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Redline EQ features five separate bands.

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• Review

Further craftiness comes with the Dynamic EQ section. The best way to describe this is as a kind of threshold for the EQ, enabling you to control when EQ is applied based on the strength of certain frequencies. You could, say, add treble to a vocal track, but when the plug-in detects that the high frequencies are too strong (caused by sibilance, for example) it reduces the boost appropriately.

Easier to grasp is the harmonic distortion section, which offers up three parameters with which to dial in that elusive subtle warmth.

Apart from the obligatory input and output gain controls, that covers all of Redline EQ's main controls, with the only big bit left to explain being Channel Mode. This offers Stereo, Left/Right and Mid/Side modes, the latter of which splits the signal into elements common to both channels (mono/mid) and elements that differ from channel to channel (stereo/side).

This incredibly powerful function enables you to independently apply EQ to the stereo part of a signal and the common mono centre part. This obviously has huge potential for balancing or accentuating aspects of stereo material.

The plug-in also shares some of our favourite features of Redline Reverb, including control detentes (when you move a control, it easily snaps back to its original position – handy if you want to 'abort' a tweak in progress), skins (two of these are supplied), assignable MIDI, adjustable knob-control characteristics and pop-up value displays during editing.

In use

Redline Equalizer represents a landmark release in many ways. It's probably the most feature-packed and original EQ we've ever encountered, and its dazzling array of controls and options are more than just gimmicks – they really do make it incredibly versatile. And more than that, they set a number of precedents for what's possible and what we should expect from future EQ units.

"Redline Equalizer represents a landmark release in many ways. It's probably the most feature-packed and original EQ we've ever encountered."

We pushed Redline Equalizer pretty hard and pitched it against our best EQs – we found that the top-end was capable of extreme boost without too much harshness, and that the bass could be pushed hard without losing much punch or definition. And there's a rather large selection of presets, all separated according to suggested use. Obviously, EQ presets will always need plenty of tweaking, but they're a good way to get a feel for the range of sounds available from Redline EQ without having to actually tweak every parameter each time.

Now, whether or not the sound of Redline Equalizer is quite as unique as its options suggest is a little more debatable. It definitely sounds great, and is a fine tool, but much of EQ choice is down to preference, and while useful, some users will still have their EQ of choice.

Our only real complaint is that, as of writing, some users are experiencing slight issues with the plug-in's delay compensation, whereby the wrong latency seems to be reported, making the plug-in's output slightly out of sync. This can be especially irritating on very rhythmic material, but as a short-term fix, it's easily compensated for by using the track delay controls in your DAW. There's an update coming that 112dB say will cure the problem once and for all, so before buying, we'd recommend hanging on for the update, or giving the demo a go to see if the problem afflicts your particular system.