EQ rack question

Capt Hair

Capt Hair

Jeff
I feel like I'll posting in the newbie section for quite a while lol. Too much to learn :o

EQ rack equipment...why have it?

Because you record through this outboard equipment first correct? It's towards the beginning of your "signal flow" chain. Which means you be "pre-eqing" signals, not giving you the raw signal and then be able to eq later. It just seems like if you used one in chain and for some reason the sound didn't come out the way you expected...you just wasted a lot of time and would have to start over.

Now I understand somewhat why having a compressor would be a good idea to run through, especially for drums, cutting out peaks and controlling the gain amounts and levels. (\ramble)

I guess, why would you run through an equalizer first? Can you go backwards? in the sense, you could record raw to protools or a DAW, then send it back through outboard hardware.


thanks guys!:eatpopcorn:
 
I would never record through an EQ. I would only ever use a rack EQ for a PA. With DAW plugins even hardware compressors are somewhat redundant, but many people use them because they like a particular sound they can get with them. For recording, I go with the purest signal is best philosophy- flat EQ on the mixer - no effects, add it all in mix down.
 
Capt Hair said:
It just seems like if you used one in chain and for some reason the sound didn't come out the way you expected...you just wasted a lot of time and would have to start over.
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You've hit the nail on the head. There is no compelling reason to EQ before you track. There are many good reasons to EQ after.

Arcadeko also hits the nail on the head.
 
Yeah, I think if the source material sounds far enough from how you want it that you need to EQ it on the way in, you should probably just alter the sound of the source.

I think of EQ as mainly a last resort, after the fact corrective measure, not a tone shaping device for tracking. I'm sure others may disagree.

I certainly apply all other effects liberally at the tracking stage rather than at mixdown though...
 
CrowsofFritz said:
Not necessarily pre-EQ. Some people like to mix OTB or go completely analog.
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I can definitely understand that to a seasoned mixer who has been recording for years, but for someone starting out and being told and reading about outboard hardware and the "necessities" it just struck me as odd why someone would go for an equalizer as one of the first few purchases.
 
Capt Hair said:
I can definitely understand that to a seasoned mixer who has been recording for years, but for someone starting out and being told and reading about outboard hardware and the "necessities" it just struck me as odd why someone would go for an equalizer as one of the first few purchases.
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Haha I agree. I think they just want that "look" to make their studio look complicated. What's even dumber is having a graphic EQ in a studio haha. I've seen many home studios with those.
 
I gotchya. Beginners won't have that haha, let alone know how to use the device well (like I didn't haha) That's the point i'm trying to make.
 
When I'm working with musicians I know well I have no problem applying eq and compression because I have a pretty clear idea what the end product will be and where each instrument and vocal will end up. It saves me time in the long run. Also, I have access to some pretty nice compressors that do things that are hard to reproduce with plugins. I do the eq with the mixer channel strips just to get it in the ballpark and so the compressor doesn't react to frequencies that won't be as prominent in the end product.

For the less experienced it's risky to compress on the way in. Eq should be relatively safe if you don't get stupid with it, like low pass a vocal at 2kHz or something, and the hardware is pretty good. Gentle, conservative eq can be reversed.
 
I used to have a pair of White 31 band graphic EQ's in my old studio. I found lots of uses for them. They were cut only of course. I used em for a while to EQ the monitors in a particularly horrid room I was working in. Invaluable in that case. They were so good that simply running your stereo program through them made it sound better even though they were 'flat'. Theres a lot of analog gear that have circuits so fine that you simply run a signal through them to enhance the track. You dont necessarily have to twist any knobs to make it better.
 
That reminds me, I've got a 24 band stereo equalizer upstairs gathering dust, need to get it out, plug it in to make sure it works, then craigslist it!
 
bouldersoundguy said:
When I'm working with musicians I know well I have no problem applying eq and compression because I have a pretty clear idea what the end product will be and where each instrument and vocal will end up. It saves me time in the long run. Also, I have access to some pretty nice compressors that do things that are hard to reproduce with plugins. I do the eq with the mixer channel strips just to get it in the ballpark and so the compressor doesn't react to frequencies that won't be as prominent in the end product.

For the less experienced it's risky to compress on the way in. Eq should be relatively safe if you don't get stupid with it, like low pass a vocal at 2kHz or something, and the hardware is pretty good. Gentle, conservative eq can be reversed.
Click to expand...

cavedog101 said:
I used to have a pair of White 31 band graphic EQ's in my old studio. I found lots of uses for them. They were cut only of course. I used em for a while to EQ the monitors in a particularly horrid room I was working in. Invaluable in that case. They were so good that simply running your stereo program through them made it sound better even though they were 'flat'. Theres a lot of analog gear that have circuits so fine that you simply run a signal through them to enhance the track. You dont necessarily have to twist any knobs to make it better.
Click to expand...




;) ^^^^^^^ This and This ^^^^^^^ ;)
 
cavedog101 said:
I used to have a pair of White 31 band graphic EQ's in my old studio. I found lots of uses for them. They were cut only of course. I used em for a while to EQ the monitors in a particularly horrid room I was working in. Invaluable in that case. They were so good that simply running your stereo program through them made it sound better even though they were 'flat'. Theres a lot of analog gear that have circuits so fine that you simply run a signal through them to enhance the track. You dont necessarily have to twist any knobs to make it better.
Click to expand...

Yeah - for playback in a PA I have to agree an EQ is very helpful. I am actually considering buying one so I can tweak the signal going into my PA monitors to match my mixing monitors as close as possible (so when we are rehearsing it sounds as close as possible to what I will hear when mixing).

Also BoulderSoundGuy makes an excellent point about the low pass filter - My mixer has a high pass built right in so I usually do that to eliminate any sub frequencies the mic's might be picking up. You could do this with an EQ also. On the other hand, plug-ins make it very easy to add hi/low pass filters so it's not a necessity.

I think it comes down to experience, for a newb it would probably cause more problems then solutions.
 
All of the above :) I can't find a use for one at home, very useful in the PA racks tho - I have one for each channel in the monitor rack for feedback elimination.
 
In a PA is the only place I ever use em too, right before the amps. I 'ring out' the room and when that eq is set I never touch it again. I have no use for a hardware eq in my studio, I use parametric eq plugins for that. Cheap/free plugins are better than cheap hardware.
 
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