bringing out the highs

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rusty K
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Rusty K

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Hello,

My mixes are good but my final result, after mastering, sounds a little too muted on the hign end. The bass freq's are pounding and I don't want to lose that but I'm thinking I need to use a low end shelf to make the highs jump out at the mastering stage, I'm just not sure at what freq. to cut in and also how much to bring it down...it's easy to ruin the mix at this final stage.

It's the age old problem of a mix sounding fine on monitor speakers but when translated to other media players the highs aren't as crisp.

Thanks,
Rusty K
 
The beast way might be to turn down the highs on your monitors. A lot of monitors have little controls on the back to help you do this. It is always best to make sure that your speakers aren't lying to you.
 
I'm using Tannoy Reveal, maybe not the best but they are good enough to have gotten me this far. There are no controls on the back.

I'm older so maybe some of the highs are gone from my ear after years of rock and roll but really I don't think that's it either cause I hear them fine on other recordings so I know what I'm looking for.

This made me think of another related question....I've learned generally not to boost any freq's with digital recording. I just carve away the freq's I don't like but my question is if you have cut freq's in a certain area below 0db and then boost back part of what you just cut, this is really just replacing freq's that were already there assuming you don't boost over 0db right?

Hope that made sense.

Rusty K
 
A little lift in the "air" area shouldn't hurt as long as the EQ is pretty decent.
 
Massive Master said:
A little lift in the "air" area shouldn't hurt as long as the EQ is pretty decent.
Click to expand...

In your opinion which is better at doing that:
Cambridge
Sonalksis
?
 
Rusty K said:
This made me think of another related question....I've learned generally not to boost any freq's with digital recording. I just carve away the freq's I don't like but my question is if you have cut freq's in a certain area below 0db and then boost back part of what you just cut, this is really just replacing freq's that were already there assuming you don't boost over 0db right?

Rusty K
Click to expand...

Rusty -

Check out this thread on the site, in particular the discussions about addititve vs. subtractive EQ:

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=127765&page=2&pp=25

If your mixes are sounding bright enough on your montors, but are dull on other speakers then you have a problem with either your monitors or your room most likely. How do you mixes compare with other commercial recordings on your monitors and room?

Sometimes people starting out confuse high-end frequencies with high-mid frequencies. Say for example that you are boosting 10K and up and your mixes are sounding "bright enough". When played on lower-end speakers the 10K up region will most likely be rolled-off more than reference monitors so the mix will have a tendency of sounding dull when compared to a mix with a good sense of well-balanced high-mid to high-end since the high-mids will still be coming through on cheaper speakers.

You may want to keep a cheap pair of monitors around to A/B your mixes. One of the things that I do is to have a radio transmitter (just one of those those MP3 player/car radio devices works well) on my board. I use this to transmit the mix to a radio on a boom box and stereo systems in other rooms in order to check things out for consistency.
 
Rusty K said:
I'm older so maybe some of the highs are gone from my ear after years of rock and roll but really I don't think that's it either cause I hear them fine on other recordings so I know what I'm looking for.
Click to expand...

It doesn't sound like your hearing is causing the problems. If in fact you had hearing loss that was rolling the highs off, your mixes would probably sound bright to others. You would be adding extra high frequencies to compensate for the the lack of them in your own hearing curve.
 
Hey folks,

Thanks for the input.

Let me address the subtractive vs additive methods of eqing first. It seems there are opinions on both sides. I'm mainly a musician and songwriter with limited tech knowledge of sound engineering, but I didn't start getting good results on my home recording setup until I began to grasp the subtractive eqing concept. It's working for me.

I might not have this right but it does seem logical to me that in the digital audio realm where sound is data, boosting/additive eqing is trying to add data that isn't there. On the other hand "Additive" eqing perhaps is just a simple dublication or cloning of data and not a problem at all. I sure would like to have that question cleared up by someone more knowledgable than I.

I do seem to notice the additive eq more easily but maybe this is a time for me to compromise a bit and just boost a little in the higher range?

Rusty K
 
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I use both methods. Depends on what I am after when mixing. Although I do mix a tad dark.

I have learned to adjust my mixing accordingly.

The song I did that went gold in 2002 woke me up a little, so I listen to specific items in the mix and see if they need some high end boosting. to compensate for what will happen in mastering.

Also if you have the budget, it never hurst to have the project mastered 2 times. 1st time to see your weak spots so you can alter those elements in each mix and then get it remastered.

Never hurts and it will improve your mixing.
 
Teacher said:
In your opinion which is better at doing that:
Cambridge
Sonalksis
?
Click to expand...
A fine question indeed! And with a trick answer!

After testing both fairly extensively in the past, I found the only edge that the Sonalksis had over the Cambridge was just that - Additive highs. I preferred the Cambridge for almost everything else.

HOWEVER -

The UAD Pultec plug blows every other plug (in an additive highs application) out of the water. That thing is freakin' amazing. I even prefer it over much of my hardware.
 
Hey giles117,

I have just a little home setup so I consider every thing I do here as pre-production/demo but I'm beginning to amaze myself so who knows maybe I can get the basics of a good product out someday.

I'm pretty old school, like an overdriven Fender amp in a minor key is about as dark as I get.

Rusty K
 
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