EQ SITRAL-295 — 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 ±1.5 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 0.031%), so it keeps the sound clean.

Latency, reported

32 smp

Latency, measured

32 smp (matches)

Onset

32 smp

Noise floor

below measurement floor

Linearity residual

-61.6 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 almost the same (within -62 dB) — only a trace of level-dependent behavior.

It delays the audio by 32 samples (0.7 ms at 48 kHz) and reports that delay, so your DAW lines it back up.

What these measurements mean

read from the numbers above · transparent / clean design

On the bench it behaves like a clean tool, scoring 8.4/10 on staying flat, low distortion, low noise, and steady behavior at any level. It gives your sound a mild tone tilt of up to ±1.5 dB across the range — enough to hear on bright or dark material. It adds almost none of its own edge (at or below 0.031%), 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 almost the same (within -62 dB) — only a trace of level-dependent behavior. It delays the audio by 32 samples (0.7 ms at 48 kHz) and reports that delay, so your DAW lines it back up.

Measured score 8.4/10 — 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

7.5/10 published reviews & blog coverage, 5 sources · a separate figure from the measured score

Consistently praised

Models the 1960s/70s Siemens Sitral broadcast EQ for a German transistor color, delivering a warm, characterful presence sweetener that several reviewers found more flattering on stems and full mixes than the usual Pultec-style takes.
Built-in saturation that colors the signal even with the bands flat, plus a Charakter switch to choose between the faithful original voicing and a slightly grittier modern alternative.
Modern conveniences layered over the vintage circuit: switchable stepped or continuous controls, left/right or mid-side operation, a Range depth knob, auto gain, and a spectrum analyzer with the EQ curve drawn over it.
Simple, fast band layout (high/low-pass filters, low and high shelves, and a sweepable presence mid band) that suits broad, musical mix-bus and mastering moves.

Common criticism

Deliberately limited control set: only three corner-frequency choices per shelf, with no adjustable Q or width on the presence band, so it is a broad-strokes tool rather than a surgical one.
Mid-to-high response drew the most criticism, with one reviewer finding the default sibilance region poking out harshly and the upper bands awkward to tame.
The mid-side mode does not let you solo the mid or side channel to hear what each is doing.
Filter slopes and some behavior go undocumented, which a hands-on tester only uncovered by measuring (roughly 8-9 dB per octave).

Sources — MusicTech ↗ CDM ↗ MusicRadar ↗ Jooyoung's Music ↗ Arturia (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