EQ Before Or After Compression?
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- Опубликовано: 30 авг 2023
- When mixing music, should you EQ before or after you compress? Should the EQ or compressor go first in the plugin chain? You'll find out in this quick explainer video!
Compressor plugin used in the video: ShaperBox 3's Compressor Tool
Try or buy Cableguys plugins: www.cableguys.com/products.html 
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Love the two EQ-Technique ! One for tailoring, one for shaping, easy to get for me 👌
Nice one! ❤️
There are times I need to eq like 4 or 5 times, remember no rules to making music
@@ItsNotiso Amen, like all roads can lead to Rome, so what ✌️
•Surgical EQ
•Compression
•Tonal EQ
For me I add a corrective eq for whatever microphone it is lol, like 700 eq bands in a single plugin
This is actually valuable knowledge for producers. A godsend, this channel is!
me with 25 EQs and 4 compressors all randomly dispersed on a single track :
Haha, i just looked at my tracks and how use effects, i did the same
me making a hardstyle kick with god knows how many eq/distortion/comp/eq chains in a row
Ik how ya feel, 700 bands in a single plugin lol just for corrective eq
I’m so glad I found this. Not only did you answer the question I had but you also did so very clearly, which is important to beginners like me. Thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
If your compressor has a side-chain filter, then use it! It helps to control how the compressor reacts, but not the sound :D
Any effect affects the sound...
@@Jupiter1423guess you don't understand it. So here's a tip
When having mid to high sounds, like vocals, synths. The bass of it(~70hz) is still there and could effect the compressor response. So remove it to be sure since it's a sound you want to compress the mid/high and not the low end.
If you use external sidechain and want everything compressed except the kick and bass you use same source but EQ to cut the kick and bass frequencies, so the compressor definitely will act on the higher nin filtered freqs, in other words kick and bass big low end won't trigger the compressor
@@branchyapple bro ive been mixing for 10 years trust me i understand it
@@Jupiter1423 nice man. That's a long time. Want to share something? :D
Ive found compressing can bring back the lows that you just high pass filtered out, so ive started eqing before and after
I wouldn't expect there to be very much low-freq content brought back up from the noise floor, unless you're compressing like 10:1. I'll have to play around with this
I’ve been doing tonal eq before compression and now you’ve lain it out like that it does make sense, I’ve always thought of it as all eq before or all eq after compression. I’ll have to try this out
You can also do opposite boosts and cuts before and after the comp to add some saturation and glue to specific frequency ranges. A common one is doing that with an LA-2A on a parallel send to add some harmonics and consistency to the upper mids of the vocals without worrying about phase shift too much.
this is why i eq before even thinking about compressing! it sounds perfect every time!
Yet more great advice, the content on this channel is stellar!
Much appreciated! 👊
I was like "both" and then yes, you do that :)
Brilliant. Confirmed what I thought about this in a succinct explanation. Thank you!
Your tips are always to the point and helpful
Great technique, very thoughtful process.
Great advice! It's exactly how I do it. Keep up the good work!
answer: depends. Learn the tools are then use as desired
Thank you so much really good technique, will definitly use it 😁
Glad it was helpful!
why not both?
*edit: that's what he does 😭
i dont even know half of the words this guy is saying and for some reason i like to watch this channel
So, subtractive before and additive after? Makes sense.
I feel like this is the more standard technique but you can also get some good results with compressor first
Very good advice
depends on the application, but great video and explanation
A tip I didn't knew definitely needed 😮
Good idea and it does work.
The problem I'm finding here in this segment is that you have Shaperbox as the first thing you work on with the drums that you're effecting and you suddenly decide that you now feel the need to use an EQ. And by doing so you put it before the Shaperbox in the chain and feel that whoa this changed the way the compressor is reacting (naturally so).
What if you dropped in your drum samples in your DAW and THEN EQ'd first before the thought of compressing the drum signal via Shaperbox? Would the "reaction" of the compressor you saw exist in the first place?
I never knew that, thought it was always before but then I never do tonal eq
Love this
both! 😮
Subtractive & cleaning before comp, additive and tone shaping after comp.
Thanks my guy
i love videos like this
Solid video
👊
Best advice!
Not too shabby!
Exactly
Do you even do full songs some yours are fire and we would like to hear a full version of them
it depends...
Nice 👍
Nice
BOTH!
I agree
Exactly right
The answer is yes, depending on your needs.
Does shaper box do literally every effect then? Your vids are so good with the info I kinda forgot about the plug lol
Before and you need to remove non essential freqs to allow space for them to sit in .
Hot take: either works. You can do your full eq first in the chain as long as you set your compressor settings afterward chronologically. And, in the same vein, you can compress first in the chain as long as you set your eq afterward chronologically. You can totally cut frequencies after you compress. It might be a different amount of cutting, but it will sound functionally the same. It's more about a workflow preference than a difference in sound. Have you ever listened to a record and thought, "oh, they definitely must have compressed before they cut those frequencies." Lol, no.
