Using EQ to "tune" monitors

Chris F

Chris F

New member
At this point I've used enough monitors to know that with just about anything, it's always wise to "spot check" by playing my mixes in different settings - on the "good system" in the house, in the car, on headphones, through a ****ty boombox, etc. - before deciding that a mix is right for me. After a while, I can even begin to "hear" in my mind's ear what the mix will sound like in some of these settings, and the trick is to understand the sound of my monitors and their inherent tendencies and be able to imagine how they will translate.

Is it a common practice to use preset EQ settings to simulate different listening environments, and if so, how do some of you go about doing this? By way of example, right now I am using M-Audio SP-8's at home, and hearing Mackie 824's at the studio where I do sessions a lot here in town. I have learned that if I use a certain mid cut on the SP 8's, they sound a lot like the 824's, and vice versa. This seems pretty useful if i want to track at home and mix at the studio, but what about simulating or "translating" other common sonic signatures? Are there products designed to do this? How do you guys approach this issue (if at all)?
 
I never EQ my monitors. Drivers are hard enough to get right. And then there is the tuning of the box itself. Adding EQ is just adding all sorts of anomalies and shifts to something that hopefully the R&D guys have spent a lot of time trying to make sure wasn't there.
 
I'm with xstatic.

I might bounce it back to you Chis with the question, "Once you're good enough to understand the differences and hear them with your mind's eye like you said - which is an *excellent* skill to have and use, BTW - then what do you need the EQ for?" Do the EQing in your head; the results will be the same (if not better) and you won't be mucking around with the EQ and monitors all the time.

G.
 
well, if you MUST EQ the fewer wider bands the better. sometimes i'll tear down all the bass and CRANK the treble to listen for crackling or pops on a track before i send it to mastering... and occassionally, when i'm curious about the low end, i'll bring it up a bit (I have alesis point 7's--not a whole lotta bass), but you'll get a better idea of what's going on down there just by bringing up the volume
 
Thanks guys - that was kinda what I figured, but I didn't want to miss out on anything. So far, I know that the SP-8B's are bright in the mids (1-2k range) because when I get the mids sounding "right" on them, they sound too dull on most other systems. They also handle the bass much more adeptly than most other speakers, so that what sounds good on them farts out my car system (Alpine/Infinity) pretty quickly. I don't think they're short on bass at all, I just think they refuse to break up, and I'm learning to hear where the other systems won't handle what they can.

For pizz double bass, a real trouble frequency range seems to be right in the 200-270 hz range....there's a lot of "body" in there, but if I don't cut it a little, it immediately sounds like overkill when the volume comes up.

A question on a different topic which I'm sure must have been discussed, but I can't seem to find in the archives (links are welcomed): What's a good basic "Q" setting to use as a starting point to make EQ cuts sound more natural? Right now I'm using the stock plugs on DP4, but will soon be installing a UAD-1 and trying the Pultec EQ plug. Anyway, I like the "tweakability" of the software plugs, but was wondering if there are some standard settings to start with, and if these settings increase/decrease as the frequency goes up?
 
Chris F said:
A question on a different topic which I'm sure must have been discussed, but I can't seem to find in the archives (links are welcomed): What's a good basic "Q" setting to use as a starting point to make EQ cuts sound more natural? Right now I'm using the stock plugs on DP4, but will soon be installing a UAD-1 and trying the Pultec EQ plug. Anyway, I like the "tweakability" of the software plugs, but was wondering if there are some standard settings to start with, and if these settings increase/decrease as the frequency goes up?
Click to expand...

As frequency increases, wavelength decreases (but you already knew that ;) ) This means that, in general, the bandwidth of parametric EQ settings tends to need to be narrower in the high freqs than in the low. Put another way, as freq goes up, Q tends to go up.

This is a general rule based solely on mathematics, though. It is set more in jello than it is in stone; it all depends on just what specific effect you are going for.


G.
 
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