Eq'ing high end - your thoughts

[kevvvvv]

I've been solving mix problems these days with high end cut.
It's like my music just got too fizzy. Every effect is grabbing at the top end for "brightness or sheen".
It happens with eq (sonible and isotope),
it happens through distortion a lot (gentle saturation adds up).
It happens from sneaking in mid-side boost. Prob lots more reasons too.
And now the new bandwagon is "a Soother".
Harmonic declutterers abound when we shouldn't really be needing them.
I'm now favouring hi end cut.
Wiggling the curve till "the sharpness" has gone.
If you have ideas on this, please share.

[legendCNCD]

Depends. I might do lowpass with smooth slope on a track, or dynamic eq with NovaGE, or TDR Arbiter dynamically. Wont use Soothe for fizzyness usually at all. Sometimes have to go to the sound source itself. Sometimes its a plugin without oversampling (back in the days though) generating aliasing, have you checked this?

[billinder33]

I generally LPF everything except for hats and primary vox channels. I prefer to let those instruments have the frequency spectrum above ~15k.

I second TDR Arbiter as a good 'smoothing' tool for annoying highs. Also Olhorst Digital De-edger and Limin, which are excellent tools, but unfortunately insanely expensive given the limited scope of what they do.

[legendCNCD]

Yes OD Limen is freaking good toning down those pokey bits. I think I have to get DeEdger too.

[kevvvvv]

Checked out the TD Arbiter which I'd never heard of before.
Quite a good informative video. Last section is TD Arbiter.
Thanks legendCDNC for the heads up

[knob_monster]

That natural high-frequency roll-off is why vintage hardware (like a DX7 or Juno) sits so easily in a mix.

[pekbro]

HiFal is another great option.

[EyeCloud]

For me it’s generally a two-part process.

If I can hear it during mixing I’ll see if I can identify which channel or channels is responsible, and I’m more than likely going to roll off some of the high end, but definitely not to the detriment of the mix.

When I have a stereo mix down I’ll master it with some focus on that high end. I’m less likely to high pass it aggressively, and will probably spend some time sweeping a notch filter across the high end frequencies. Possibly more than one.

Ultimately I think the approach for me is to listen over and over, and have patience looking for the problems. Comes from working as an engineer in an analog studio many years ago.

[TechHaus]

That natural high-frequency roll-off is why vintage hardware (like a DX7 or Juno) sits so easily in a mix.

Also vintage mics used to start sloping down at like 12khz max (and by vintage this includes mics like the At4050 or C800g)...there are a lot of modern mics that peak at 14khz and will extend up to like 20khz.

[billinder33]

Yes OD Limen is freaking good toning down those pokey bits. I think I have to get DeEdger too.

I wish they'd put these both into the same plugin. I find myself using them together a lot.

[billinder33]

Checked out the TD Arbiter which I'd never heard of before.
Quite a good informative video. Last section is TD Arbiter.
Thanks legendCDNC for the heads up

The Special Filter Bundle is a steal IMO, even at the $100 full price. Got the bundle on intro pricing of around $50. I use all those tools a lot. Even Ultrasonic, which is supposed to only affect the inaudible HF range, but even to my old ears it seems to ever so slightly pull down the very tippy toppy sizzle. Oddly kinda analog-like. If you don't need Arbiter urgently, it's worth seeing if they run July 4 holiday sale.

[Teezdalien]

Yes +1.. Arbiter is an excellent dynamic EQ for solving these kinds of issues, and I'm using it a lot for de-essing and taming harsh resonances, even in other parts of the spectrum. Actually the whole bundle really is very good.

[foosnark]

I do tend to use Waves Curve Equator, but I don't let it push the highs too much. Often I will set it to work more on mids than side, and turn the mix down to ease it off.

I will also often knock down highs a bit with Toneboosters EQ Pro.

If I have too much of a "crunchy" texture in that region I'll often process my recording with ZPlane Peel with Velvet Machine in it. That smears it out while still leaving some energy there. I'll automate the wet/dry mix so it's active only where it needs to be.

[Winstontaneous]

Tilt EQ can help rebalancing ever so slightly in one direction or other.
And while I like and use Ohlhorst De-Edger, I find it more useful for taking the edge off transients that might stick out rather than bringing down highs in general.

[Rui_Inoue]

The Arbiter’s design is brilliant because it can compensate for energy loss by adding any desired harmonic. You can cut the high frequencies of the hi-hat and add a third harmonic, or cut the high frequencies of the strings and add a second harmonic… It’s fantastic how versatile it is.
The UltraSonic from the same series is also handy for controlling the ultra-high frequencies, but it might be a bit trickier to use compared to the Arbiter.

Personally, I sometimes use chorus or flanger to blur the sound image and indirectly soften the high frequencies. But whether this technique works really depends on the material. The other day, I tried adding a light touch of chorus to the hi-hat and it worked out well, but I still think it’s tricky to know exactly when to use it. It’s really just a matter of trying it out as an insert, and if it doesn’t sound right, you can always turn it off.