For most cases corrective EQ first is the most sensible thing to do. As is said in the video, the Compressor will react to frequencies that you may cut after.
An example in the case of a standard pop vocal chain: corrective eq set around 80-200hz (depending on vocalist) light compressor to smooth out transients, another eq to shape the sound more, heavier compression that usually has more character, then things such as saturation, multi-band compression, more eq if desired, etc…
In the example I gave, we can see that if the compressor were to go before the high pass set between 80-200hz it would react to low end/sub frequencies that would be cut later on. These low end frequencies don’t necessarily correlate with the content of the vocal (such as background noise, thumps from vocalist stepping on the ground, etc…). This will cause the compressor to react out of sync to the vocal take at times (almost unpredictably). This can be annoying when trying to be intentional about dynamics. Being more intentional about threshold, attack and release times with a compressor first is harder and not worth the headache if there is a cleaner work around.
It’s cleaner and more pro to put eq first, even plugins such as sooth 2 work great for me earlier in the chain, especially before saturation or distortion. (I usually use 2 instances of it personally, one at the beginning and end of pop vocal chains)
Just what I learned in school and seems to be a tried and true way. It’s more about mixing and not making things needlessly difficult later and making up for stuff with more plugins down the line. Managing CPU is important especially when it’s a highly processed production like in pop, rap, reggaetón, etc…
@dckog8282 "This will cause the compressor to react out of sinc with the vocal take at times"
Then it really depends on what you mean by "corrective" eq.
I get where this logic comes from an intution standpoint, but it only applies if you filter out frequencies entirely to negative infinity, and only frequencies that, as you put it, do not correlate with the signal.
When i think of corrective eq, i always took it to mean ANY cutting of nasty frequencies. In the case of the vocal it might be woofiness, boxiness, or nasality. At least thats how i think about it.
Let's say i filter out below 80 hz, like you said (youre absolutely right, i would wanna do that before anything else). If i have a woofy vocal with an excess amount of 200 hz, and let's assume in theory that the ratio of (dbs of 200)-to-(total dbs) stays consistent throughout the signal, and i cut 2 db of the 200 hz, that means that before i compress, the ratio of (dbs of 200) -to-(total dbs) actually goes up as the signal gets louder (making the cut weaker relative to the volume of the signal) and down as the signal gets quieter (making the cut stronger relative to the volume of the signal). So now, if i compress, the compressor is reacting fine, but when it comes to the EQ, the cut is even weaker than it was before (relative to the volume of the signal) when the signal gets louder. And since we typically use downwards compression, the loudest, most weakly EQd parts of the signal are the parts that are being compressed, and therefore the compressor expidites this weak tendency. If we were to use upwards compression, the strongest parts would be expidited, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily better. After all, the value in EQ comes from finding the ideal balance, rather than just cutting out as much of the nasty frequency as you can. None of this happens if the EQ is placed after.
Another way to think about it is:
An EQ before a compressor is the same as a compressor before a dyanmic EQ (with downwards compression on the boosts and upwards compression on the cuts)
A compressor before an EQ is the same as a dynamic EQ (with upwards compression on the boosts and downwards compresson on the cuts) before a compressor
In the second example, the EQ is acting in a more transparent way, which means the (dbs of 200)-to-(total dbs) is growing and shrinking in accordance to volume at the same rate it would if there was no compressor at all.
So in my opinion, from a mathematical standpoint, it makes more sense to compress before you EQ regardless of whether you are boosting or cutting, UNLESS you are in a scenario in which there is a separate, uncorrelating element where you plan to filter it out entirely.
Thanks for letting me ramble. As you can see, I've thought about this way too much for my own good.
@@23rdJar Hey thanks for the great reply! I get where you’re coming from! Honestly I layer my EQ in my chain. I only have a high pass before my first compressor. I consider that corrective as well as surgical EQs I use later to get out gross resonances and shape the sound. It’s corrective because I consider the unnecessary low end for vocals (anything below the lowest fundamental frequency of the vocal for the song) as unwanted or even “nasty” frequencies themselves.
I think your example makes some sense but I think it fails to consider the interplay between multiple compressors and EQs layered in one chain. I personally save my sculpting EQ for later in my chain possibly for the reason you are saying.
In the example of vocals I infinitely high pass below the fundamental frequencies before compression due to what I stated above. Then I will cut again before my second compressor to make sure the low end is tight going in my second compressor that is doing more work. At this point I’m not really mixing or trying to characterize the vocal at all, I’m basically just managing what the compressor reacts to. After this I put my special seasoning mix (krabby patty formula if you will) and in this I will basically start to actually shape the sound after compression so that when I start using bell curves they actually mean something. The only compression that comes after this may be multiband that is serving a specific purpose to whatever the track may need. I also may eq afterwards.
I agree that EQing before a compressor is closer to pointless if you’re doing complex EQ and trying to shape the sound. But I do find value in the process I described as I believe it allows me more control.
Hopefully I’m making sense :) kinda suck at explaining and is late, but hopefully cogent!
