EQ : add high or lower bass?

[maxlef]

Hi !

i'm wondering if there is a difference between adding high frequencies or lowering bass frequencies ?

i mean, in term or signal/noise ratio or in term of quality.

Would be good to dissociate hardware EQ from numeric EQ, i guess. I think the way they work is different...

thanks

[Funkybot]

Adding generally increases noise and cuts down on headroom, cutting does the opposite. So it's generally better to cut than it is to boost, but I don't mind doing subtle boosts when necessary.

[pheeleep]

Indeed, less is more

[maxlef]

Adding generally increases noise and cuts down on headroom

yes but when you cut basses, you have to add gain to your sound to have the same level than when adding high frequencies, right ? so the noise floor is raised too

so, i think for the analog it is better to add high frequencies, but i'm not sure

i think it's the same for the numerical, since it doesn"t add noise

but i dunno for the analog. dunno if boosting high frequencies add more noise over all the spectra....(add noise, just not raise the noise floor in high frequencies)...

see what i mean?

anyone knows that for analog EQs and faders ? thanks (does boosting the level or a freq add more noise (just not raise the existing one)

[kritikon]

It all depends on how much noise you've got to start with. Boosting high Eq certainly can emphasise hiss more, but on the whole, the level of Eq boosting you'd generally use wouldn't make much difference if you've got reasonable hardware and connectors. If you were recording through something like a Behringer, then yes, I'd be a bit wary of using much more than a fraction of high boost.

The same goes for analogue or digital. If you're boosting highs with either on a noisy sample for example, then both are going to cause problems. Or on an old and noisy analogue synth if you don't have a gate running (although moderate high boost wouldn't cause noticeably more noise while the synth is actually playing on most patches anyway).

And even with a noisy source - it still depends on the type of noise that's present to start with - noise is more than just hiss - you might have lots of mic rumbles etc, which could be alot lower down in the spectrum. I've had some drum samples that I used to use from a DJ mate - the noise I got from his decks was mid-range more than high end.

[Jaidy]

It is realative to where a frequency is on the Fletcher-Munson curve as to how much energy is needed to effect audible change, so lows require the greatest boost, then highs slightly less boost, and mids take the least.

[maxlef]

My question was of using just a low or high pass eq... an equivalent EQ curve .

i was wondering if, with the identical sound result using a low or high pass, there are differences :

1) with the high pass : you have the EQ section (high gain) that bring his noise
2) with the low pass : you have the EQ section (low cut) that bring his noise but you have too the complementary gain to raise the volume to the same relative level. draw the curves on a paper to see.

so i think lowering basses bring more noise (well a little) than adding highs, but i'm not sure .

i don't know too the type of the noise bringed by the EQ section. is the resulting noise (the noise that was added but the electronic circuit) different when using a lowcut or a high gain EQ? is it relative to the gain value ? (does it adds more noise at a higher gain?)

thanks.