boost EQ before cut?

[Greg_L]

heres the thing, im always hearing/reading to 'cut before you boost' with EQ's, but ill be damned if my stuff doesnt sounder better with some frequencies boosted instead of cut. of course i do both, but to my ears the instruments sound better in the mix (not just louder) once boosted slightly in their happy frequency range. even though i guess im going against conventional wisdom, im just going by what sounds better. what i cant figure out is why when i 'cut only', im not getting a good sound and seperation in the mix like so many others claim to have happen. could that be poor tracking? i typically record pretty damn close to the final sound im looking for. i never need much EQ, but a little boost here and there always seems to help. so, basically what im asking is what the hell am i missing that cutting doesnt generally help my sound/mix? am i taking this 'cut only' business too seriously? i dont necessarily want to follow any set rules, i just want to understand whats going on.

 

[Greg_L]

anyone have a thought on this?

 

[ermghoti]

The old saw is "cut to make it sound better, boost to make it sound different." I don't pay any attention, but I try to concetrate on recording things the way I want them to sound first, instead of futzing around with eq later.

 

[scrubs]

Do what sounds good. If you want to boost, boost away. It may sound less "natural," depending on the quality of your EQ's, but who cares?

 

[mixsit]

It figure it just came from a few simple notions; Starting with pulling down what is wrong sounding first might make for less eq elsewhere, and the effects (if any) of neg. eq is less easily heard.
No bigie.