@dckog8282 that was a great explanation. Always great to hear differing methods from different engineers! :) ill try out some of the stuff you mentioned and see whats best for me. Youre right about me not factoring in multiple compressors. I have to think about whats the most optimal, especially if i have two doubles where i want one to, let's say, have more high end, and then i want to glue them together with a compressor. So, my idealism of the transparency of the EQ kind of falls apart at that point. If nothing else, ill DEFINITELY be high-passing before compression from now on, because i never considered that reasoning before that was mentioned in your first reply. Happy mixing
I like the way the plugin shows compression and signal levels with time. Anyone know what the plugin is?
Nice❤
Yes!
yes both
Same goes for saturation
Does logic utilize a similar flow system like this for it's plugins like ableton does?
YES. BEFORE AND AFTER.
We can do it both way. But best is using comp first.
Comp
EQ
DS
Comp
EQ
Do you use this sort of plugin chain on instruments, vocals, drums specifically or just on everything? Genuinely just curious, might have try something like this out.
do it all before compression
An EQ sandwich. Is the way to go also good for reverb.
¿porque no los dos?
When would you want multiple compressors on your vocal chain?
Depends. If you take a vocal and you use an EQ first in the chain, compress it, then have something after it like reverb (if not on a bus), saturation, then depending on how much those peaks, you might want another compressor to tame the new levels that now peak that didn't before the extra treatment. I rarely use more than one compressor per channel, but it's about experimenting here to see what the results are.
Bro solved "compressor first or eq" problem in 60 seconds😂
Subtractive first
Sidechain the compressor.
How come when i do a hp filter then compress then when i check the eq after the compressor the frequencies i filtered out have been brought back up
HP filter does not remove frequencies but instead progressively attenuates them beginning at the cutoff frequency. So it basically turns down the frequencies. Compressing can bring quiet elements back up in level, so that's why compressing might bring those frequencies back up, especially when there's not much else going on in the signal for the compressor to act on.
surgical eq before, sound shaping after...but there is really no rule
just before and after
Why no make up gain?
I figured this out by trial and error
What compressor would you recommend? Because i feel like the fruity compressor isn't good at its job
Eq before or after compression?
Why not both?
Now, in that chain, there should be some stereo control. I think after the last EQ would be correct, right?
Depends if the stereo width needs controlling or not - I would not apply stereo processing "by default".
Oh jeez Rick
Why not both?
Same for saturation isn't it
The answer is either both or depending on the type of EQ, both as in subtractive eq before comp and then additive EQ after comp if you dont want to add through EQ after comp but instead use dist or other fx then subtractive EQ before Comp only.
The real conversation people aren’t ready for is that a lot of Distortion effects are just another way of additive EQ with extra steps, but y’all aint ready for that
WATCH YOUR CHAINS GUYS!! STUDY AND MASTER THE SIGNAL FLOW
Before or after? Yes
Should you EQ before or after Compression? Yes.
FL studio used that don’t exactly have to worry about this👇
People get so mislead with this. Not that its intentional, but the answers always the same - USE YOUR EARS. People will try to copy this and make their mixes worse. Whatever youre mixing is not what their mixing. Better advice is to tell people to get their sound design right so it sounds good without anything
There’s not really a correct way to do this stuff. CLA does tons of boosting and broad shaping PRE compression specifically because it changes how each track is glued. I tend to do a mostly additive before, and (if needed), subtractive after.
But again - it’s all in what you want from the sound. Boosting before/after accomplishes different things. Want to affect the glue of a track? EQ before compression. Love the glue but you want to tame parts of it? EQ after.
And it should be noted that boosting into a compressor drives the compressor harder - AND THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT. It glues that frequency. You shouldn’t have to back off the compression afterwards. Then you’re just undoing the glue you’ve achieved.
Everyone has their own methods
put on 5 compressors , don't level match and crank gain all the way up
EQ out crap > Compress to make it tight > EQ to make it sit in the mix > still feel like shit for such mid work.
🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼
All my homies hate eq after compression
Both befor and after .. doh
why not use tonal eq so that different frequencies hit the compressor different? dont give people 1 size fits all methods as a tutorial channel, gonna raise ppl who dont know shit.
Glad I’m a guitarist so I don’t have to do this
EQ and compression are like.. SUCH common effects to run your guitar through. You SHOULD know this.
you should not compress at all.... problem solved!
You compressed, then eq’ed(before the compressor). And then eq’ed, and then compressed(after the eq).
That’s the same thing. Tf
Don’t add rq before unless you need that frequency dominant. I always substrative rq before compressing because I won’t be able to hear it the bad frequencies as good after compression but then I add rq after compression as well. Whatever sounds good 👍 hey for mixes @htwoplug
Before and after
Wait wait wait. Before or after? How about before and after? I do before and after.
I usually EQ. Pushing into a limiter. And then I EQ again. Make it leap out better under constraint. And so the peaks don't get out of control. Because that really takes away from the sound of the bass guitar.
Before and after would not be strange.
Q: Should you EQ before or after Compression?
A: Befter
😂👍