The Levels suite

Denzel EQ

FORMAT AU · VST3 · Standalone£14.99Early-bird

Six bands of dynamic EQ, each with its own variable distortion. Drive a single band and duck it at the same time, or turn a band into an all-pass and fix phase without touching the level.

Far more than an EQ. Everything a regular parametric EQ does, then: a full dynamic EQ on every band (turns down when loud, up when quiet); its own distortion per band (Saturate / Drive / Bitcrush / Wavefolder); auto clash-fixing (the brain finds where this track masks another and hands you the exact cut); phase-correlation correction via 2nd-order all-pass bands with a live phase graph; and spectrum-aware presets that fit the actual signal. Regular EQ → dynamic EQ → per-band saturation → clash repair → phase alignment, in one plugin.

Early-bird pricing

These are launch prices and they will go up as the suite fills out. What you buy now is yours at that price for good: every future update is included, including the versions that cost more later. There is no subscription and no upgrade fee.

Denzel EQ - the interface
Denzel EQ - the interface
Denzel EQ - the summed phase response of the whole chain
Phase view - the summed phase response of the whole chain

demo

See it work.

Demo coming soon

what's in it

Every control, and what it's for.

Controls marked Brain are the ones the Analyser can set for you on an ANALYSE pass.

01

Per band (×6)

Type

Off, HPF, Low Shelf, Peaking, High Shelf, LPF, Notch, Phase. Selecting Phase hides Gain and the whole dynamics section.

Freq / Gain / Q

20 Hz–20 kHz, ±24 dB, Q 0.1–18. Drag the band node on the interactive curve, or use the controls.

Dynamics

On, Threshold, Range (±24 dB - negative = downward/compressive, positive = upward/expansive), Attack, Release, and a separate dynamics Q. Upward is the rare part: presence lifts and “air while soft”.

DrivePrototype

Per-band distortion: Off / Saturate / Drive / Bitcrush / Wavefolder + Amount. A bandpass isolates the region, the shaper distorts only that region, and just the harmonic residue is summed back - so 0% is perfectly clean and colour stays local. Bitcrush/Wavefolder alias somewhat at high amounts.

Phase band

The standout feature. A 2nd-order all-pass with unity magnitude at every frequency - it changes nothing about tone or level (guaranteed at the coefficient level) - while rotating phase up to 360° around freq, Q setting how tightly the rotation clusters. Phase, not EQ, is what fixes comb filtering and timing smear between mics (snare top vs bottom, DI vs amp, multi-mic kits): you can phase-align two sources without a sample delay and without flipping polarity, and stack several bands into a composite correction curve - dialled by eye against the phase graph. Very few EQs can do this.

02

Global & curve

Low Cut / Output Gain / Polarity

Global low-cut, output make-up (used by the brain to restore level after cuts), body-level target meter, polarity, bypass.

MAG / PHASE view

The curve has two views. MAG is the familiar magnitude response (dB vs frequency). PHASE swaps in a −180°..+180° grid on the same log-freq axis and draws the summed phase response of the whole chain (low-cut included) - so you can see the phase rotation your all-pass bands are applying and align it against the graph. It’s drawn from the exact same coefficients as the audio, so what you see is provably what you hear (it can never drift from the sound). All-pass bands are invisible in MAG (flat by construction) and only reveal themselves here.

03

Suite integration - the clever parts

Spectrum-aware presetsBrain

Each track type has a set of candidate EQ presets; Denzel reads the track’s accumulated spectrum (measured by Analyser upstream) and applies the one whose corrective moves best fit the actual imbalance. A de-esser is chosen only when genuinely sibilant; a mud cut only when muddy.

Clash suggestionsBrain

When Analyser flags this track masking another, Denzel shows a card in Brain - Clash Suggestions with partner name, range, severity, a one-click Add Cut, and a Solo button (session-wide audition). Once a Denzel cut lands, the card shows SEVERITY 62% → 18% post-EQ.

TRACK name field

The key that ties this instance to its Analyser channel. Auto-filled from the host; editable when the host sends no name or it doesn’t match. The empty-clash state names which of the three failure modes applies.

AUTO EQBrain

Applies the spectrally-chosen preset on track-type change and on the ANALYSE broadcast. Never touches Phase-typed bands. First user edit of a non-Phase band turns it off.

APPLY PHBrain

Reads the brain’s current phase-cancellation suggestions for this track and installs a Phase band per suggestion (geometric centre as freq, Q from range width). Reuses existing Phase slots first, then Off slots; never touches EQ / hand-placed bands. Repeat clicks mirror the current recommendation cleanly.

Denzel reports back. Once your cut lands, Analyser sees the after picture - so a clash you've actually fixed clears, instead of sitting there flagged forever. Phase bands are kept strictly separate from AUTO EQ, on purpose: if you've programmed an EQ by hand, auto phase isn't allowed to touch it.

quick start

Four steps to a sound.

  1. Put it after Analyser; fill the TRACK name field so it ties to its Analyser channel.
  2. Leave AUTO EQ on to let the brain pick the spectrally-best EQ preset for the track.
  3. Per band: pick a Type, set Freq / Gain / Q; enable Dynamics and set Range (negative = down, positive = up).
  4. Use the Brain - Clash Suggestions cards to drop a corrective cut with one click.

Not currently suitable for Pro Tools

These are AU and VST3 plugins. Pro Tools only loads AAX, which these aren't built as - so none of the suite will appear in it. Please check your DAW before you buy - once you download, the sale is final.

Get Denzel EQ

AU · VST3 · Standalone - macOS 10.15 Catalina or later, Windows (VST3). Installers are not yet notarised, so there's one extra click on first install; the install guide walks through it.

Where it's confirmed to work

Honest version: this is a one-person operation, so it has been properly tested in the DAWs below and not yet in the others. Not tested yet means exactly that - not that it fails.

DAW compatibility
DAWSystem Plugins load They share with each other
Logic PromacOSYesYes
GarageBandmacOSNot tested yetNot tested yet
Ableton LiveMac/WinNot tested yetNot tested yet
Cubase / NuendoMac/WinNot tested yetNot tested yet
Studio One
Confirmed on Windows (VST3). The sharing side is still to be checked.
Mac/WinYesNot tested yet
Reaper
Confirmed on Intel Mac - both AU and VST3, and the plugins share with each other. Not yet tested on Windows.
Mac/WinYesYes
FL StudioMac/WinNot tested yetNot tested yet
Bitwig StudioMac/WinNot tested yetNot tested yet
Digital PerformerMac/WinNot tested yetNot tested yet
Pro Tools
Pro Tools only loads AAX plugins. These are AU and VST3.
Mac/WinNoNo
Operating system compatibility
SystemConfirmed
macOS on IntelYes
Confirmed working from 10.15 Catalina upwards.
macOS on Apple SiliconYes
Confirmed on an M4 Mac in Logic Pro. The installers are universal binaries, so they run natively - no Rosetta needed.
Windows 10 / 11Yes
VST3 only - there is no AU on Windows. Confirmed in Studio One.

"They share with each other" is the ANALYSE pass, the clash matrix and the AUTO settings. Where a DAW keeps plugins apart, every plugin still works perfectly on its own - they just can't pass measurements between them, and nothing breaks. Ten-second check in any DAW: put Analyser on two tracks, turn one to master, and see whether the second track appears in its overview. Tell me what you find and this list gets updated.

Part of The Levels suite - see also: