EQ Academy is a gamified ear-training tool with 100 interactive levels designed to sharpen your ears and your technique.
Whatever you’re studying, nothing teaches you more than hands-on experience, and that’s what you get from EQ Academy.
EQ Academy is free to all Mastering The Mix newsletter subscribers; I know newsletter subscriptions and email addresses can be a contentious topic for some, but I have no problem signing up for a good freebie, especially one that improves your ability as a producer.
I haven’t gone through EQ Academy yet, so I can’t comment on the complexity of the levels, but the aim is to take students from beginners to professionals. I know there are many levels of being a pro, and it takes more than a training tool to become the next Quincy Jones or deliver a low-end like Brian “Big Bass” Gardner, but I love the concept of EQ Academy.
It will equip students with rock-solid fundamental skills (and more, I imagine) that enable them to develop their style and make better-informed creative choices.
As you’d expect, the levels get progressively more difficult, tackling various gain, frequency, Q, and mid/side tasks.
EQ Academy will provide a target EQ for each level; you work towards achieving the same sound before submitting your efforts.
You can track your results and improvement with real-time stats and see how you compare to other students on the global leaderboard.
You can even battle other students in EQ challenges if you’re feeling confident.
I like gamified learning, but I think it’s essential to focus on your own improvement and not stress about topping the leaderboards from the start.
In the spirit of focusing on improvements, there’s a Challenge Builder feature that helps you work on your weaknesses.
Another thing I like about EQ Academy is that you can import any track you want to work through the levels. The ability to change the reference tracks adds real-world variation, making EQ Academy a long-term study aid rather than a one-time process.
I know there are some genuine production wizards among our readers, and maybe some who need this less than others, but learning never ends, and it never hurts to stay sharp!
I’m looking forward to working through the levels, and I encourage everyone to give it a try.
Why not put your new skills to work with the free TilQ Equalizer plugin from Kuassa?
Download: EQ Academy (FREE for all Mastering The Mix Newsletter subscribers)
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Last Updated on July 17, 2025 by Tomislav Zlatic.
