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Equalisers (super n00b question)

hahaha this is such a beginers questiob but can someone explain to me some popular equaliser positions and stuff i know it has a great deal of influence on the sound you put out but i think im with the rest of the 90% of population where i look at one and just go what the fuck... ive made no attempt to understand it lol ever its just been one of those nice extras on things and goto presets on my stereo.... so could someone explain it to me noob style please
sorry

Just mess around with your EQ until it sounds good. There is no "universal" EQ setting, it has to be adjusted to your equipment and to the accoustics of your room.

(I assume you're talking about a regular EQ for home stereo ... the multi-band one, NOT the DJ one ... )

yeah i am
what about the dj ones tho?

The purpose of DJ EQs (the ones on the mixers) isn't to improve the overall sound ... they are used to cut the frequencies of two tracks in the mix that would be clashing (ie. reduce the volume of hihats on the incoming track so they don't overpower the hihats in the track already playing).

DJ EQ's should simply make the sound come as natural as possible (It ussually has an insane amount of Hi's in clubs)

Your EQ should never go above 0 DB.

oh ok thanx!

the DJ may use EQ for a different purpose than a home stereo user or a producer but an EQ is an EQ, all the same

Think of it as individual volume settings for some ranges of the frequency spectrum. So if you want the bass to be louder while the rest stays normal you adjust the EQ sliders that stand for low frequencies (the ones on the left that is).

Personally I think a nice setting is that of the "loudness" principle...Give the low and the high a little boost while the mid stays the same. With a lot of bands this usually looks like a very flattened "U"

quote:

Originally posted by Scorchio Your EQ should never go above 0 DB.

This is NOT true.

EQ can be set to whatever sounds best, even if it means cranking certain bands past 0dB. Your overall signal level should never go over 0dB ... although this wouldn't be much of a problem either since most audio gear is built to handle some overhead, up to 20dB or more in some cases.
Even records are pressed at +6dB reference level !

Whenever i spin, i always have my stereo set on its "FLAT" equilizer setting so i can sculpt the sound how i want it using the 3-band EQ on my mixer. This works pretty well for getting the sound shaped just how i like it, but then again i am monitoring from a very shitty bookshelf stero system, so my recordings always sound different when played on a different system.

Oh well, time to upgrade.

quote:

Originally posted by Kevin Whenever i spin, i always have my stereo set on its "FLAT" equilizer setting so i can sculpt the sound how i want it using the 3-band EQ on my mixer. This works pretty well for getting the sound shaped just how i like it, but then again i am monitoring from a very shitty bookshelf stero system, so my recordings always sound different when played on a different system. Oh well, time to upgrade.

same here i need some new monitors

quote:

Originally posted by skywarp This is NOT true. EQ can be set to whatever sounds best, even if it means cranking certain bands past 0dB. Your overall signal level should never go over 0dB ... although this wouldn't be much of a problem either since most audio gear is built to handle some overhead, up to 20dB or more in some cases. Even records are pressed at +6dB reference level !

Well I used to do what you say, but then DJTJ told me to never raise it above the 0DB
And since his advice my mixes are much more smoother and unrecognisable.
If you have another method I would be happy to listen.

quote:

EQ can be set to whatever sounds best...

Exactly. If keeping the EQ at zero sounds good to you, do it. If some other EQ setting sounds good, then go nuts. It's all about experimenting and creativity, there's no set rules ...

OK
I Understand
Thanks

Before songs are released they go through very expensive hardware studios for eq'ing, mixing, and mastering, by people who charge a lot by the hour and know what they are doing.

So if you're just listening to a song and you have a three band eq in front of you do yourself a favour and don't play with the knobs.

If you're tweaking a sound system for a big club and you have a 16 band eq it's a different story... sometimes things need to be adjusted slightly because of the area you're in.

And if you're using you eq's to mix, obviously you have to move them but your final position after the transition should be at 0.

quote:

Originally posted by skywarp This is NOT true. EQ can be set to whatever sounds best, even if it means cranking certain bands past 0dB. Your overall signal level should never go over 0dB ... although this wouldn't be much of a problem either since most audio gear is built to handle some overhead, up to 20dB or more in some cases. Even records are pressed at +6dB reference level !

When I said this I was referring to the eq on a mixer, rather than a multi-band rackmount graphic equaliser. When setting up a sound system, you should set the eq's on the *mixer* to 0 dB, and then play around with the rackmount eq (or the equalizers on your stereo system) so that it it sounds good. 0 dB is kind of the reference point, by which everything else is measured. It is the level the eq's should be at when just playing a song normally.

The only time the eq's on a DJ mixer should go above 0 dB is when you are doing some kind of effect, or at the end of the night when the amps are already on full, as is the mixer master out, and you just need that bit extra!

And the thing about the records being pressed as +6 dB - I'm not too sure about that, it's all RIAA filtration stuff and it's really complicated suffice it to say that different frequencies are cut at different levels, for example I think the bass is cut by about a third and the tops are raised some. This is why you need a phono preamp.

on my pioneer 500, i keep the Low at 3 quarters from the max and i keep the high and Mid just past half.

There's many situations where setting the EQ past 0dB is useful in a mix ... one situation that I can think of right now is when mixing out of a track with very heavy kickdrum ... if you just leave the incoming track's bass at 0dB, it will seem less powerfull and hard-hitting than the previous one, breaking the flow of your set.

The level at which the records are pressed has nothing to do with RIAA filters and preamps. You have several different standards for pressing records ... the regular being at +0dB reference level, and the so-called "European" levels which are pressed hot (ie. at +6dB reference level) to make the record seem louder (as a result, the grooves need to be deeper as well so the needle wouldn't jump out at bass kicks). This standard is used for pretty much all dance / electronic music / whatever the hell you wish to call it track releases.

BTW. the needle jumping out of the groove is the reason for RIAA equalization ... if the bass was pressed on vinyl at normal levels, it would be impossible for the needle to track it properly.

hey

about the dB thing

if you have all the bands turned above "normal" level, you get more noise than when you lower them to "normal" level (i.e. the middle of the EQ knob/slider. This has to do with how an EQ works. If you want to crank up the volume, do it with volume/amp not with EQ.

quote:

Originally posted by Pjotr G hey about the dB thing if you have all the bands turned above "normal" level, you get more noise than when you lower them to "normal" level (i.e. the middle of the EQ knob/slider. This has to do with how an EQ works. If you want to crank up the volume, do it with volume/amp not with EQ.

I know, but if these are all already on full...

Your gain knobs open
Your channel faders open
Your mixers volume open
Your amplifier open

I don't know what kind of equip you have but if I try that i break all the windows in my street. (+ my speakers )

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