I've made music using computers since the late 90s. I've used probably hundreds of EQs. After some 300 unfinished songs, I can conclude that it doesn't matter what EQ I use, every song I make sounds like shit regardless.

@wanderingjuniper

2 жыл бұрын

lol

@mooseymoose

2 жыл бұрын

As long as you’re having fun!

@CHEpachilo

2 жыл бұрын

Stability is a sign of mastery, as we say in Russia.

@hannes1734

2 жыл бұрын

At least you're consistent👍

@Am6-9

2 жыл бұрын

Yep, I could make any song sound shit with the most expensive analog EQ one could think of ;)

I want a pultec EQ that talks to me, and tells me how well I am doing at mixing.

@jakobole

Жыл бұрын

But i also wan't it to tell me when my snare sounds like shit :)

@EdwinDekker71

Жыл бұрын

@@jakobole I mean, how can it sound boomy and thin at the same time!?

@KeenanCrow

Жыл бұрын

My snare always sounds like shit, so that’s an unnecessary feature.

@tomik6537

Жыл бұрын

chatgpt: mixing edition

@ts4gv

Жыл бұрын

probably less than a year away with all the AI shit happening

You had me at: "This implies time travel and is the work of the devil"

@sokoleski

Жыл бұрын

Same here... i was i stiches and could not stop laughing 🤣

@ThePickledOnions

5 ай бұрын

😂😂😂

I love your metaphor about practicing with a metronome, one of the joys of music production is that it is extremely technical in theory but always an art in practice.

@theboogie_monsta

2 жыл бұрын

I love the intro music. 99% of KZread DAW tutorials, the music in the video is cheesy, dead, sterile. I wonder if Dan would make a video about this topic - is there a danger if everyone focuses on technical perfection, we end up with a culture of technocrats? The UK has produced so many epic scenes and genres, because of skilled producers who rejected a conformist attitude. Dan, what do you think?

@Bittamin

Жыл бұрын

@@theboogie_monsta I just think people need to step back and realize all of the best and most loved music to this day is usually made by some dope ass teenagers with a lot of talent and very often no professional production skills. Most of the best songs have terrible mixes, but it’s the art that is so amazing that our ears actually fill the cracks. For example when I hear Toto- Africa in my head right now from remembering, I’m actually generating a cleaner version than what actually exists, and then when I listen to the song for real my brain still has this overlay playing along with the song. Maybe I’m crazy but I think our brains definitely make music sound better to us than it actually sounds most of the time. It’s a special thing that I don’t hear people talking about, and i would love to see it studied

@Bittamin

Жыл бұрын

The Toto song has a good mix I’m sure, especially for it’s time. We have just move so much further and faster with our technology we forgot what matters with music sometimes

"The Pultec would never dream of judging your life choices" 😅 ... I spit my coffee on that one!

Dan, I can't thank you enough man. I am a multimedia artist so I live in tutorial / technical discussion purgatory. Every once in a while, there is a beacon of absolute succinctness and uncompromising neutrality and consideration in terms of fairness to opinions/uses/styles. Just a person who understands the fabric of technicality and its threshold and elasticity in creative practical application. As far as sound goes, you are probably the reigning champion. So cheers for all the hard work you put into teaching.

@Erudotic

2 жыл бұрын

He is an an exceptionally great teacher

2:51 I also cut my teeth on cheap mixers in the mid-nineties. At the time I was still in awe of the notion that music could travel down a wire. I used to drool over things then that today would seem hilariously quaint. Unlimited channels of multi-band, fully-parametric EQ was a luxury beyond my wildest dreams, and the closest equivalents of the day were many strata beyond my reach. Fast-forward nearly thirty years and the most meager of commodity stock EQ plugins is orders magnitude more powerful and flexible than anything I could have imagined in high school. We live in an age of wonders. Every time I find myself swayed by the latest marketing craze I breathe deeply, glance over at my old Mackie 1604 VLZ leaning against the wall and remind myself that I already have it all.

