Yeah, I meant “even out the frequency spikes”....poor choice of words on my part...in effect, compressing after EQ even with program compression settings tends to flatten the spectrum back out a little.selig wrote: ↑14 May 2018EQ into compression is fine, but note that it likely will change the amount of compression which may or may not be desirable. Also, not all compressor settings will "even out the volume spikes" - this statement assumes a fast attack and high ratio, more akin to limiting than compression, correct?jimmyklane wrote: ↑14 May 2018True, but I fail to see the alternative when the gain change is isolated to a single frequency band. Overall volume and gain adjustments will change the level of the entire frequency spectrum, but boosting or cutting one frequency band can improve its presence relative to the static level.
THIS is where EQ ***before*** compression really comes in handy, because you can EQ quite heavily and then even out the volume spikes while still retaining the “flavor” that you needed to get by EQing in the first place. Sometimes sending that track to another bus and EQing again after the compressor can work really well.
EQing in parallel also works very well in situations where you want a track to have “air” but not get harsh....parallel channel, HP filter a bit and boost 16k by 6dB and mix it in under the main track.
How is parallel EQ different from just using less EQ in the first place? Yes, multiple bands of parallel EQ (internally) will interact differently, but this is not the same thing at all as putting a serial EQ on a parallel channel…
Also, boosting at 16 kHz can have extremely different results depending on the type of EQ used. Some EQs will hardly do anything set to 16 kHz, while others may affect the spectrum many octaves below 16 kHz. This comes up again and again when folks set two EQs to the same frequency and notice they don't sound the same, and assume it's because of some different "magic" used by one or the other. In most cases it's because the resultant curves look TOTALLY different when set to the same parameters.
In addition, there are several technical reasons that a 16kHz boost would sound different. Almost all of them have to do with the Q and resultant phase response. Shelving filters can also use different topologies (differing math in digital) that cause ripples in phase and frequency. Sampling frequency can have an impact if the EQ handles the upper octave poorly, but in my personal experience that’s only present on very DSP (like my digital console....EQ is awful for more than filters and gentle dips)...