Pre/post recording EQ/Effects DAW

E

ejb

New member
I have only recorded the main line out signals for recording until now. EQ/Effects were set at the mixer, gain levels set, push record on a digital recorder and that was it. Only adjustments post recording would be EQ on whatever is being used to playback the recording.

I am now recording off channel insert jacks (TR one click method) so the signal has no EQ/Effects. Is it best to set EQ/Effects on a DAW before recording or can I apply EQ/Effects to the playback of the recording then save the file with EQ/Effects applied? Is there a difference?
 
If you print effects while recording, you're kind of stuck with them. If you record without effects, you can add and refine them as needed later during mixdown. You don't need to save the individual tracks with effects added, just add them non-destructively in software*, then export the mix to a new file.

*Unless you're using Audacity, which is an editor, not a DAW. If that's the case, get a DAW.
 
ejb said:
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I am now recording off channel insert jacks (TR one click method) so the signal has no EQ/Effects. Is it best to set EQ/Effects on a DAW before recording or can I apply EQ/Effects to the playback of the recording then save the file with EQ/Effects applied? Is there a difference?
Click to expand...
Generally, in a DAW such as GarageBand, Cubase, et al., having effects in the channel you're recording will only mean that you hear them in playback and/or the loopback (vs. "direct") if you're monitoring that way. It does not mean they are captured as part of the recording. As @bouldersoundguy says, DAWs are non-destructive unless you "print" ("bounce and replace" in Logic) the track, and even that is almost always done after recording stops, and not during the capture.

Yeah, don't use Audacity as your DAW is my $.02. OK for editing or quick takes, though.
 
keith.rogers said:
Generally, in a DAW such as GarageBand, Cubase, et al., having effects in the channel you're recording will only mean that you hear them in playback and/or the loopback (vs. "direct") if you're monitoring that way. It does not mean they are captured as part of the recording. As @bouldersoundguy says, DAWs are non-destructive unless you "print" ("bounce and replace" in Logic) the track, and even that is almost always done after recording stops, and not during the capture.

Yeah, don't use Audacity as your DAW is my $.02. OK for editing or quick takes, though.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much.

I am using GarageBand Mac. My first attempts to apply EQ/FX after recording were a disaster. Whatever I had recorded from inserts could not be fixed, only fouled up more by applying anything from the huge amount of presets or making custom adjustments. My current attempts sound better by choosing EQ/FX presets prior to recording, but I would like to apply them post recording. It seems what comes from the inserts is a nasty thin sounding signal that is hopeless unless EQ/FX are applied prior to recording and I assume cannot be adjusted once printed.
 
ejb said:
I am using GarageBand Mac. My first attempts to apply EQ/FX after recording were a disaster. Whatever I had recorded from inserts could not be fixed, only fouled up more by applying anything from the huge amount of presets or making custom adjustments. My current attempts sound better by choosing EQ/FX presets prior to recording, but I would like to apply them post recording. It seems what comes from the inserts is a nasty thin sounding signal that is hopeless unless EQ/FX are applied prior to recording and I assume cannot be adjusted once printed.
Click to expand...
Maybe you could describe, in detail, what your signal chain is, and how you are setting levels, etc., i.e., what the source audio is (mic'd vocal, acoustic instrument, amplifier speaker, line out from a keyboard, etc.) and what it is going through to get to the Mac. It sounds like you're using a mixer, so what is it, cabling, etc.? Then, how you're creating the tracks, and show a recorded track (screen-shot) without any FX. Then, use the Share menu to Export the song to disk as an MP3 and attach it, or if you cannot attach anything (might be a post threshold # feature?), put it in a "cloud" location so we can hear what the recording sounds like with zero FX.
 
I never do anything on the input, doing all my tweaks once it's recorded - but I just watched this video on RAK studios, where their engineers do it before record. Interesting.
 
ejb said:
Thank you very much.

I am using GarageBand Mac. My first attempts to apply EQ/FX after recording were a disaster. Whatever I had recorded from inserts could not be fixed, only fouled up more by applying anything from the huge amount of presets or making custom adjustments. My current attempts sound better by choosing EQ/FX presets prior to recording, but I would like to apply them post recording. It seems what comes from the inserts is a nasty thin sounding signal that is hopeless unless EQ/FX are applied prior to recording and I assume cannot be adjusted once printed.
Click to expand...
Something in your Signal Chain is wrong - can you describe it in detail? For example here is a vocal chain in Logic that I'm recording - the guess mixes go to reverb, plates,
compression and some other stuff

Screen Shot 2023-01-16 at 9.25.00 AM.png
 
My signal comes into a Mac from a Focusrite audio interface. The DAW screen does not give chain details as the above image, nor what order things happen.
 
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