WAVES
GEQ
GRAPHIC EQUALIZER
USER GUIDE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 3
WELCOME ............................................................................................................... 3
1.1
1.2
PRODUCT OVERVIEW ............................................................................................... 3
1.3
CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY................................................................................. 4
1.4
COMPONENTS ......................................................................................................... 6
CHAPTER 2 – QUICK START GUIDE ............................................................................ 7
CHAPTER 3 – INTERFACE AND CONTROLS .............................................................. 9
3.1 INTERFACE .............................................................................................................. 9
3.2 CONTROLS ............................................................................................................. 10
3.3 WAVESYSTEM TOOLBAR.......................................................................................... 16
Chapter 1 – Introduction
1.1 Welcome
Thank you for choosing Waves! In order to get the most out of your new Waves plugin,
please take a moment to read this user guide.
To install software and manage your licenses, you need to have a free Waves account.
Sign up at www.waves.com. With a Waves account you can keep track of your
products, renew your Waves Update Plan, participate in bonus programs, and keep up
to date with important information.
We suggest that you become familiar with the Waves Support pages: www.waves.com/
support. There are technical articles about installation, troubleshooting, specifications,
and more. Plus, you’ll find company contact information and Waves Support news.~
1.2 Product Overview
Waves GEQ is a full-featured graphic equalizer with both Classic and Modern mono
and stereo components, featuring 30 ISO bands plus high and low pass filters, a high
precision floating parametric EQ bell filter, and a real-time analyzer.
GEQ Classic components use traditional proportional Q filters inspired by the renowned
DN series 1/3 octave equalizers, which narrow the filter width as you increase a band’s
gain; GEQ Modern components utilize special Flat-Top filters which eliminate the
artifacts associated with band interaction, and provide perfect plateau and stair-stepped
responses. Set band gains one-by-one, or draw your curve via touch-screen or mouse.
Finally, GEQ’s integrated real-time analyzer lets you compare the difference between
two sources. Created for live sound but equally useful in the studio as well, GEQ is
powerful proof that all equalizers are not created equal.
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1.3 Concepts and Terminology
Graphic EQ
Most graphic equalizers consist of a bank of filters with pre-determined (fixed) cutoff
frequencies, typically divided into bands of 1/3 or one octave each, with frequency
cutoffs defined by ISO standards (International Organization for Standardization). It’s
common to see the gain controls set as a horizontal array of faders with the lowest
frequency on the left and the highest on the right. So if one were to draw a line that plots
the gain fader positions at any given time, the resultant line would be a graphical
representation of the equalizer’s current frequency response, hence the name “graphic
equalizer.”
GEQ offers three bands per octave for a total of 30 bands, similar to the hardware
The
devices commonly used in live sound reinforcement systems. GEQ includes a faders
array as well as parametric graph, plus a real-time analyzer with flexible routing.
Propor
tional Q
For its 30 main bands, the GEQ Classic component uses “Proportional Q” filters. The Q
value is proportional to the gain adjustment; increasing a band’s gain narrows the filter
width.
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Flat-Top
Filters
The GEQ Modern component utilizes special Flat-Top filters which eliminate the artifacts
associated with band interaction, and provide perfect plateau and stair-stepped
responses. Thus, boosting a set of consecutive bands by 6 dB will result in a 6 dB boost
plane, without additional boost due to band interaction.
Band Inte
raction
Close to 0 dB, Proportional Q bells have a fairly wide frequency range. This is not an
issue when boosting or cutting frequencies in different ranges; however, when boosting
adjacent bands, the two filters will overlap and interact, resulting in unintended gain
levels.
Classic Proportional Q Filters Modern Flat-Top Filters
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1.4 Components
aveShell technology enables us to split Waves processors into smaller plugins, which
W
we call components. Having a choice of components for a particular processor gives you
the flexibility to choose the configuration best suited to your material.
GEQ has a total of four components:
• GEQ Classic Mono
• GEQ Classic Stereo
• GEQ Modern Mono
• GEQ Modern Stereo
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Chapter 2 – Quick Start Guide
Using the EQ
1. Open a mono or stereo GEQ component on a track.
2. Select Drag or Draw mode.
3. Drag mode: Select individual band faders, move each up or down to set its
boost/cut.
Draw mode: Select a band fader, move up or down and continuously left or right
to draw the EQ curve.
4. For further adjustments, use the floating Parametric EQ section to set non-IS
requency cutoffs.
f
S
etting and Calibrating the Analyzer
1. O
pen a mono or stereo GEQ component on an output track.
2. On the WaveSystem toolbar, go to RTA1 and select a source. (See Section 3.2.
3. On the WaveSystem toolbar, go to RTA2 and select a sidechain input. For
example, the sidechain input can receive its signal from a microphone whic
measures the RTA1 source after passing through the PA system:
O
)
h
n the WaveSystem toolbar, activate Calibration Mode by clicking Calibration.