@mooseymoose

2 жыл бұрын

I feel like I am in a fantasy land when I make music on the iPad, translating my guitar signal to MIDI on the fly with no added hardware, Loopy Pro and plugins are mind blowing! Long gone are the days of Fostex tape 4 tracks etc.

@benhall2235

2 жыл бұрын

@@mooseymoose those four track tape recorders are highly sought after , the prices they go go for is ridiculous. They’re being used creatively by hipsters looking for the lo fi aesthetic to their sounds.

@Am6-9

2 жыл бұрын

@@benhall2235 i still have my Tascam Porta07 from the early nineties, but haven’t seen them yet go for ridiculous prices. Perhaps it’s not old enough yet, or the wrong kind of old, it was really the absolute entry level back then (the only one I could afford). But I’m hanging on to it in the hope that by the time I’ll go into retirement, it’ll be worth a fortune 😋

@mooseymoose

2 жыл бұрын

@@netwatcherer MIDI Guitar 2 on iPad

@mooseymoose

2 жыл бұрын

@@benhall2235 I had enough of them back in the day, that’s for sure. Plugins can make tape warble and analog saturation just fine these days.

My jaw dropped when I saw that eq matching the pultec. I guess I'm using pultec style eq because there is no way I'll have the courage to make a curve that intense with a pro-Q type eq. I'm trying hard these days not to look at the eq graph. Thanks Dan

@marksense

2 жыл бұрын

I can relate because I came to this realization just recently ... (precisely that in some plug-ins we can turn off / hide the eq graph entirely and keep the rest) after many years I realized my Sonnox EQ plugin and TDR Nova can have all the same great feature sets with the added bonus of a selectable "ears only" mode as Sonnox calls it or simply hide display. I think more plugins would benefit end user decision making with at least the option to choose. Note, I am full aware there are plenty of options that don't require a graphic EQ display as part of the workflow. ;)

@arsenije_wav8620

2 жыл бұрын

Exactly. I understand that mixing with your eyes is a bad thing, but we are visual creatures, its literally unavoidable. We're almost conditioned to view extreme settings as bad, sometimes its best not to know what's actually going on under the hood

@queenpurple8433

2 жыл бұрын

It’s funny cause I’ve never had a pultec style EQ but have heard people do the trick, I sometimes do up to a 21 DB cut at around 666 hz on my kicks

@tomik6537

Жыл бұрын

​@@queenpurple8433cutting mids is for new mixers to feel special. yeah treble and bass sound cool doesnt mean bettee

@jordanrodrigues1279

Жыл бұрын

​@@tomik6537 See the video answering "how loud should my drums be?" for an in-depth discussion of why trying things that aren't subtle is a good habit.

Wow..Ive been involved in music tech from the 80's, seen hardware and plug ins come and go..etc.. Dan, I am not worthy of the amazing , informative, no BS approach you give to all us music minions..... I actually thought I knew what preringing was, how wrong I was.......... You really are the Anchor of audio truth ...Many others just are a stench in stagnant waters... Hats off to you sir.. As for Metronomes , I consider a loop as a more complicated metronome, a feel.......The advantages are sublime...... But yes, I never use it in a mix, after all, it was just a metronome....

I have to say, Spectre at the end of your chain adds that special eq color and magic that I haven't been able to get with any other plugin. It's incredible and it sounds absolutely phenomenal. It's really low latency so you can track with it as well. It gives you that sound that inspires great performances. Plus it's dead simple to use.

Would be great to see you mixing a song from start to finish.

@kimseniorb

Жыл бұрын

everyone is only good at one thing. dan is good at spreading controversy around the internet by measuring plugins and speaking to his brainless flock with an intimate soft voice

@upstatemastersofsuccess

3 ай бұрын

​@@kimseniorb lol

The segment on creating crossover filters is glorious!

This KZread channel is a heaven send. I use it all the time. As soon as I think I have a good understanding of audio, I come here and watch one of Dan's videos. This reminds me that I know almost nothing about audio. Thanks Dan! Cheers.

every upload from you is goated - thank you

What's brilliant about Dan's videos is that they present a technical guide to the intricacies of music production, especially with concepts like phasing or compression. But then he weaves in the philosophical side of production in every example, making you question if all the technical stuff really matters in the end, if what goes into your ears sounds the way you want it to.

