An Accurate Emulation of a Time-Honoured 3-Bands EQ

A Familiar Vintage Icon

Neumann W495 EQs were used to master 90% of the vinyl records manufactured from the 1970s to the 1990s. But even after this golden age,many mastering engineers still love this EQ. Why? The W495 has wide equalization curves that can be pushed to ridiculous levels while remaining musical. W495 offers easy tone shaping & character for individual tracks, and elevates an entire mix with enhanced presence and depth.

To take Pulsar W495 a step further, Pulsar Audio added the functionality you’d expect from a modern plugin. You’ll find an on-screen curve editor, Auto Gain, Mid/Side selection per band, comprehensive digital metering and more. From channel EQ to mastering EQ, Pulsar W495 is an easy-to-use powerful tone shaper, faithfully emulated from an iconic 3 band EQ.

Musical & Easy to Use

Speaking about workflow, Pulsar w495 comes with a complete on-screen curve editor and spectrum analyzer to give you an accurate overview of your EQ changes. Mix by ear, with the eyes, or both, the choice is yours. Pulsar w495 is a component-accurate model of the original unit. From the subtle band saturations to the sounding-unique output transformers, every aspect of the original unit is preserved for the plugin version. The high-shelf band is widely recognized for its ability to enhance clarity without any harshness, while the low-shift adds weight without sounding muddy. Where a source misses power, the mid-band can be a go-to for enhancing energy.

With Pulsar W495’s Mid/Side selectors for each band, you have the option to run each as either mid-only or side-only.

Remove energy from the mid bands, Sides to focus energy on the center of the stereo image. Add a bass boost to centered low frequencies only with a low-shelf Mid boost. Enhance high-end for a sheeny stereo signal by pushing the transparent high-shelf in Sides only.

With its clever utilization of modern CPUs, Pulsar w495 ensures a lightweight footprint while delivering powerful audio algorithms. The resizable interface, comprehensive metering to gain insight over your signal, and wise choice of modern features make Pulsar W495 a go-to EQ.

How Does It Sound?

Mastering

Don't think to hard, just put it on your bus and listen. Versatile and musical, the W495 is an easy-to-use mastering equalizer, with just three bands to consider, for faster mix balancing. It has the ability to broaden the whole sound stage without ever being too harsh, even at extreme settings.

Synth

For electronic musicians, synthesizers are often the main instruments in any production. However, they can be dominating - and temperamental when it comes to finding the right spectral balance to fit them into the mix. Pulsar W495 lets you adjust this balance quickly and well, with ridiculously low CPU consumption.

Drums

The W495's sound partially comes from its output transformer (a Haufe RK 756), which brings a subtle coloration to the lower end of the spectrum, especially on dynamic sources like a drum buss. Pulsar W495 can easily add body to your bass drum, enhance air to cymbals, and aff color to your midrange (or soften it if the need arises). All in record time.

Features

Visual Curve Editing

Controls in the curve editor correspond to the Gain, Frequency and Q values of the hardware-style knobs below, and give contrinuous selection of frequencies, gains and filter widths. Keyboard modifiers make it quick to achieve the settings you need.

Mid-Side processing

Each band can be used on the entire stereo signal, or switched into operating with a single focus: the Mid signal only, to process mono, central information; or the Side signal only, to process stereo, non-central information.

Oversampling

Some things can't be done with just bells and shelves. Pulsar Audio have added a complex 6-pole tilt filter to adjust the tonal balance of your whole mix in a natural and analog-style way with a single knob.

Metering & Spectrum analyser

Pulsar W495 gives you the convenience of digital insight, with RMS, Peak, and Peak Hold metering for both channels. The spectrum analyzer can run in Fast or Slow modes for short- or medium-term spectrum visualization, and can be set to Infinite mode for a long-term integrated reading.

Shelf & Bell filters

The control rack is organized into three main sections, corresponding to the three different EQ bands (low-shelf filter, parametric bell filter, and high-shelf filter). For authenticity, the controls can eb stepped to a restricted set of values.

Auto-gain

Compensate for the overall level change applied to the signal between entering and exiting the EQ. This function means you won't need to balance the signal after making changes, and the output level will be reliably close to the input level.

Presets from top-notch producers

Pulsar Audio are fortunate to have the support and collaboration of countless talented engineers and producers. You can take full advantage of their expertise with presets that offer superb starting points for your mixing or mastering sessions.

Smart GUI

With fast and effective keyboard modifiers, you're never too far from where you want to be and the changes you want to make. The GUI can be focused to just rack or curve views, and the whole interface can be resized freely between 67% and 200%.

System Requirements

Mac

MacOS 10.9 and higher - Apple Silicon supported - 64bit only
VST3 / AU / AAX

PC

Windows 7 SP1 / 8.1 / 10 - 64bit only
VST3 / AAX