Eventide’s Split EQ plugin’s Structural Split Technology promises to let you enhance, repair, widen, or re-balance audio, but does it succeed? We put it to work...

The recent release of Split EQ sees Eventide putting its flag in the sand, calling it “More than just an EQ — It’s a new and better tool”. While conventional EQs give us all the spectral control we need, Split EQ gives us extra creative possibilities using Eventide’s Structural Split technology developed for the company’s Physion envelope shaping plugin.

What Does Split EQ Do?

In Split EQ, we can process the transient and tonal elements within any given band and EQ them differently. Realising the potential, Eventide also gives us controls allowing us to pan transient and tonal elements within each band separately with L-R or M-S modes. Along with these band-specific tools, the entire output’s transient and tonal elements can be rebalanced for general time based re-shaping.

When Is Split EQ Useful?

New plugins can sometimes claim to solve problems that you didn’t know you had, but Eventide highlight some convincing reasons to use their new creation, either within a mix or across the whole thing.

Enhance Being able to have separate control over Tonal and Transient elements of an instrument, can be used to enhance punch, detail, sheen, breathiness, diction, tightness, thump, and pluck.

Repair Because these Transient and Tonal elements are separately EQ-able, scratchy or woolly sounding acoustic guitars or drums can have their pick or stick sounds cut or boosted with the body left or the inverse applied.

Widen Spatializing mono or enhancing width on mono or stereo sources can be done using the per-band panner mode for transient and tonal elements. L/R and Mid/Side panning are supported for extra possibilities

Re-balance Whole mixes or individual sources can have their transient personalities tweaked for bringing mix elements forwards or further back for subtle re-balancing of loops, instruments, or mixes.

Does It Work?

Split EQ undoubtedly gives you the ability to radically change the tonal character of sounds beyond simple tonal sculpting, and lets you sit sounds in a mix in a new, useful way. While it might not be a magic bullet for full-on audio restoration or un-mixing, Split EQ is an accurate, surgical tool that elevates your expectation of what spectral control can be.