The nonchalant way of demonstrating the plugin on screen by talking through it... so slick

I’m always learning new things from you. Thank you ❤

Thank you Dan. After your last video on EQ I started getting a ton of questions from people I know about EQ Phase and which kind of EQ I use in mastering. Didn't understand why the sudden interest until a friend told me about your video. Very glad you followed up to simplify things and remind people to just focus on the result and not so deeply on the tools in the heat of the mix (or master in my case). I think people get a little too caught up thinking there's a BEST solution for every EQ choice, and often the simplest method is the most effective. Keep up the great work.

Text-To-Speech is getting better and better! Thanks for your super helpful tutorials!

“Effect precedes cause. This implies time travel and is the work of the devil.” 🤣🤣

The thing about the crossover filters made my day! Thank you Dan 😙

I love your style. Thank you!

Thanks Dan. Another great video.

Thanks Dan. Really appreciate this.

Nice tutorial, one that I can really learn new concepts about my audio plug-ins.

Lovely. Listened to the whole thing. It was like someone explaining the offside rule to a ferret.

thanks Dan, you're a living legend.

Inspiring - Thank you Dan

"This implies time travel and is the work of the devil." - Dan Worrall

@bendickeson424

2 жыл бұрын

Haha yes I chuckled at this

13:57 ...well done, Dan. You've stumped *me* of all people. I cannot tell if that's Spencer, Cider, or Lady Parsec.

You won the internet today with your 'work of the devil' comment. It was the perfect dry read. I'm still chuckling as I write this.

Thanks for your insights.

Great insight on the Linear Phase-behaviour! Sure, you can mimic (almost) everything in EQs like the ProQ3 - but unless you're explicitly trying to: you won't. To me it's very much about workflow and intuitivity. I'll use an EQ that does the pultec thing, because it lets me get to places I'd never get with my regular EQ in no time. When it comes to dynamic EQ mid/side options are very important to me. Nova only does that when you load 2 instances - which just isn't handy. So color me surprised that it was primarily set up to be a dynamic eq. Good video!

This guy puts the engineer in audio engineer. That wasn't funny cus it's no joke, one of the smartest and most elegant technical music Production content on the entire web, and it's all available for free here on KZread what a blast! Thanks for your content dude you're truly a wizard!

great explanation!🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

LOL I feel validated in a weird way :). Thanks Dan. Did my own nulltests in the thread and ended up proving my own concern wrong!

Interesting. Choosing to be that one happy person may help more than one may think. Love the OCD style approach and the metronome practice metaphor.

“…this implies time travel, and is the work of the devil” 🤣

I just fell over with the “time travel” & “work of the devil” comments. You, sir, are awesome. Keep it up

Work of the devil 😂 Great video 🔥

Continually brilliant material presented with a Terence McKenna flair.

I really enjoy the myth busting stuff and I would love a video on cables "Do certain cables sound better than other cables?" type of video

Stumbled upon this tutorial and wanted to understand the purpose of multiple EQs in a chain. Cheers

Good video, i pretty much only use tone boosters eq4 at this point because of the ease of use in boosting/cutting

Lovely! I agree with your conclusion too! I have self-debunked my perception of the differences between EQ plugins with Plugin Doctor. I still keep some of my go-to Kush plugins around because they are fast and familiar. But for anyone looking to buy some color EQ plugins these days, I'd probably steer them towards the free Ignite Amps Pultec, TDR, and Analog Obsessions plugins. As you said, its more about the interface and workflow. I personally don't think this is worth being repetitively duped out of hundreds of dollars for all the latest "must-have" analog emulations. Save your money for something that will give you a clear advantage :) On the nerd side, Kirchhoff is said to use a gradient of linear phase and minimum phase in the "Mixed Phase Mode" depending on the band frequency.

