CARBON Q | Connected EQ For Your Whole Mix

Product Name: CARBON Q Product Type: Audio plugin Brand: Mastering The Mix Primary Category: Session-wide EQ and volume balance plugin Primary Use: Setting the tonal balance and volume balance of your vocals, music, drums and bass together, from one window Best For: Mix balance, reference track matching, vocal, music, drum and bass buses, mid/side EQ across a whole mix Formats: VST3, AU, AAX Platforms: macOS and Windows License: 2 license seats as standard Description CARBON Q is an EQ and volume balancer from Mastering The Mix that works across your whole session. You put a MIX instance on your output channel and agents on your vocals, music, drums and bass. They connect instantly, so you can see and control the EQ and volume balance of every channel from whichever instance you have open. CARBON Q builds Smart Presets from your actual audio, and it can turn any song you love into a preset for your entire mix. What CARBON Q Does Getting a song to sound professional comes down to two things: how loud each part is, and how the EQ fits together. CARBON Q works on both at the same time. Hit ANALYZE and it compares your song against world class reference mixes, then brings up the ten closest Smart Presets. Each one sets the tonal balance and volume balance of every channel at once, taken from a mix that already works. Drop a reference track into the preset browser and CARBON Q separates it into vocals, music, drums and bass. It measures the tonal balance of each part and of the whole mix, plus how loud each part sits against the rest, and turns all of that into a preset. Select it and your session moves to match. Stem separation and analysis run on your machine, and your audio is never uploaded. Every EQ move is level matched in real time, so the only thing you hear is the change in tone. The max quality linear phase filters keep your transients clean with only 41 ms of latency. Dynamic Mode holds each channel to its target through the loud sections, pulling peaks back into line only when they go over. How To Use CARBON Q Insert CARBON Q on your output channel and select MIX. Insert CARBON Q on your vocals, music, drums and bass, and pick the matching role on each. They connect instantly and appear in the agent tray. Loop the busiest part of your song, usually the final chorus or the drop, and press play. Hit ANALYZE, choose which instances to analyze in the tray, then press GO. Step through the ten Smart Presets, or drop a song you love into the reference tracks tab and select it. Refine from there. Drag nodes, adjust levels, switch to Mid/Side, or turn on Dynamic Mode. Key Features One EQ across your whole session: a MIX instance plus VOCALS, MUSIC, DRUMS and BASS agents Agent tray to see and control every instance from any instance Eleven fixed bands at 20, 30, 60, 120, 240, 480 and 960 Hz, then 1.92, 3.84, 7.68 and 12 kHz, with ±9 dB per band ANALYZE with ten Smart Presets built from your actual audio Reference tracks that turn any song into a preset for your vocals, music, drums, bass and mix Upload stems directly if you already have them Tonal balance and volume balance set together, with ±9 dB of output gain on every instance Real-time level matching on every EQ move and preset change Max quality linear phase filters with 41 ms of latency Dynamic Mode with one amount or three bands, adjustable crossovers, attack and release Stereo, Mid and Side modes with both curves on screen at once Preset browser with Smart Presets, starred favorites, reference tracks and twelve factory genres Preset names tagged by tonal character and stereo width Lock, Link, Bypass and Mix (%) on every instance, with session-wide bypass from the MIX instance A/B states, full undo and redo, and a resizable interface All analysis and stem separation run locally on your machine Common Use Cases Setting the volume balance of your vocals, music, drums and bass before reaching for effects Matching the EQ and volume balance of a reference track across your whole session Taking just the vocal balance from a favorite record while the rest of the session stays put Using the drums from one reference track and the bass from another Spotting and fixing two channels fighting over the same frequency range Mid/side EQ across a whole mix, like clearing low mids from the sides or adding air without a harsh vocal Holding a mix to its tonal balance through the loud sections with Dynamic Mode FAQ What is CARBON Q? CARBON Q is an eleven band EQ spread across your whole session. A MIX instance on your output channel and agents on your vocals, music, drums and bass let you set the tonal balance and volume balance of every channel from one window. Can CARBON Q match the sound of a reference track? Yes. Drop any song into the reference tracks tab and CARBON Q separates the stems, measures the EQ and volume balance of each part, and turns it into a preset for your whole session. To use a reference on one channel only, unlink that agent and choose the reference there. Does CARBON Q move my DAW faders? No. Each instance sets its own output gain on the channel it sits on, so your faders and automation stay exactly where you left them. Do I need an instance on every channel? No. Use the roles that match your session. Always keep a MIX instance on your output channel, because it calculates the Smart Presets from the whole session and shares them with the agents. Does my audio get uploaded anywhere? No. Analysis and stem separation run on your machine. Nothing leaves your computer. Does CARBON Q add latency? CARBON Q uses max quality linear phase filters with 41 ms of latency. It reports that latency to your DAW, so everything stays in time. If you need low latency monitoring while recording, use your DAW's low latency mode.