If you are looking at Ableton EQs, you will see three options – EQ Eight, EQ Three, and Channel EQ – each with their own character and function.

The question is, what are the Ableton EQs for and why did they create three different types of what is essentially the same effect?

Once you know the different ways to EQ, and which one you need for each scenario, then you will have a much better time while mixing and performing.

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The low-down

Channel EQ – Replication of a console EQ
EQ Eight – Highly detailed EQ for studio work
EQ Three – Great three-channel EQ resembling a DJ mixer EQ

Read more for the full details…

What is Ableton’s Channel EQ

Starting with one of the lesser-discussed EQ, we have Channel EQ. This simple three-band effect is inspired by the EQs on classic mixing desks.

Because of its lower precision than EQ Eight, it is good for later-stage EQing, for example adding small tweaks on a drum bus or the master channel.

In addition to its three main controls, it also has an 80Hz high-pass filter to roll off the low-end rumble, and a Mid frequency control.

The Low control is tuned to 100Hz and is a low-shelf filter with an adaptive gain (+/-15dB) which changes the curve depending on how hard you push or cut the bass.

The Mid control is a +/-12dB bell filter which can be swept across frequencies from 120 Hz to 7.5 kHz using the Mid frequency control.

The High control actually combines two filters. When boosting, it controls the gain of a high shelf filter, up to 15 dB and the shelving filter is combined with a low-pass filter (20 kHz to 8 kHz) when the highs are turned down.

If you are building your own custom MIDI controller, this is perhaps the best of the Ableton EQs for mapping.

What is Ableton’s EQ Eight

EQ Eight can be seen as the main EQ for Ableton. It allows for the most control out of the three types and should be your go-to effect when mixing.

 It features up to eight parametric filters per input channel, with four enabled by default.

Each filter can be selected by checking the box next to the number, and the filter type can be selected via the dropdown.

Clicking the headphone button is a great way to solo a band and hear only the frequencies in that range. It is great for finding the nasty resonances and harsh frequencies so you know exactly where to cut.

The input signal can be processed using one of three modes: Stereo, L/R (left/right) and M/S (mid-side).

Stereo – The main setting, which applies the same curve on both channels.

L/R – Allows independent EQing on each of the left and right channels. The Edit switch indicates the active channel, and is used to toggle between the two curves.

M/S – Allows for Mid/Side processing allowing the EQ to modify the frequencies in the centre and stereo spread independently. The Edit switch indicates the active channel, and is used to toggle between the two curves.

The filter types for each band are:

• 48 or 12 dB/octave Low cut (best when applied to band 1)
• Low shelf
• Bell curve
• Notch
• High shelf
• 12 or 48 dB/octave High cut (best when applied to the last enabled band)

EQ Eight has a Q control for each of the bands which can be controlled via the dedicated knob or by holding Alt while dragging on the EQ curve.

The Adaptive Q control is a great tool to have enabled, it means that the Q increases proportionally to the boosting or cutting of a band meaning it mimics tradition console EQs and allows for a smoother frequency response.

Leave this enabled unless you know what you are doing.

The little arrow button at the top can be clicked to open up a larger version of the EQ view.

What is Ableton’s EQ Three

EQ Three is probably the simplest EQ to use and will be familliar to anyone that has used a DJ mixer.

It splits the sound into Lows, Mids, and Highs, and allows you to turn each band down to -infinity, meaning that it is entirely silent.

This is useful for DJs who may want to entirely remove the bass from a track being mixed in to stop two basslines clashing.

Each band can be turned off completely with the On/Off buttons.

The frequencies can be modified with the Freq Low and Freq High controls. The Low EQ control will cover all frequencies below FreqLow, while the High EQ control will cover all frequencies above the FreqHigh.

The Mid control therefore covers all frequencies in between.

One thing to note is that EQ Three uses crossovers that are not transparent, even when the knobs are at default. It is especially true when the EQ Three effect is set to 48dB Mode. This makes it OK for DJing, but not necessarily for studio work, use one of the other Ableton EQs for working on production.

Learn More

One of the best resources for learning more about Ableton is its manual. Definitely check it out for full details on all the effects.

The post Ableton EQ Eight, EQ Three, and Channel EQ – what’s the difference? appeared first on Audio Ordeal.

EQ is perhaps the most important effect available. It allows you to make small or large fixes to the frequencies in music and can be an essential tool in cleaning up a mix. For this reason, it is important to have a good grasp of what can go right and wrong, and a few of the more advanced tricks. This guide offers some really cool tips and tricks for you to try immediately to improve your EQ technique.

