This EQ Curve is Blowing My Mind

Goodbye Ozone! I've found a new EQ for all of my mixes...

[StevenMelin]

📈If anyone would like to recreate my curve:

63 Hz & below = 0 dB
80 Hz = -1.4 dB
100 Hz = -2.9 dB
125 Hz = -4.2 dB
160 Hz = -6 dB
200 Hz = -3 dB
250 Hz = -4.5 dB
315 Hz = -3 dB
400 Hz = -3.9 dB
500 Hz = -4.8 dB
630 Hz = -6 dB
800 Hz = -4.5 dB
1k Hz = -3.3 dB
1.25k Hz = -4dB
1.6k Hz = -4.3 dB
2k Hz = -6 dB
2.5k Hz = -4.5 dB
3.15k Hz = -3.6 dB
4k Hz = -1.9 dB
5k Hz & above = 0 dB

[kevinlong]

There is no silver bullet in EQing. It is an art form AND a science, and needs to be adjusted to every source, speaker system, room and audience.

[nikht]

Keep in mind he stated this eq curve is specifically for mixing live sound REALLY loud. As the volume gets higher, your ears become more sensitive to the high-mids, as plotted in the Fletcher Munson/equal loudness curve. His eq curve mitigates this effect.

[Exius-Zero]

I checked out the original video and found what I think, is an even more accurate frequency spectrum by analyzing the brief image of his physical mixer.
I spent a lot of time re-crafting the details of this, and am pretty sure it's about 95% accurate:

80 Hz & below = 0 dB
100 Hz = -2.0 dB
125 Hz = -4.0 dB
160 Hz = -6.0 dB
200 Hz = -4.0 dB
250 Hz = -3.0 dB
315 Hz = -2.5 dB
400 Hz = -2.5 dB
500 Hz = -2.0 dB
630 Hz = -2.5 dB
800 Hz = -3.0 dB
1k Hz = -3.0 dB
1.25k Hz = -3.0 dB
1.6k Hz = -3.0 dB
2k Hz = -2.5 dB
2.5k Hz = -3.5 dB
3.15k Hz = -2.0 dB
4k Hz = -1.0 dB
5k Hz & above = 0 dB

[codykeating]

I mix FOH at the church with Steven and he sent me this. I tried it last Sunday and it was insane how much better the mix was! Can’t thank you enough brother! 🙏🏼

[RichardBronson-ly]

This EQ Curve really does work. This is a total game changer. Thanks for sharing👍🏿

[davidleewarner]

I produce mostly electronic music, uplifting trance and the like. I'm not a skilled mix engineer, and I haven't watched the original video. But I was interested in trying this out for myself.

Using a demo of Waves GEQ I found that dialling in the values you used was still perhaps a bit heavy-handed for my taste, but dialling in those settings at a range of 12 allowed me to halve the gain levels of each band when I switched the range to 6, and I found that this made things sound a lot better.

Was able to get a similar approximation that's a bit less 'surgical' by using Fabfilter Pro-Q 3 but only on the 3 key frequencies of 160, 630 and 2k. I set the Q's at 6, 3 and 2.5 respectively, made the three points Dynamic, setting the dynamic range to -3 on all three, and the threshold to -24. Again, the dynamic range of -3 is equivalent to the -6 setting on the key frequencies, but halved for my taste. Oh, and I set auto-gain so that I'd have compensation applied.

So to me this objectively makes everything sound better. And before anybody says "It is louder of course it sounds better" ... even when I don't auto-gain, while it sounds softer it also sounds less harsh, more clear.

But the problem I have here is that this feels like something that one does when listening to music, or performing it. Not _creating_ it. If I master with this as my setting, sure it might sound a bit more comfortable to my ears, but my references are quite possibly not using this curve on _their_ masters, so surely that's going to create some sort of inherent issue when in theory my track is played back next to another that doesn't use this trick ... my mix is going to have even less midrange because I've baked in some adjustment, and a live mixing engineer might do the same.