4. O
5. Select the RTA Mode: Fast or Slow.
6. If required, calculate the delay between the two RTA input sources, and enter the
value in milliseconds into the RTA1 Delay field
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djust the RTA1 and RTA2 displayed curve levels using the faders next to the
7. A
input and output meters. Please note: Adjusting these faders will affect only t
yzer; it will not affect your output.
anal
8. Press Diff to view the difference in frequency response between RTA1 and
RTA2.
9. Match the two signals manually using the EQ section of the plugin
.
he
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Chapter 3 – Interface and Controls
3.1 Interface
EQ Classic Stereo
G
G
EQ Modern Stereo
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3.2 Controls
An
alyzer Section
GR
APHIC DISPLAY / ANALYZER shows the EQ curve, RTA1 and RTA2 input RMS
frequency responses and the Difference between them.
Br
own EQ curve on mono components; Left channel EQ curve on stereo components.
Blue Right channel EQ curve
Yellow RTA1 input frequency response
Cyan RTA2 input frequency response
Red Difference between RTA1 and RTA2
Fre
quency Range: 20 – 20,000 Hz
Level Range: -80 – 0 dBFS
PUT METER displays input level (peak) in dBFS.
IN
Range: -80 – 0 dBFS
OU
TPUT METER displays output level (peak) in dBFS.
Range: -80 – 0 dBFS
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RTA1
assigns the first input to the real-time analyzer.
RTA2 assigns the second input to the real-time analyzer.
Mono Component Range: Off, In, SC-In, Out
Stereo Component Range: Off, L-In, R-In, LSC-In, RSC-In, L-Out, R-Out, L+R
DIFFERENCE mode turns off the real-time analyzer and displays the difference in
frequency response between RTA1 and RTA2. This is helpful when you need to:
Adjust t
he output signal in relation to the measured post-system response.
Match the left and right frequency responses.
Range:
On, Off
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Cali
bration Mode
BRATION activates the Calibration mode which calibrates the analyzer.
CALI
RTA1
RTA
& RTA2 FADERS are used to adjust and match the analyzer input levels.
CALIBRATION set the response time of the analyzer.
Please note: When Difference is on, the response is Slow, regardless of the RTA
Calibration setting.
Range: Fast, Slow
RTA1 DELAY sets the alignment of RTA1 to RTA2.
Range: 0 – 341 milliseconds
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Graphic EQ Section
SCALE controls the maximum range of GEQ faders. The scale indicators next to the
band faders update according to the selected scale. For example, if the 6 dB scale is
selected and 25 Hz is set to +5 dB, changing the scale to 12 dB increases the boost at
25 Hz to +10 dB.
Range: 6, 12, 18 dB
Q functions as a multiplier for the proportional Q algorithm. (Classic components only)
Range 0.250 – 4.000
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ISO FADERS control the gain of selected frequency centers.
Gain Range: -18 to +18 (dependent on Scale settings)
Frequency Cutoffs: 25 Hz, 31 Hz, 40 Hz, 50 Hz, 63 Hz, 80 Hz, 100 Hz, 125 Hz, 160 Hz,
200 Hz, 250 Hz, 315 Hz, 400 Hz, 500 Hz, 630 Hz, 800 Hz, 1 kHz, 1.25 kHz, 1.6 kHz, 2
kHz, 2.5 kHz, 3.15 kHz, 4 kHz, 5 kHz, 6.3 kHz, 8 kHz, 10 kHz, 12.5 kHz 16 kHz, 20 kHz
DRAG selects the method of setting the band faders.
Drag mode: Select individual band faders; move each up or down to set its
boost/cut.
Draw mode: Select a band fader; move up or down, left or right, continuously, to
draw the EQ curve.
Range: Drag, Draw
LINK relatively links left and right channels, including all bands, high and low pass filters,
floating Parametric Bell EQ and Master Gain settings. (Stereo components only)
Range: On, Off
FLAT snaps all bands to 0 dB.
Please note: This does not affect the floating Parametric EQ section.
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Floating Parametric EQ Section
HP activates the high pass filter.
Range: On, Off
HP FREQUENCY sets the cutoff frequency of the high pass filter.
Range: 20 – 990 Hz
LP activates the low pass filter.
Range: On, Off
FREQUENCY sets the cutoff frequency of the low pass filter.
LP
Range: 1000 – 20,000 Hz
PARAMETRIC BELL activates the floating parametric bell filter.
Range: On, Off
PA
RAMETRIC BELL FREQUENCY sets the cutoff frequency of the floating parametric
bell filter.
Range 20 – 20,000 Hz
PARAMETRIC BELL GAIN controls the gain of the floating parametric bell filter.
Range: +/- 18 dB
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PARAMETRIC BELL Q determines the width of the floating parametric bell filter.
Range: 0.250-50
MASTE
R GAIN controls the output level of the entire plugin.
Range: +/- 18 dB
3.3 WaveSystem Toolbar
Use the bar at the top of the plugin to save and load presets, compare settings,
undo and redo steps, and resize the plugin. To learn more, click the icon at the
upper-right corner of the window and open the WaveSystem Guide.
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