Always start with a high-pass

It sounds extra picky, and yes, people do keep saying it, but it is true. If you have a bunch of sounds and instrument recording, you can free up a lot of headroom from the low end. 

Try a little experiment. Download a free mixing practice song (this site has hundreds of great options) and check the meter before you start mixing. 

Take note of the loudest peak value. Now add an EQ to every track and high-pass at 20Hz. Below this frequency is sounds we can’t hear.

You may find that when referencing the meters after adding all the high-passes, that there are a good few dB of headroom extra to play with. 

Take note of the options, you have shelf and low-cut options and can determine the steepness in many EQ plugins. Some work better than others. Test for each instrument and you might find that different sounds have different needs.

Start low, work high

Following on from the previous point, this can be a great trick for extensive tidying of a sound. If you are looking for a quick fix of a single frequency, then feel free to skip this step. 

Because the lower frequencies have more weight to them and can take up more headroom, you should tidy them up first. Once you have cut all the extreme lows out, it is a good idea to deal with the mix-killing mud. 

Muddy frequencies are normally around 200-250Hz, but can be lower depending on the particular instrument. 

These frequencies really add up across multiple instruments and clog up the mix with a low-frequency sludge. 

Once you have these fixed, you will have a much cleaner sound. A lot of beginners will hear a muddy take and try and fix it by boosting the highs. If they just narrowed down on the exact problem frequencies, they can have a much more precise fix that doesn’t take up more headroom.

Remember the context

What’s your process with EQing? I bet you select the track, solo it to isolate the sound, then try and fix what is wrong. 

It turns out you might need a workflow fix yourself! One mistake I always made (and often keep making) is to forget the context of a track in the song. 

What I mean by this is that you are mixing a small ingredient of a song to the other ingredients. 

If you solo a track, yes, it is easier to hear the problems. You must realise that you are missing the interactions with the other sounds. Making a track sound perfect when solo’ed is dangerous – some tracks aren’t mean to sound perfect by themselves. 

Think about a rhythm guitar in a track with lots of instruments. You might want to cut a lot of the muddy frequencies out, add a lot of bite for it to cut through, and scoop out some of the mids to make room for the vocalist.

This might actually sound pretty rubbish in isolation, but along with the other elements, it sounds right. 

Don't ignore the power of M/S

Mid-Side (M/S) processing is a really cool feature available on many pro EQ plugins. What it does is divide the sound up into two channels, one which has the middle sounds (in the stereo field) and one with the side frequencies.

It works by looking at what sounds are present in both left and right channels and what sounds are distinct in each channel and instead of processing on an L/R basis, it converts it to M/S. 

The reason we like M/S processing is that it can really enhance the spread of sounds. 

You can have the weight of a sound punching down the middle while the shimmery highs are boosted on the side frequencies. 

It is also a great way to tweak a mixed track. Let’s say you have a nice vocal in the centre and backing vocals panned left and right, you might want to touch up the backing vocals a little bit, or add a bit of warmth to the main vocal. 

Mid/Side processing can allow you to do this (though not perfectly). 

 

Chain position

EQ or Compressor first? Distortion before or after EQ? These are important questions and yes, it does make a difference. 

The easiest way to think about it is that EQ is generally a “fixing” plugin, while effects like reverb or distortion add new characteristics.

There is good reason to have an EQ before an effect: you want the sound to enter that process sounding good, because fixing it afterwards can be difficult. 

Distortions are especially vulnerable to too many low frequencies and so an EQ beforehand can really clean the sound up. 

That said, however, EQs can also be important after the fact. You might want to bring out a character of the distortion or remove some resonances that are highlighted by a reverb effect. 

In this case, you might want to add an EQ after the effect. 

Of course, in some cases, you might simply need to have an EQ before and after the effects chain, but don’t go overboard and place an EQ every other effect as this will just make mixing too complicated.

Automate your EQ

If you want an easy riser in dance music, or want a subtle way to raise the energy, why not automate your EQ. 

Try adding a small boost in the mids, and as the energy rises, automate it to sweep up the frequency range, leading up to the chorus or the drop. 

Perhaps you want to remove the lows to thin out the sounds before a bass heavy drop, just automate it. 

You may even find that at one point your singer gets too close to the mic and the proximity effect kicks in too much. Just automate the fix to that specific section. 

 

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