Thanks a lot Dan

Awesome video

Awesome video Dan! Really informative. I found myself using more and more the ToneBoosters Equalizer 4. It's a really great plugin for its price / performance.

@aKRo228

2 жыл бұрын

ToneBoosters Fix is the best dynamic EQ i ever used it's my hidden gem during mastering.

@akashicowl9303

2 жыл бұрын

@@aKRo228 I think Fix basically does everything EQ4 does (and they made it free as a legacy plugin!). Minus the saturation control. Yeah, both are fantastic. To me, the only significant thing they seem to lack compared to Pro-Q 3 is the spectrum comparison/overlap function. But I'm not even sure I'd end up using it that much anyway so I'm probably going to go for EQ4. EDIT : TB FIX actually has something less I missed compared to EQ4 : the narrowest Q is 5 vs 10 in EQ4. EDIT again : also 6 vs 16 bands

I am digging that teac tape machine emu too. Using it on some game music im working on. It is so smooth with a nice bump in the bass. Rest of the tascam stuff is alright.

I am returning from this iceberg trip to day traders nfts and other imaginary scams affecting the lives of thousands. I missed this warm zone of youtube where real knowledge is shared and the gatekeeper dan plays by sharing his ideas and experience.

nice one dan ;-) if you create passive crossovers for speaker you cant use linear phase filters but thats another story... thx for sharing your knowlege and inspiration to explore the tools!

@DanWorrall

2 жыл бұрын

When I flattened the frequency response with minimum phase filters I may have actually created Linkwitz Riley filters. But I wasn't confident enough that was correct to mention it in the video...

Hello and thanks for all your incredible content, today I would like to ask you what you think of SPLIT EQ? I’ve been using it a lot and it makes wonder, but sometime I have the feeling that in some case it could make the mix dull or rumbly and I cannot pin point the cause of this…. Sorry for the sudden question and I wish you a great day

Just here to say thanks again Dan.

Im very happy with fabfilter for subtractive and some acustica nebula programs for additive.

reigning audio champion

really great video, so indepth :) What is the music you play in the background, its really apt

As a software developer I am only beginning to get into the tools and mechanics of audio plugin programming but it occurs to me especially from this video and a few others that one potential solution to finding the right EQ or really any other processor for a specific rather than general purpose might be to have plugins available on a preset basis rather than categorized on brand or type of processor. I see some engineers complain that they have too many plugins but that they bought specific plugins outside of the stock plugins because they had something special. Remembering what that special thing is when you are looking at a list of 10 compressors or EQ plugins I think is too much. If instead you could have a category for snare, kick, guitar, mastering, bus, stems, rock, jazz, vocals, whatever you could find a plugin that fits. Even if the preset was not really a preset but just the default, it would remind you that a specific plugin is good on adding sheen to a vocal or beef to a kick drum. In that case it wouldn't matter how many plugins you had you could find the right one that had something special for what you are thinking about at the time. You could still go right to the UAD LA2A if that's what you want but if you are thinking of a sound color in general and just want to get that it might be better to go by preset. That may be available in some individual plugins but this would be for all. I don't know if this would be at the VST/AU level, the framework level (like Juice) or the DAW level at this point but I think it would be a boost for productivity and creativity.

13:30 great explanation!

Great Video. Thanking you. P

That crossfade trick is gold

Super interesting video, interested in the crossover filter parts, what are some practical uses in mixing?

@DanWorrall

7 ай бұрын

Basically anything you want to be multiband that isn't. Compression and distortion / saturation are the most obvious examples: you can pick any flavour you like for each band and tailor exactly what you want. That said, it's not something I need to do very often...

I'm hearing the buttermaker... It's beeping. My butter is ready

Great video. To answer to question in terms of base plugin use… I think a good set of eq would be the following: -1 parametric eq -1 m/s capable eq -1 dynamic eq -1-3 colorful eq This is more than enough to have a great selection. Further would be, if it’s to your liking. -1 resonance suppression eq like gullfoss or soothe2 I personally haven’t used a resonance suppression eq but they seem to do “something nice” to vocals once you’ve finished your vocal chain. A little bit of some ai like cleaning. Anyone have experience with res suppression eq?

