Q10 EQ, How does the HPF Slope?

[Booda]

I've used the Waves Q10 for a few years and never really known how the Q on it works Exactly. Does anyone know if you set the HPF (hi pass) on say 100hz where does it start and stop? Does the Graph give a good representation? I always thought the graph was just a little visual of what was happening. It would be nice to know the exact #s. Or say you set a boost at 4000k w/ the Q @ 7.00 Is there way to tell how wide that Actually is?

More to the point... How do you go about Cutting everything below 100Hz, entirely, & not effect 101Hz and above? I tried it w/ the TC Graphic EQ and it only cutts it down 12db. ???

Thanks,
B.

 

[SoundofMind]

This is all very subjective and aplies diferent to various situations.

Its reasonable thou, to cut everything belown 50hz, thats where all "grumph" are and its really not necessary. Depeding of your monitoration, it may feels it need, but if your song ever gets to play in a real soundsytem, there is going to be some ehmn... damages

I wouldnt say that cuting everything belown 100hz is always a good choice too ( i am talking about the main section here)
Sometimes..... maybe, but the area around 100- 120hz is where all the punch is, and a mix asks for this frequentily

As for the EQ ghrapic being precise i cant really say, cause i dont use Waves Q10, but i think that those graphics mostly isnt a 100% precise, more like a reading and guide to see whats going on, i guess....

 

[mshilarious]

I've used the Waves Q10 for a few years and never really known how the Q on it works Exactly. Does anyone know if you set the HPF (hi pass) on say 100hz where does it start and stop? Does the Graph give a good representation? I always thought the graph was just a little visual of what was happening. It would be nice to know the exact #s. Or say you set a boost at 4000k w/ the Q @ 7.00 Is there way to tell how wide that Actually is?

More to the point... How do you go about Cutting everything below 100Hz, entirely, & not effect 101Hz and above? I tried it w/ the TC Graphic EQ and it only cutts it down 12db. ???

Thanks,
B.

I think you are obsessing a little much here. I love measurement as much as anybody, but this kind of precision is not necessary. What source is it that you want 101Hz but not 100Hz? That seems very bizarre to me.

Low cut filters generally have a very steep slope, like 18dB or 24dB per octave. That means that if you set a low cut at 100Hz, 50Hz will still be somewhat audible, just greatly suppressed, and that's OK. If you wanted a total cut at 100Hz, you would have to select a higher frequency for the cut, like 400Hz, or create your own filter with a very high slope. That will not do kind things to your audio around the filter point however.

I would leave at least 1/2 octave between a signal and a low cut, and not worry about it.


As far as Q, it is usually stated in one of two ways: the slope of the EQ curve, in dB/Octave, or the width in octaves of the boost/cut. I dunno which the Q10 is, as I don't have it, but with a setting of 7, that sounds like the former. 7 would be a fairly standard setting, 4 would be wide, something like 18 would be narrow.

 

[noisewreck]

You wouldn't want a filter that would (going by your example) cut everything below 100Hz and not affect 101Hz as it would be one hell of an unmusical sounding filter which would bring with it all kinds of other issues such as too much pass-band ripples and strange phase anomalies.

In general a filter's cutoff point is specified where the amplitude of the filtered signal is down by 3dB, so yes, the frequencies above the cutoff point will always be affected to some extent, with any filter.

What you're looking for is a brickwall filter, which really has no musical applications

 

[Booda]

Thanks for the responses...

I'm not talking about cutting the whole Mix at 100Hz.

I guess I should have said below 100 and above 100 (not 101 & above). I'm not trying to get that Precise.

Yes, the Q10 is 7.0 as default. 4 is wider 18 is narrower.

I simply am wondering if there is any precision or approximate values on the Q slopes and HPF/LPF. Like I said I've used this EQ for 5+ years and have wondered this somewhat in the past but never really checked into it. I was doing some crazy EQing (experimenting) last week and wanted a little more precision for the Halibut. That's all.

Like when you put the HPF on 100Hz... the graph reads more like it starts cutting up at about 150 or so.

Is there a way to just cutt from 100Hz and down entirely?

B.

 

[Booda]

In general a filter's cutoff point is specified where the amplitude of the filtered signal is down by 3dB, so yes, the frequencies above the cutoff point will always be affected to some extent, with any filter.

What you're looking for is a brickwall filter, which really has no musical applications

Thanks Noise wreck, we were typing at the same time. I see what your saying. I am just a little curious about this... not really obsessing. & besides the LPF just how far the Q effects the frequencys around it. Obviously the wider the Q the wider the frequency range.... I guess the little graph is as good aproximation as it gets.

Thanks,
B.

 

[noisewreck]

With LPFs and HPFs, those that respond to Q settings, when you increase Q you effectively add resonance around the cutoff point which also has the side effect of steepening the filter curve to some extent. Something to experiment with. Jack up the Q and sweep the cutoff frequency up and down to see if you hear the resonance.

Personally, when looking for drastic cuts, I prefer to use actual filter plugins rather than EQ, for example I find the Reaktor filters (actually a couple that I've built myself for such purposes) more effective.

 

[Ford Van]

I am sure tech support at Waves would be glad to answer your questions about such specific things as far as the slope and center frequency of their eq. Email them and ask.

 

[Booda]

Personally, when looking for drastic cuts, I prefer to use actual filter plugins rather than EQ, for example I find the Reaktor filters (actually a couple that I've built myself for such purposes) more effective.

I've never used or seen such filters. I guess I'm just too old and broke to pay attention. I pretty much have just stuck to the basic EQ, Comp and Reverb w/ some effects such as Chorus or Phaser when recording and mixing. Maybe you opend a New door for me. (try some new things) I'll do a search on Reaktor files. Thanks!

I am sure tech support at Waves would be glad to answer your questions about such specific things as far as the slope and center frequency of their eq. Email them and ask.

I guess a email can't hurt. If they answer me great and if not... oh well. Good idea.

Thanks,
B.

BTW- Noisewreck, what would be an example or situation where you'd use one of those filters? I guess whenever I see something that is new to me (like Reaktor) I somewhat assume it's for Techno or Electronic music... I really only do or have done acoustic instruments... Folk to Metal.

 

[giraffe]

pluggo spectrial filter. brick wall hi-pass (or whatever), the only one i've ever seen.....

oh, by the way, it kinda sounds like shit.
but it works.

 

[noisewreck]

oh, by the way, it kinda sounds like shit.
but it works.

Why am I not surprised?

Booda: Reaktor might be too much if you're just looking for simple filtering (although if you're looking for a ultra flexible modular synth/sampler/FX creationg environment, it's hard to beat). There are a lot of VST filters out there.... the ones that come to mind:

• Antares Filter
• PSP Nitro
• FabFilter Volcano (magazines have been going gaagaagoogoo over the quality of this one BTW)
• OhmForce Quad Frohmage

There are many more out there (commercial, shareware, freeware). You might want to search Google, I'm sure you'll find tons of them out there.