Ableton Forum

I have been wondering this for a while now and have not stumbled upon a straight answer. When I am mixing what is the different between EQing out frequencies or filtering them out?

If I use a high pass filter at 150 hz for a snare drum, should I also cut out everything below 150 on the EQ?

What exactly is the difference between the 2? Aren't they both cutting the same frequencies out? Is it necessary to do both?

there is no difference, really. the filter is synthesizers are often resonant filters, which add a slight bump (increase) around the cutoff frequency that give it a "honky" sound. a wah-wah pedal is a resonant filter that allows you to adjust the cutoff frequency. it is not unlike our throats, which act as a resonant filter for our vocal chords, which is why wah-wah guitars or wobbly synths bring to mind vocal sounds.

EQ is just a series of filters. So, there is no difference aside from level of frequency control

But filters tend to have steeper/more harsh curves. Try it yourself, throw a lowpass filter on some synth lead at say 2khz, now do the same with an eq8, you can hear that the filter is cutting the frequency a bit harsher than the eq. Sometimes filtering aggressively can lead to cold mixes, so it might be wise to use eq on some occasions. That being said, lowpass/highpass anything can lead to cold or harsh mixes when used improperly, so often times what you think needs to be cut completely from the frequency range might just need to have levels lowered in that area.

DangerousDave wrote:But filters tend to have steeper/more harsh curves. Try it yourself, throw a lowpass filter on some synth lead at say 2khz, now do the same with an eq8, you can hear that the filter is cutting the frequency a bit harsher than the eq. Sometimes filtering aggressively can lead to cold mixes, so it might be wise to use eq on some occasions. That being said, lowpass/highpass anything can lead to cold or harsh mixes when used improperly, so often times what you think needs to be cut completely from the frequency range might just need to have levels lowered in that area.

depends on the type of filter and it's bandwidth you can have really mellow sloped eq curves ( gentle bell filter) or incredibly steep curves (hard surgical notch filter) ... eq's are filters they just allow a much broader control range than a synth filter .

Dhak wrote:If I use a high pass filter at 150 hz for a snare drum, should I also cut out everything below 150 on the EQ?

Highpass is the same as Lowcut, its just two names for the same thing and it will cut everyting below 150 Hz, depending on steepness and stuff. You CAN of course cut again with the EQ, the result is, that even more signal is removed below 150 Hz (be aware, that most EQs and filters are no "brickwall"-filters and have a smooth roll-off, that is, around the cutoff frequency, damping is not as high as more far away. Jus tlook at the curves in EQ8 or the processed signal in spectrum and you will see it.).
What is different on the EQ is, usually you have more types of FILTERS, as in principle, the bell and shelving curves on your EQ are also filters. You cannot compare these to "regular" cut/pass filters, and they are usually not part of the sound design in synths, just for tweaking the sound.