What does DC Offset mean?

[bennychico11]

If the offset is really excessive, ie. more than a few percent, you would filter right after sampling. Otherwise, the less you have to filter, the better, especially when the goal is a truthful sound.
And in case, the offset comes from effect processors in the chain during mixing, you only could handle it afterwards anyway.

Are you saying fix it after you've mixed it down to a stereo file or on the stereo bus?
I still say you fix it once you see it. Otherwise you're robbing yourself of headroom as you mix before it even hits the stereo bus. A hi pass filter set extremely low isn't going to affect anything of significance to your sound...especially if you can set it 20Hz or below. Heck even if you can set it to 10Hz it'll fix it. And if you don't like filters, use a DC offset tool.

 

[MessianicDreams]

. Otherwise, the less you have to filter, the better, especially when the goal is a truthful sound..

Whilst normally I'd agree with this statement, when refering to DC offsets it doesn't really make much sense. Our ears (never mind our repro systems) can't handle anything below 20hz, much less 10hz, so wacking a real low (,20hz) HPF won't do anything.

Quiet a few DAW's have DC-offest removal features available, I know Pro Tools has it as an AudioSuite plugin..

 

[LogicDeLuxe]

Otherwise you're robbing yourself of headroom as you mix before it even hits the stereo bus.

Not if you mix to float, as I always do. Headroom is no issue in float wavs.

If you're mixing on an analog machine, it's a different thing, of course. There, a high pass on its root is probably the best thing you can do to fix it.

Our ears (never mind our repro systems) can't handle anything below 20hz, much less 10hz, so wacking a real low (,20hz) HPF won't do anything.

Nevertheless, it sometimes just feels wrong when you apply a simple filter. A more advanced filter without phase shifting is fine though. It's mainly an issue in electronic genres, since conventional instruments don't have anything important at such low frequencies anyways.

Quiet a few DAW's have DC-offest removal features available, I know Pro Tools has it as an AudioSuite plugin..

I actually don't call a DC removal tool a filter in a common sense, as its approach is different from a high pass filter. There's nothing wrong in using it.