EQs are an often overlooked way to dial in your tone. For best results, should you go old-school analog or digital? That's the question on our minds.
As Andy explains in the video above, while EQs are often simple to use, there are some big differences in form and function. Tried-and-true analog pedals—like the Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer and MXR Ten Band EQ—can be a big help. And if you don't have any kind of EQ pedal at all, they're a great place to start. But because the frequency bands on these standard pedals are set, they don't offer much flexibility. Older analog units also tend to be noisier, while new analog and digital pedals have much better signal-to-noise ratios.
With today's digital EQ pedals, you can also have far more control over your tone. Pedals like the Boss EQ-200, Source Audio EQ2, and others allow you to dive deep into parameters and identify exact frequency bands you wish to change. If you're familiar with the flexibility of EQ plugins available in DAWs, this is the level of precision you can expect with something like the feature-packed EQ2. And then there are all the other benefits of digital, like the easy recall of saved presets.
On the far ends of the EQ spectrum, there are also many types of pedals that use EQ in unique or creative ways, like the Stone Deaf PDF-1X, the Fairfield Circuitry Long Life, or, in their own way, acoustic guitar simulators.
Think you know which one is right for you? Check out the full video above and see if you don't change your mind.
- Analog: Boss GE-7, Fairfield Circuitry Long Life, Stone Deaf PDF-1X
- Digital: Line 6 HX Stomp XL, Source Audio EQ2