Who wouldn’t want a sparkling top end to their mix? An extended top end can really lift the lid off a mix, but done in the wrong way it can make a mix brittle and fatiguing. In this article we round up 5 plugins we think can get the brightness into a mix while keeping things sweet.

Kush Clariphonic DSP Mkii

For many the natural choice for sweet top end is a Pultec. There are a wealth of great plugin emulations of the venerable EQP-1A and a lifetime’s worth of great records is all the proof you need that you won’t go far wrong with a good Pultec plugin. However I’ve been a fan of Kush’s Clariphonic DSP Mkii for around a decade. This unconventional EQ doesn’t present frequencies in Hz or gain in dB. Instead it uses a combination of switches to access different frequencies which are presented as ‘Focus’ and ‘Clarity’ with alternate settings for each, using words like Shimmer, Sheen and Silk. Listen, find something you like and don’t worry about which frequency you’re boosting (it doesn’t do cut). Lots of character and very sweet, you can hear it in action in this very old video

At present there isn’t an Apple silicon version but Kush are running an open beta of Apple Silicon builds, so hopefully a release isn’t far away.

Maag EQ2

If we’re talking about speciality top end EQ, there is one name who have built a reputation on their high band. Maag have been helping mixers open up their mixes for years, courtesy of their famous Air band.

The Air band sounds like something which wouldn’t work at standard sample rates. It’s a very high frequency, boost-only shelf EQ band which can be used at up to 40kHz. It has lower frequencies available but I suspect that much of the time this is set to 40!

In use it’s so simple There’s very little to say other than it works spectacularly well. Just try one and you’ll hear how it makes things sound as airy as the name suggests. Fabulous on vocals, or on anything else for that matter.

Softube Abbey Road Brilliance Pack

If you dial in a high shelf on your regular DAW channel EQ, the required frequencies will be boosted in the way they should. But there are some EQs which achieve the same thing, frequently with far less control, but in a way which is just prettier. It’s a hard thing to quantify but its easy to spot when you hear it. One such EQ, or rather, three such EQs, are found in the Softube Abbey Road Brilliance Pack. These are modelled from bespoke hardware created in house at Abbey Road. The two versions of the RS127 offer boost and cut at 2.7 and 3.5 kHz but its the silky 10kHz which earns its place in this list. The third option, the RS135 takes the prize for least flexible EQ with boost-only 8kHz operation. But all three sound great. Your stock EQ might do more, but it doesn’t do this.

Process Audio Sugar

The first three entries in this list have all been conventional equalizers, but since the original Aphex Exciter there has been another way to brighten audio, and flying in the face of the EQ truism that you can’t boost what isn’t there, an exciter, rather than manipulating the existing frequency content, creates additional frequency content based on the audio signal.

I’ve always been wary of exciters, they can do more harm than good. A product which largely changed my mind about exciters was Sugar, the first plugin released by Process.Audio. This multiband plugin can do far more than just sweeten the top end but the pun-worthy name of this plugin does hint that they know very well that top end processing is one of its party tricks!

Process Audio describe it as “the ultimate audio sweetener”. This is one of those plug-ins which offers results without asking you to worry about exactly how the result was reached. This approach doesn’t suit everyone but it is undeniably effective, just asking of the user, “do you like this? or this?”. If it sounds good, it is good.

The amount of processing for each of the four bands can be adjusted to taste, in each band there is an alternate mode and it is recommended that both are auditioned. Descriptive names like “thick” or “punch”, “shine” or “excite” are offered instead of technical descriptions and when a pleasing balance of the four bands is achieved the central “Jog Wheel” is used to control the level of all four processes, like a VCA controlling the four individual band controls. The crossovers are linear phase so this is safe to use in parallel on individual sources or across stems and mixes.

Slate Digital Fresh Air

The last entry on this list is arguably the best, because as well as being great at what it does, it’s free. That’s hard to compete with!

Fresh Air is a dynamic high-frequency processor effect plugin, Fresh Air is part Exciter, part EQ, with some Parallel Compression and Saturation thrown in for good measure. Unlike Sugar it’s firmly focussed on the top end. It’s based on classic, Dolby-A noise reduction modded exciters and with just two controls - Mid Air and High Air you can get what you need without a learning curve or a single ounce of harshness.

What have we missed? Do you have any must-haves for the top end of your mixes?