Wish PEQ / GEQ "Compensation" Mode

GreatGreen

GreatGreen

Power User
EQ is a tricky mistress. Especially when boosting frequencies. Yes, best practice is to cut, but sometimes boosting is just the best way to create the best sounding curve.

Unfortunately, boosting can be deceptive and make us think we sound bigger and better than we do. Adding a big bass boost means more rumble! Adding a big mids or treble boost means more clarity! However, in the grand scheme of a mix, that's not really how things work. The mixing engineer is, the vast majority of the time, going to set your level using your loudest represented frequencies. In this context, by the time you hit the mix, "boosting bass" actually becomes "cutting mids and treble" and "boosting treble" is actually "cutting bass and mids" etc.

What I'd like to see is a way to counteract the psychological effects of boosting and your brain thinking "louder = sounds better." Basically, I could see value in a mode introduced in the PEQ and GEQ blocks that would simply look for the highest positively set db value and then auto-adjust the block's Level parameter by an equally negative value.

Examples:
  • if the Level is set to 0 db and you boost a PEQ frequency or GEQ slider by +5 db, the Level parameter auto-adjusts to -5 db.
  • If the Level is set to +10 db and you raise one slider by +3 db, the Level will adjust itself to +7 db (10 db - 3 db = +7 db).
  • if the Level is 0 db and you boost two sliders, one to +5 db and the other to +8 db, your Level control will now read -8 db, because the highest boosted value is +8 db.
 
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hmm. boosting 1 frequency by 5 dB and then reducing the level by 5dB is somewhat turning everything else down by 5dB. not sure i'd want this ever.

i'm not sure if a single EQ band change constitutes "louder is better." the characteristics of that changed EQ band is what makes it better or worse.

when i'm doing sound and i boost a frequency on vocals for some clarity, i wouldn't want the level to turn down - i just need that frequency to stick out a bit more.

interesting idea, but EQ doesn't work like that for me. even on guitar. i can't imagine boosting 1k for some cut on a lead tone, but reducing the level of everything else.
 
This sounds like foobar's Auto-Level EQ function. It's a way to ensure that you don't get clipping by adjusting your EQ so that your highest boost becomes zero dB and everything else is lowered accordingly.
 
If you boost a frequency range, and then cut the entire signal by an equal amount, then you just dropped your overall level, and you’re into “quieter sounds worse” territory.

I think there are too many interactions here to trust this to automation. You’re better off learning what the EQ does and adjusting EQ and levels to make a pleasing mix. There will be some back and forth as you dial these in. Ultimately, you have to let your ears tell you what’s right. Don’t trust this to a formula, because you’ll still have to adjust by ear.
 
A better way to do this with the tools we have is put a compressor after the EQ block with ratio and threshold set so that the level coming out of the compressor remains constant. That should get you closer to your original idea.

Boosting one range isn't the same as boosting your whole signal by that amount, so as has been said cutting the whole thing will end up lowering the overall output. In addition, this idea wouldn't take into account how that boost interacts even with the rest of your own signal, not to mention the rest of the band mix.

For example, let's say your solo doesn't cut through. You boost the upper mids by +4db. Now your solo cuts through! But the auto-feature just decided to drop the whole thing by -4db. Oops, no more cutting solo.
 
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