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Tech Tip Of The Day: Cut Rather Than Boost?
Does it matter whether I cut or boost when using EQ?
Audio Basics, Recording, Mixing, Eq, Processing, Tech Tip Of The Day, Study Hall, Sweetwater
Provided by Sweetwater.
Q: I’ve seen a lot of interviews where engineers say that you should cut frequencies with EQ rather than boost them. Why is this?
A: Some engineers feel that equalizers sound different when you cut with them, versus boosting with them.
And, in some cases, there may be technical reasons why this is true.
But, for many engineers, another big reason is to preserve headroom.
Adding a boost to a set of frequencies can take a big chunk out of the available headroom.
Often you’ll get better results by cutting frequencies, then you’ll have room for dynamic peaks, and also possibly be able to turn the overall level of the signal up, since you’ve preserved headroom.
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Source: Sweetwater
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Comments (2) Most recent displayed first
At our church we use a Yamaha LS9-32, our old board in the former building was a Panasonic/Ramsa 32. Both large open spaces, and even on the few live gigs I've done indoors and outdoors, cutting first provided a quick assessment of other areas to deal with. Often it was boomy or strident vocals and a little cut the right frequency (via quick sweep) did wonders in a few minutes. Then if you have time (or even if you don't and do it live) you can fine-tune as you've dealt with probably 80% of the issue and further EQ is minor and should preserve clarity. As always, watch your stage monitor levels indoors or out, as the bleed-over can muddy the house/PA and the house/PA EQ cannot fix this.
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1. If an audience is not there, and the performers are tolerant, then boosting first is a great way to find problem frequencies. A massive boost and a sweep to where it sounds the ugliest followed by a moderate cut at the same frequency can be a time saver.
2. My experience is that - generally - while even a cheap and cheerful EQ is OK with cuts, quality EQs earn their keep in allowing good sounding boost as well.
best,
john