Equalizers / measured
Soundtoys · VST3
Tonal shaping
±2.06 dB
notable · character, by design
Harmonic character
10.054%
strong · character, by design
Noise
10.0/10
−166 dBFS · scored
Level dependence
-55 dB
subtle · character, by design
Latency
36 smp
factual · not scored
Output level vs. frequency.
It shapes your tone by up to ±2.1 dB on purpose — that built-in curve is part of its sound.
─ THD ┄ THD+N. THD is the trustworthy figure; THD+N is method-floor-limited at low levels.
It adds heavy harmonic color (10% at full level) — strong, deliberate character.
Background hiss sits at -166 dBFS — far quieter than anything you would hear in a mix.
How hard you push it changes what it does (a -55 dB gap between levels) — expected for a saturator, which reacts to input level.
It delays the audio by 36 samples (0.8 ms at 48 kHz) and reports that delay, so your DAW lines it back up.
On the bench it behaves like a coloring tool, scoring 10.0/10 on how clean its signal path is; its tone-shaping and harmonics are reported as character, not graded as faults. It shapes your tone by up to ±2.1 dB on purpose — that built-in curve is part of its sound. It adds heavy harmonic color (10% at full level) — strong, deliberate character. Background hiss sits at -166 dBFS — far quieter than anything you would hear in a mix. How hard you push it changes what it does (a -55 dB gap between levels) — expected for a saturator, which reacts to input level. It delays the audio by 36 samples (0.8 ms at 48 kHz) and reports that delay, so your DAW lines it back up.
Measured score 10.0/10 — signal-path noise floor (the shaping and harmonics are the design's intent, shown as character, not graded). How scoring works.
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.
| 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 |
This lane is separate from measured results
No promoted plugins here. Anything in this lane is labeled and never affects the bench numbers or the order plugins appear in.