Thanks.

pdarg


What kind of roll-off slope at 40 Hz do you use? The ProChannel slope ranges from 12 to 30 db/per octave I think.

12db octave is usually sufficient for me - that's 4 magnitudes of volume and it isn't such a sharp Q that it causes a peak elsewhere.

"it isn't such a sharp Q that it causes a peak elsewhere"

If you use, for example, 48 dB octave, does it create a peak elsewhere (and at which frequency) ?

Pdarg,

since I use Vox's Curve EQ I can't tell what slope the PC EQ should use.  Curve has a graphic readout that shows the output (pre and post EQ).  I can see and hear any low freq bumps and adjust accordingly. 

But, in general, you want to use the lowest slope EQ you can get away with since that will tend to produce the least artifacts (like peaks, as mentioned above).

An important thing is to limit non bass frequencies in your mix for tracks that don't need any bass precesence.  If you shape/cut the bass in the mix, there shouldn't be much extraneous sound down there anyway, except for what you want.  Then the mastering can tweak that so it sounds OK on car or bookshelf speakers so you don't get any (or as much) bass bloom on smaller speakers w/o compromising the bass on larger systems.  It takes a big woofer to go down below 40 Hz (bigger than 8 inches).  You can produce noise down there and above if you are driving the bass too much. 

@

I start off with Pro Channel light compression on the Master Bus. There's a Pro Channel Preset for this. As for EQ - it all depends on the track I am doing. A a rule, I low cut with a HPF on most of my tracks. Until I hear everything together - I won't attempt to do any Master Bus EQing.

TS


"it isn't such a sharp Q that it causes a peak elsewhere"

If you use, for example, 48 dB octave, does it create a peak elsewhere (and at which frequency) ?

Welll...hmmm  at 40hz, the octaves are so short that, sonically, it might make moot difference. But to see the effects of a very sharp 'Q', just go and goof with the the Sonitus EQ a bit and try a super sharp Q on a band and you'll see what I'm trying to illustrate. All in all though, it only matters if you can hear it and it's affect the mix.

"just go and goof with the the Sonitus EQ a bit and try a super sharp Q on a band and you'll see what I'm trying to illustrate"

yes i tried with the Sonitus Eq, and i saw the frequency peak with a high Q

but most of the high pass filters don't offer Q setting (like the Sonitus Eq does) ;
you can only choose between different slopes (like in the Quadcurve Eq)

and slope and Q don't refer to the same thing, no ?

Th
Nice, France

Voxengo marvel (64 bit) 
Rough rider compressor (64 bit) not meant for a master bus apparently, but it does a decent job I think.
The glue - demo version. It's very good. But ill stick with the free rough rider I think.

Both free and crap all over what you get with x2, which is no criticism, but these are way better. ALso grab voxengo span and you have some great mastering tools, especially the eq.

TS


"just go and goof with the the Sonitus EQ a bit and try a super sharp Q on a band and you'll see what I'm trying to illustrate"

yes i tried with the Sonitus Eq, and i saw the frequency peak with a high Q

but most of the high pass filters don't offer Q setting (like the Sonitus Eq does) ;
you can only choose between different slopes (like in the Quadcurve Eq)

and slope and Q don't refer to the same thing, no ?

Th
Nice, France

You can consider slope and 'Q' to be birds-of-a-feather, they're the same thing for all intents and purposes.

If I can help to clear some things...

Many channel strips will have a low cut filter, with a selectable cutoff frequency and 'slope'. This is meant to be a simple affair. The term slope is, well, easily understandable. We're only trying to remove some low end rumble and microphone pop here.

'Q' is more of an electronic engineering term, and refers to the quality of a filter. Why quality, I don't know, but really, it's the sharpness of a filter, which *is* a slope. The design characteristics of a filter will determine what you may see as you adjust its 'Q', many will develop an overshooting 'hump' near the selected frequency if too high. Really though, don't give it a second thought for a low-cut filter. It's not an issue.

We're stuck with a mix of musical and electronic terms here in the DAW world, because, well, sound reproduction, (and in cases like analog-style synths) is electronic. That, and in the DAW world, after all's been recorded, it's all electronic.

Recording engineers have always had a foot in more than one world...

Thanks you a lot !

I am interested about these informations, because i record and mix jazz bands, and it is very tricky to tame some undesirable upright bass resonant notes.
I use Eq for specific purpose, and often a low-cut filter on the master bus (at 40 Hz, with a 48 dB/octave slope - so, i hope it is not a mistake).