Question about EQ's for live DJ performances

[JessGins]

So I am still very new to Ableton (I've been working with it for 4 months now and I still feel new to the program).

I'm trying to make a switch from DJing with Serato and a proper mixer to DJing with Ableton. What I'm trying to figure out is whether I can plug Ableton straight into a mixer such as the DJM800 (which I have seen done a few time) and if I can use the EQ's off that mixer or not. I believe the DJM800 can be mapped as a midi mixer, so in that case, would I actually be using the EQ's provided by Ableton???

If the latter situation is the case, is the basic EQ 3 good enough for DJing a live show? Is it comparable to a proper mixer such as Allen+Heath EQs? Where can I find an EQ that will work with Ableton that will replicate some famous mixers?

-Jesse

[keyboardcowb0y]

A few things to note about the Ableton EQ that your mixer might not have is that in Ableton you can change the Hi and Low Freq cutoffs, so you can basically adjust what Freq range your EQ effects. Also, there are full kill switches in the EQ, so you can quickly take a level down to 0. But if you have a good mixer, I would say just use the EQ on that.

I've been using the software EQ because I dont have a mixer, just a Xone 2D midi controller, but I do plan on getting a mixer in the future so i can dedicate the Xone 2D to effects.

[JessGins]

How does Ableton work with mixers that are not specifically designed for Ableton use? How would I "plug" Ableton into my Rane Empath for example, to make use of the Rane EQ's?

When I am playing an MP3 without an EQ in Ableton (because I deleted it from the audio channel, for example), am I playing a raw, unfiltered MP3?

-Jesse

[Marcus007]

How does Ableton work with mixers that are not specifically designed for Ableton use? How would I "plug" Ableton into my Rane Empath for example, to make use of the Rane EQ's?

When I am playing an MP3 without an EQ in Ableton (because I deleted it from the audio channel, for example), am I playing a raw, unfiltered MP3?

-Jesse

You'd hook the 1,2 for channel 1 and 3,4 for channel 2 into the mixer's inputs from your external sound card... that way the feed is going right into the channels so you have controls over your eqs

[Kaktusen]

The EQ Three in live actually creates differences in the sound at the crossover points that, imho, doesn't sound good.
It's subtle, but enough to lower the quality of the audio because it's not transparent enough. The EQ on e.g. the DJM-800 is by far better, so I always hook up to a mixer when doing a gig if I can.

[inakiesarte]

This is one of my complains in Ableton. When u cut out a sound using knobs and the 3 band EQ, the progression is not
as sharp as with a regular mixer, same happens with faders... at least this is my opinion

[snakedogman]

there's a couple of DJ eq racks that emulate the EQ3 by using several EQ-8's instead. These should be more transparent than the stock EQ3.
I believe one is included in Tarekith's dj fx http://tarekith.com/misc.html

[inakiesarte]

Uauuuuuuuuuuuua that EQ from Tareki is fantastic!!!

Cheers man