Same as a few posters here - rarely use the Nuendo / Cubase EQ. I currently use Pro Q 2 as default.
30 bands, mid-side support, stereo support, individual band soloing, larger GUI (including fullscreen), far more slope options, etc. I use the stock EQ only in cases when I need a bit of boost / cut here and there.
I’m actually quite amazed that so many are fine with using the stock EQ. I’m curious what work they are doing. For me, post audio is more creative than it ever has been. Compare the audio from a modern film / tv show to something 30 years ago. It’s night and day. 6, 7, 8 channel surround, far more ambient, foley, musical elements / layers, faster pacing and faster dynamics, far more intricate automation.
The demands on audio today are FAR more than they were in the past. And having multi-band, multi-slope, stereo EQs is basically a necessity…especially for speed and accuracy. There’s no way I’m fiddling with the LPF in Nuendo 6.5 crossing my fingers that it is the right slope, or I won’t need Q support. If I need a steep bandpass the stock EQ is useless. If i need to solo a band while I’m looking for specific tone that needs to be cut I’m also out of luck. If I need to shift the whole EQ range down / up in frequence, also out of luck. If I need to invert the EQ, out of luck. If I need to EQ within a very narrow pitch range, I have no reference - and a tiny little EQ window for some guesstimation. (Perhaps some of you have musical scales vs. frequencies memorized though…I do not!) If I have a stereo track and want to do some stereo EQ work (which I do on pretty much every track with Pro Q 2), I need to split into dual mono and proceed. Pretty silly. And considering there is now so much coordination between score and sound design, having musical elements as part of the EQ (like with Equilibrium and Pro Q 2) is more important than ever.
That’s my 2-cents. If having a more comprehensive EQ means breaking back capability and compatibility with hardware (CC121, etc.) so be it. I’m definitely in the camp of not using the stock EQ anyway…and don’t use EQ functions on Steinberg hardware pretty much ever at the moment…because the stock EQ collects dust.
EDIT: Obviously not saying the stock EQ has to be as powerful as a 3rd party EQ like DMG / Fabfilter, but even more bands, more slope options would be nice. Why there has to be a dedicated LPF / HPF seems ineffecient…just allow more bands and the option to select bell, shelf, cut, etc. for each.