FilterBank E606 — 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 clearly reshapes your tone, by up to ±3.0 dB across the range — this one colors the sound rather than passing it straight through.

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

-150.3 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 -150 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 8.3/10 on staying flat, low distortion, low noise, and steady behavior at any level. It clearly reshapes your tone, by up to ±3.0 dB across the range — this one colors the sound rather than passing it straight through. 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 -150 dB), so it behaves identically however hard you push it. It adds no delay to your audio.

Measured score 8.3/10 — 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 published & press sentiment, 2 sources · a separate figure from the measured score

Consistently praised

It is an analog-modeled EQ that reviewers describe as musical, capable of recreating a range of classic hardware curves inspired by Neve, Pultec, API and similar designs.
The uncommon Peak and Dip controls add character to the shelves and filters, letting you clean up problem frequencies while keeping useful resonance, such as retaining low thump when cutting a snare's bottom.
Mixers reach for it repeatedly across many sources, and McDSP was doing this kind of analog modeling before it became a common selling point.

Common criticism

Some frequency ranges are restrictive, with the high-frequency shelf and high-pass filter not reaching as far as reviewers wanted.
The E-series filters top out at gentle 6 or 12 dB per octave slopes, so steeper filtering means dropping to a separate module.

Sources — Sound on Sound ↗ Production Expert ↗

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