4K-EQ

4K-EQ is a professional console EQ emulation, bringing the legendary sound of classic British mixing consoles to your DAW — completely free.

Overview

Classic British consoles are renowned for their musical, punchy EQ character. 4K-EQ captures that sound with accurate analog modeling, including the distinct characteristics of both E-series and G-series console designs.

Whether you’re tracking, mixing, or mastering, 4K-EQ delivers the console sound that has shaped countless hit records.

Brown vs Black Modes

4K-EQ faithfully recreates both console variants:

Brown (E-Series)

• Musical, broader curves
• Gentle shelves with fixed Q
• Predominantly 2nd harmonic saturation (warm, transformer-colored)
• The classic “big console” sound

Black (G-Series)

• Surgical, tighter response
• Proportional Q (increases with gain)
• More 3rd harmonic saturation (clean, transformerless)
• Bell/Shelf switching on LF and HF bands

Saturation Modeling

4K-EQ includes multi-stage analog saturation:

• Input transformer coloration
• NE5534 op-amp characteristics
• Output transformer harmonics (E-Series only)
• Per-band saturation when boosting

Clean by default (0% saturation) — transparent unless driven. Push the Drive control to add warmth and glue.

Factory Presets

4K-EQ includes 15 professionally crafted presets:

Technical Specifications

DSP Details

• Filter topology: Biquad IIR with console-style coefficient shaping
• Frequency warping: Pre-warped for HF accuracy (prevents digital cramping)
• Saturation model: Asymmetric soft-clipping (NE5534 op-amp characteristic)

Parameter Ranges (Console Hardware-Accurate)

• LF Gain: ±20dB

  LF Freq: 30–480Hz

• LMF Gain: ±20dB

  LMF Freq: 200–2500Hz

• HMF Gain: ±20dB

  HMF Freq: 600–7000Hz

• HF Gain: ±20dB

  HF Freq: 1.5kHz–16kHz

• Q Range: 0.4–4.0 (proportional in Black mode)
• HPF: 16–350Hz (18dB/oct)
• LPF: 3kHz–22kHz (12dB/oct)
• Saturation: 0–100%
• Output Gain: ±12dB

Performance

• CPU usage: ~1–2% per instance (2x oversampling, 48kHz)
• Memory: ~10MB per instance
• Latency: ~32 samples (2x) / ~96 samples (4x)
• Highly optimized — use on every channel without CPU issues

DAW Compatibility

Fully Tested

• Reaper — VST3/LV2, all features working
• Ardour — LV2 with full GUI
• Carla — VST3/LV2, standalone host
• Standalone — JUCE standalone application

Expected to Work

• Bitwig Studio, Studio One, FL Studio
• Ableton Live, Cubase/Nuendo
• Logic Pro, GarageBand (AU on macOS)

Installation

Linux

VST3: ~/.vst3/4K EQ.vst3
LV2:  ~/.lv2/4K EQ.lv2

Windows

VST3: C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\4K EQ.vst3

macOS

VST3: ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/4K EQ.vst3
AU:   ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/4K EQ.component

Open Source

4K-EQ is open source under GPL-2.0. View the source, report issues, or contribute on GitHub.

Disclaimer: This is an independent emulation inspired by classic British console EQs. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by any hardware manufacturer.