gives your sound a mild tone tilt of up to ±1.4 dB across the range — enough to hear on bright or dark material.

Distortion vs level1 kHz, THD / THD+N

─ THD ┄ THD+N. THD is the trustworthy figure; THD+N is method-floor-limited at low levels.

It adds almost none of its own edge (at or below 0.000%), so it keeps the sound clean.

Latency, reported

0 smp

Latency, measured

0 smp (matches)

Onset

0 smp

Noise floor

below measurement floor

Linearity residual

-148.8 dB (1000 Hz, -12/-18 dBFS)

Processing cost

not measured

Its own background hiss is below what the bench can even measure, so it adds no noise you would hear.

It treats quiet and loud the same (within -149 dB), so it behaves identically however hard you push it.

It adds no delay to your audio.

What these measurements mean

read from the numbers above · transparent / clean design

On the bench it behaves like a clean tool, scoring 9.2/10 on staying flat, low distortion, low noise, and steady behavior at any level. It gives your sound a mild tone tilt of up to ±1.4 dB across the range — enough to hear on bright or dark material. It adds almost none of its own edge (at or below 0.000%), so it keeps the sound clean. Its own background hiss is below what the bench can even measure, so it adds no noise you would hear. It treats quiet and loud the same (within -149 dB), so it behaves identically however hard you push it. It adds no delay to your audio.

Measured score 9.2/10 — flatness, low THD, low noise and linearity, evenly weighted toward a clean pass-through. How scoring works.

What people report

sourced sentiment · in our words, not a bench measurement

8.0/10 press & editorial reviews, 3 sources · a separate figure from the measured score

Consistently praised

Musical, smooth tone-shaping — a gain-dependent slope and Q keep boosts and cuts sounding coherent, with a forgiving character reviewers liken to high-end mastering EQs.
A light analog-style color from its output stage gives it body without obvious grunge, even pushed hard.
Fast, broad-strokes workflow — a streamlined panel with octave-spaced frequencies and no added latency.

Common criticism

Not a surgical EQ — the mid bands have no Q control and the ranges don't fully overlap, so it is less suited to detailed corrective work.
It imparts a color rather than staying fully transparent, so it is not the first pick when a clean, neutral cut is needed.
Coarse control markings mean precise recall leans on the DAW's automation readout.

Sources — Record Production ↗ SonicScoop / Delicious Audio ↗ McDSP (maker) ↗

A review score is shown only when at least two independent sources — published reviews or genuine user discussion — return usable text. Launch or announcement coverage alone does not qualify, so some plugins read N/A here while still carrying a full measured score above.

How it sits in equalizers

measured score + bench figures, then the sourced review score (separate, N/A if unscored) · alphabetical · not ranked

Plugin	Measured /10	Mag dev	Max THD	Latency	Noise	Review /10
4020 Retro EQ	9.2	±1.4 dB	0.000%	0 smp	<floor	8.0
6020 Ultimate EQ	9.5	±0.9 dB	0.000%	0 smp	<floor	N/A
AE400 Active EQ	10.0	±0.0 dB	0.000%	0 smp	<floor	7.8
Bettermaker EQ232D	10.0	±0.0 dB	0.000%	32 smp	<floor	8.6
Bettermaker Passive Equalizer	8.4	±0.2 dB	0.757%	32 smp	<floor	8.2
BM MEqualizer	10.0	±0.0 dB	0.000%	0 smp	<floor	N/A
CORE EQ	10.0	±0.0 dB	0.000%	0 smp	<floor	7.6
EQ SITRAL-295	8.4	±1.5 dB	0.031%	32 smp	<floor	7.5
EQ-73	10.0	±1.8 dB	5.037%	34 smp	<floor	8.0
EQ-81	10.0	±0.4 dB	0.017%	34 smp	<floor	8.4
EQP-1A	10.0	±1.7 dB	0.378%	34 smp	<floor	7.5
EQual	10.0	±0.0 dB	0.000%	19 smp	<floor	8.2
FilterBank E606	8.3	±3.0 dB	0.000%	0 smp	<floor	8.0
Master EQ-432	9.6	±0.0 dB	0.013%	19 smp	<floor	8.7
Sie-Q	10.0	±2.1 dB	10.054%	36 smp	−166	N/A