I use the SPL Passeq. (The most powerful passive EQ ever made—144 (!) passive filters (72 per channel) in one EQ.)
Its sweet on top and punchy as hell on the bottom. They way it cuts and boosts is brilliant.
Its extremely quiet, you wouldn't know its on. Quiet operating gear is top priority for me.

There is a plugin version of it that you can watch to give you an idea on how it works. Highly recommend it.

That's a beautiful EQ man but unfortunately about 5 times my budget lol.

I guess this is the pro audio forum. :)

Ripeart, post: 373354, member: 42488 wrote: That's a beautiful EQ man but unfortunately about 5 times my budget lol.

I guess this is the pro audio forum. :)

I like the Avalon 2055 AD. The Avalon AD series is very impressive and an extremely versatile Parametric EQ. What it does to the low end is nothing short of spectacular.

Ripeart, post: 373352, member: 42488 wrote: It's my DBX 386 pre that I had in mind. I guess my budget us around $500 and I'll need two channels of parametric EQ.

I owned DBX pre in the past. Their big brother in the silver serie. Saddly they are good live but not so precise for studio work. Unless it's only for fun and demos.

With your 500$ you could try to find a better used channel strip. Maybe strech it for a SPL, SSl or even an old UA LA-610.
Everything starts with the source the mic and the pre. I bet you would go WOW to compare a sm57 on the dbx vs the LA-610 ;)

I'm not sure $500 is gonna get you anything with a wow factor, though if you were able to increase that budget by another $400, there are some single channel external Preamp/EQs being made by companies like Heritage Audio, who are doing the Neve 73 Clone thing...
I've never used any of these personally, but they have been getting great reviews from users who have experience with actual Neve models.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HA73EQ--heritage-audio-ha73eq-elite-mic-preamp-with-eq?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImZ69q56b2QIVWLjACh0XRQGwEAQYASABEgJATvD_BwE

I'm not sure $500 is gonna get you anything with a "wow" factor, though if you were able to increase that budget by another $400 or so, there are some single channel external Preamp/EQs being made by companies like Heritage Audio, who are doing the Neve 73 Clone thing...
The HA73 EQ would give you a 1073 style EQ and a 1073 style mic pre in the same device for around $900 (US).
BAE is another company that makes Neve-style Preamps and EQs, but they are more expensive than similar models by Heritage.
Either may be far beyond your budget right now...
But, if you could increase your allowance at some point, it would open up a lot more doors for you, and get you a quality level that would be noticeable. I can't personally make any recommendations for EQs in that $500 price range... I'm not saying that there isn't maybe something in that range that would get you what you are after... There might be. I just am not able to suggest any model in particular.
I guess I would suggest that you save up for something that really will make a difference, and continue to use your DAWs stock EQ, or maybe look into something like Fabfilter's EQ plug in to sculpt your sound after you're ITB.
It won't give you any "character" per se... It's a transparent processor, more surgical, so if you are after that "analog mojo", that high quality external gear offers, it's not going to give you that...but it is still an exceptional ITB EQ processor.
FWIW

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HA73EQ--heritage-audio-ha73eq-elite-mic-preamp-with-eq?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImZ69q56b2QIVWLjACh0XRQGwEAQYASABEgJATvD_BwE

DonnyThompson, post: 455748, member: 46114 wrote: The HA73 EQ would give you a 1073 style EQ and a 1073 style mic pre in the same device for around $900 (US).

I would like to compare one to an ISA preamp one day. Good suggestion !

Warm audio just put out their version and it's less expensive : https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/WA73EQ
This is where you'd ask is it as good as other 73 clones... Althought warm audio's products are usually quite good...

even tho the OP is from 2011, i cant resist EQ talk. for 500$ you can get several Rane Peq 15's, which are much better sounding than they look. something along the lines of Trident or DBX. Ive had good luck with them on Snare and Kick, tracking at the studio. there really aren't a whole lot of studio geared options for eq at this price point right now. the eureka channel eq section is pretty decent. ive been tracking with eq pretty much since i started, i think alot of people miss out on it due to lack of advertising and product availability, and because eq is always made out to be something more of a processing stage rather than something thats part of the sound. kinda like how nobody really considers it some big 'commitment' when they turn the eq knob on their amp. its like just part of the sound 'maaann'. i look at it as getting closer to the sound sooner, as opposed to risking some sort of leverage later. its not like eqing at tracking is even the same thing as eqing at mixing, even if your using the same identical pluggins/processing. how the player interacts with the sound, and the fact that its coded into the audio at that point in time is all part of it.

i think theres also some misconception that an eq has to be expensive to be good. as long as its no worse than a live console, the eq can prove itself useful. im a big fan of eq at the tracking phase, it can really bring things life faster, and solve some basic hpf type duties to help keep things lean and mean. obvioiusly not mandatory, but im not one of those people who like prides themselves then i dont eq. its whatever works.