I love how the bettermaker does not judge me. That's why its my favorite.

I wasn't too big of a fan of the original IK tape machines, but the TASCAM/TEAC ones are fabulous! The A-3340S is especially tasty.

@alexanderewing3779

2 жыл бұрын

CPU hogs, though!

@nj1255

2 жыл бұрын

@@alexanderewing3779 Absolutely. The sound is worth it though!

Personally, I am more and more just using simple console type EQ like SSL or Neve emulations, not because of the “legendary tone” or some famous people recorded/mixed with them (i don’t give a shit about that), but because of the limitations and the lack of visuals force me to listen and be creative instead of staring at a frequency graph and EQ curves and wondering if that “looks” right. Only for some very specific tasks (dynamic or sum/difference EQ) I reach for TB_Equalizer or Nova. (And I rarely ever use a pultec style EQ. I know about the “pultec” trickof course, but I can rarely make it work somehow, especially not on kicks. A bit better on snares, but more often than not I’ll take it of the channel again…)

@pedrosilvamusician

2 жыл бұрын

I also enjoy the ssl and find I make much more deliberate decisions with my ears. However I do love the Q3 too

Dan's the man! :)

Thank you thank you Thank youuuuuu

5:55 So there I was, trying to pick an EQ plug in, and accidentally summoned Lucifer.

...this implies time travel, and is the work of the Devil..LOL, i died right there !! 😂 No one makes as entertaining videos as Dan... and bloody damn elegant as well!

Can you make a video about Multiband compression and potential issues with multiband crossovers ?

I found myself disagreeing with the white sea studio channel opinions quite often, there always seemed to be some holes or contradictions in his scientific explanations and justifications, but the final nail in the coffin for my trust of that channel came when he said he didn't like the top end of Nova eq and I realised either his set up or ears were either off, or simply don't align with mine. Fabian is one of today's best audio coders and to my ears Nova's high frequency behaviour is up there with the absolute best paid or free.

“ … the work of the devil.” Absolutely perfect.

The shade - haha. "I'm one of those normal people..."

Haha the linear and non linear phase argument was class

Would love your thoughts on Kirchhoff EQ.

@Mansardian

2 жыл бұрын

Dan is the official Fabfilter tutor. Don't know if that will ever happen.

Dan, what`s your opinion on dual-mono mode in Slick EQ? Is it something you would use instead of Stereo? As I understand it lets EQ-ing a bit differently L and R channels, like in Brainworx consoles with Analog Mode on, right?

Very informative video! I was always curious with regards to the high frequency EQ cramping in certain EQ's like the stock Reaper eq versus the Pro-Q3. Is this cramping present when using a low-pass filter?

@DanWorrall

2 жыл бұрын

Yes. But in my experience it's most obvious when boosting around 10k with a bell filter.

@jakobole

Жыл бұрын

@@DanWorrall Have you tried the free EQ "Luftikus" that has a "40k"-air option? On some things it sounds stellar!

This implies time travel which is the work of the devil. I f****** love this man

you should use SlickEQ GE... always, because its the best EQ plugin ever made =D the tilt filters are super useful

Dan is seriously carrying future generations engineers on his shoulders

Do a video on “classic XXX applications” like the pulltec on bass drum thing you did here. Or the 1176 on snare etc...

Hello Dan, can you please make a video about the DMG Audio EQuilibrium and MAAT EQOrange and why they are so pricey.

Thanks great vid as usual Dan! Regarding the section on rolling your own crossover filters. I've found that Waves L3 Multi-maximizer seems to do a great job of this by just soloing bands. Have you ever tested that? Very quick and no messing around with the slopes. It nulls with pink noise (original vs. re-combined crossover) even if using all 5 bands. Also it has a lot less latency than Pro-Q 3 in Linear phase mode. Only 3538 samples of delay vs. ProQ's 5184 samples. I'll use the different band solo'd for my parallel drums, bass and vocal busses (for example for bass or drums I'll solo 80Hz and below band, MV2 that to all hell, and blend it back in parallel). I don't do any processing with the L3 (limiting, or dither), just use it as a crossover by solo-ing the bands.

