Phase Distortion/Shift caused by Equalization

[Bitfiend]

Ok, on to the next topic. Is this something that we need to watch for or is it another thing that really isn't going to be perceived by the average listener?

[admin]

This one can amount to something. Depending on the eq the phasey-ness can start to smear the overall picture of the track a bit. Sometimes this is nice though, for instance with the Pultec.

The average listener wouldn't really notice I don't think but they might if it was really bad but you'd have to use a really bad eq for them to and I doubt this would be a problem for you.. Best way to describe really bad phasing is like an mp3, has that blurry sound.

One to watch out for is the Waves Ren eq. They made it phasey on purpose, again to mimick the pultec.

[Bitfiend]

This one can amount to something. Depending on the eq the phasey-ness can start to smear the overall picture of the track a bit. Sometimes this is nice though, for instance with the Pultec.

well i'm gonna have to sit down, take a sound and start messing with the settings so i can hear this. I also assume the Pultec you refer to would be hardware not a vst emulation?

Best way to describe really bad phasing is like an mp3, has that blurry sound.

crap i have a lot to learn. i don't hear any blurriness when i listen to mp3's....

One to watch out for is the Waves Ren eq. They made it phasey on purpose, again to mimick the pultec.

Noted, but as you know, i've been sticking primarily to Sonalksis and Sonnox as of late.

[admin]

It could be the hardware or software. Software can be programmed to have phase shift that mimicks what happens in the hardware world.

I'm sure you hear some difference right?

Those two are just fine then so don't worry about it. That being said I don't like the Sonnox too much for doing cuts so I avoid it. Then again most eq's don't handle cuts too well if you're not careful.

Take a medium size notch and do some cuts on the Sonnox around 4-8k. You should hear phasyeness then. Hard to describe really...

[Bitfiend]

well i'll play with the sonnox eq and see what i can learn. i'm primarily using the Sonalksis EQ & compressors, as you know.

as for hearing a difference, no. But i have never sat down and a/b'd a file either. i guess i had better.
My hearing isn't total shite but it's not perfect either. playing drums since damn near birth really has caused a bit of damage, especially the whole, metal - play as loud and hard as possible thing in my teens.

[admin]

Well the more you listen closely the better your ears will develop. It's about picking out those subtleties.

[NuEra]

So what are some good eq's for making cuts?

What are some examples of when we would want to use an eq like the pultec?

[admin]

I really try to limit any major cuts in the low end of freqs, my kick and bass, there if you get the right area it can be fairly transparent. It's the higher freqs where this can be a problem. They key is more to just not do it as opposed to using a certain eq as they almost all suffer this problem.

Well if you had the real pultec then anytime ;-) Which plugin version are you talking about?

[NuEra]

Well if you had the real pultec then anytime ;-) Which plugin version are you talking about?

ha i wish!! ....UAD

[admin]

The UAD Pultec does have fairly nice low end but it doesn't do the saturation and subtle softening of the real one. I a/b'd the two in a studio about a year ago. Don't be fooled by the fact that when you turn on the plugin it sounds like just by turning it on the sound gets better. All that is happening is about a 1.5 db gain.