Compressor and EQ Question

Can compressor and EQ be used together in a vocal track? Isn't both the same thing... which is to boost the frequencies? And perhaps can one replace the other in a vocal track? Thx.

EQ and compression go together like bread and butter.  EQ, esp. digital EQ, is more useful for cutting frequencies than boosting.

As Daveny sez, EQ is for shaping the sound - cutting out what isn't needed and occationally  boosting frequencies.

Compression is to steady the volume of the sound, in crude terms.  It helps set the sound in the sonic space and keep it there.  For Pop vocals, for instance, it can help float the level above the rest of the song, even on the quieter vocal passages.

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 EQ, esp. digital EQ, is more useful for cutting frequencies than boosting.


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Perhaps you might think so.
 
 
I just want to add that the big myth that digital EQ today, only can "cut" not boost are "busted" years ago.
It's true couple years back, that digital EQ were build in so low audio quality so it sounded awefull/harsh if you "added"; "boosted" EQ as you do on a analog mixing console. Today that's not true anymore!
Today the digital EQ:s, filters & compressors are in so excellent audio quality so it sounds the same and sometime even better then original hardware, so you can easily boost or cut the EQ frequancy without any odd sound or behavior.
 
SONAR X1 "Pro Channels" EQ and compressor are good example of excellent audio quality, Softtube, UAD, Nomad Factory, SSL Native, iZotope, Waves and many other 3 part manufacturers, just to name a few.
 

Kalle and Freddie are both right about EQ, digital or otherwise.  I was thinking about advice to someone asking about distinctions between compressors and EQs, whom I presupposed wasn't too experienced.  As Kalle notes, the worst thing you can do w/ EQ is turn it up because it sounds better if you don't know any better.  Many sounds, in isolation, tend to get a boost from 1000 to 3000 Hz.  I've done (did) it, and I think most of us have.

The first thing I use EQ for is shelving or filtering the low end to clear out the mud for the bass/kick.  The 2nd most use for EQ is doing the same thing for the high end, taking out extraneous high so the vocals (usually) don't get stepped on.  The voice itself usually gets a gentle rise up there.  From there, it is very song/sound specific, finding and small boosts at frequencies that help define an instrument and separate it out from the rest, with any necessary and corresponding cuts in other instruments that step on it.

When one is learning to use EQ it is hard not to overdue it (just like "damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead" compression on everything).  Just a warning shot across the bow for the OP - the first rule of engineering (and everything from medicine to politics) should be to do no harm.

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Just note that some compressors do have an effect on the EQ, even though that is not their stated purpose.  For example, an 1176 is a dynamics controller but not something you would call transparent.  In fact, many people use it specifically because they like the tonal change it imparts.

So, I am agreeing with the comments others have added, but don't want you to be confused if and when you notice that a compressor in your signal path has had some effect on your EQ.

There is also the perceived effect: louder signals seem to have more lows and highs, while quiter signals seem to have more mids.

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Kalle and Freddie are both right about EQ, digital or otherwise.  I was thinking about advice to someone asking about distinctions between compressors and EQs, whom I presupposed wasn't too experienced.  As Kalle notes, the worst thing you can do w/ EQ is turn it up because it sounds better if you don't know any better.  Many sounds, in isolation, tend to get a boost from 1000 to 3000 Hz.  I've done (did) it, and I think most of us have.

The first thing I use EQ for is shelving or filtering the low end to clear out the mud for the bass/kick.  The 2nd most use for EQ is doing the same thing for the high end, taking out extraneous high so the vocals (usually) don't get stepped on.  The voice itself usually gets a gentle rise up there.  From there, it is very song/sound specific, finding and small boosts at frequencies that help define an instrument and separate it out from the rest, with any necessary and corresponding cuts in other instruments that step on it.

When one is learning to use EQ it is hard not to overdue it (just like "damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead" compression on everything).  Just a warning shot across the bow for the OP - the first rule of engineering (and everything from medicine to politics) should be to do no harm.

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right