@DanWorrall

2 жыл бұрын

You're using a crossover filter as a crossover filter, which seems like a good strategy! Should work with any multiband plug that allows you to solo bands and not process them otherwise.

@michaelprochilo7945

2 жыл бұрын

@@DanWorrall thanks for the reply Dan! and haha I guess I am using a crossover as a crossover :P - thanks again for putting in all this work and sharing with everybody!

i hear the reverb more in the pro-q3 example! implies a lot really

Cans of worms ? You open them for a living. Respect !

Hahaha, I love those comments about linear phase... "this implies time travel, and is the work of the devil." 😂

Sir, thou art awesome.

Time travel is the work of the devi!l. I just woke up the dog laughing.

Please take a look at Kirchhoff-EQ by Three-Body Technology. it's new and it has some very unique and competitive features.

@francismcfadden3305

2 жыл бұрын

I own Kirchhoff... it kills Pro Q 3

Very interesting. Any good sources to be able to understand this video from 5:00 onward?

Could you try the VOXENGO overtone g EQ and the marvel eq I use those all the time so I would like to know if technically they are good or they have all of the problems he could have in an EQ VST thx

Skill is king. You can get a better mix with a stock parametric EQ and tube saturator if you know what you’re doing, than someone with dynamic and passive parametric EQ’s who don’t know what to listen for.

Why does the pro q3 pultec trick emulation have reverb? That can’t be to do with the plug-in itself, can it?

Can I ask if anyone knows the reason why on his additional kick EQ curve, he's got a big attenuation at 75hz?

Thanks Dan. But what EQ should I be using? Seriously. I've watched this and dozens of other videos (including yours) as well as digging into forums for an answer to the seemingly simple question "What EQ and setting should I be using if I want to apply high-pass cuts to multiple instruments in a track". For some reason this is a contentious topic. With people saying, "it's not worth it because of the phase or pre-ringing problems" to "why would you want to do that anyway, you're probably living your life all wrong." So far the consensus seems to be, to take any eq and set it at a 25db slope and just hope it doesn't negatively color your sound. I make cinematic music that is very busy with orchestra and synths and contemporary rock and roll gear sometimes all playing at the same time. I want to be able to put some of these instruments in a box with high AND low pass filters, without thinking I'm creating all kinds of phase nightmares all over the track, or, you know having pre-ringing on every transient. IDK what I'm doing. Does anyone?

@DanWorrall

2 жыл бұрын

Avoid linear phase. Stop worrying about phase shift. Sorted :)

Cool, thanks for another masterpiece! I have a phase related question (sorry if it's not EQ related). Would you consider linear phase a "coloration" of the sound then? I use SoundID (former Sonarworks) to EQ my speakers and try to minimize my room crappiness when I mix songs and it has a linear phase mode (or actually 3, with a zero latency, a linear phase and a mixed mode). I usually switch the linear phase mode ON and it just feels tighter on the bass (or that's what my brain tells me, don't know how much it can be trusted). Do you think it's kinda wrong, because the "real" sound is what I have to deal whit while mixing, therefore it needs to sound good in minimum phase? Or is it good because the linear phase fixes what SoundID changes with its EQs? Sorry for the highly confusing comment :'D

@DanWorrall

2 жыл бұрын

If you're correcting colouration from a speaker cabinet: that will be minimum phase filtering. In theory a corrective minimum phase filter would therefore be correcting both the frequency response and the phase shift, while the linear phase filter only corrects frequency response. In theory.

You can get a linear phase filter without a FFT - the sole requirement is that its impulse response is symmetric or antisymmetric. But then it requires this “time travel” and the latency to process “future” samples to affect the current one.

@DanWorrall

2 жыл бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/l4etpdeug93bdZc.html

Do analog EQs create saturation harmonics from boosted frequencies or does it affect the whole signal?

I had no idea time travel was the work of the devil. But, looking back at Back to the Future, I guess I can see your point.