Or not, maybe I'm full of shit, but I'm conflicted because it really does sound more pleasant! But it REALLY doesn't help that there are people here saying it's the best thing since sliced bread (with no evidence) and others also saying it's utter nonsense and just wrong and such, also largely without evidence. Very confusing. But my ears like how it sounds!

[jamaciasmusic]

This is why Pultec was so popular, it bases on this EQ curve “Smiley Face” or “V/U” shape. To balance a mix in Body because human hearing does need a help to perceive low frequencies, and on highs where the “vowel” area is and a gentle lift in the area is soothing for our ears, as long as we don’t push it a lot.

At the end the goal is not to boost or cut individual frequencies but seeing it as a whole, if we see all the spectrum:
A lift on bass frequencies human ears appreciate a lik help with, and a soothing mid/high range (vowel/formant area) both of them higher compared to the “muddy” area (150-300Hz)

[afrohawk]

Thx for this vid. I missed the interview even though I am a Beato fan. I have to say this technique works really, really well. The Kick and Bass become so clear and present and all the mud, which I didn't know was there, disappeared. The A/B of this technique is a little disconcerting when you first try it but after about 2 minutes of listening and then A/Bing again, you will instantly come to hear how clear this technique makes everything. Excellent video. Thx.

[joechapman]

This is interesting. My immediate thought was, "But I don't want to have a the same curve applied if my conscious decisions about these areas may also be changing, " so I set up a preset in Soothe 2 to add extra processing to resonances in these points and adjusted the Q of each node to cover a similar area to the curve. This makes a positive difference to every premaster I've put through it so far (more subtle than the EQ, of course, but maybe better in the long run?). [edit] 5k and above is NOT beyond human hearing, wdym?

As for doing the EQ curve instead, I made one working to -6dB with the mix at 100% so that it can be blended. I think the thing to do is start with the EQ's mix at 100, A/B the Bypass and listen for which parts it's negatively affecting, and then keep A/Bing as you bring the EQ's mix down until it's barely affecting those parts. You'll probably still be at about 50-75 of that curve, so you can definitely still hear it cutting into those problem areas quite a bit.

[frederikgroborsch]

I saw this video of Beato and was blown away, never checked it out. Love to watch your video now and what you did out of it... LETs GO!

[dafingaz]

@2:10 "and this stuff...Hertz" well played. I'm sold. 😂

[RobertDiVito]

Dave Natale is a legendary LIVE sound mixer. I think you’re missing the fundamental point of his video. He’s speaking very specifically about clarity in drums by cutting 160Hz and adjusting the 2-3kHz range for pain threshold when delivering program as loud as possible. Which is his signature sound.
To apply this universally outside of a FOH live sound application and for all genres of music and volume levels is doing yourself a disservice. Especially in a studio mixing environment where a full spectrum of information needs to be represented. I think Dave was quite clear about not doing this outside of his very specific gear, genre and volume scenario.

[markcole]

Thanks for your remarkable insights. I too saw the Natale - Beato video, but wrongly assumed it was a technique limited to live music / big venue / loud volume situations. You took the time and applied the intellectual curiosity to test it in a recorded music / studio venue / reasonable volume situation. You are quite right that this technique has a dramatic, positive, impact on mixing songs. I very much appreciate your work on this.

[johnbance]

I used this idea on my home theater setup. It cleans up the mud and takes away some of the painful frequencies. I know a home theater is nothing like a JBL Vertec system or an EAW Anya/Otto system but the concept works well.

[jasonesty]

This curve (and variations of it) is a staple in live production sound. Has been for years.

[klementus]

This is interesting.
Often these frequencies are cut off in one way or another when mixing, so it is worth trying to mix this curve in the right proportion.
Thanks for sharing this.

[HyperNova]

Started watching this on a random impulse YouTube click while I was eating, and I was already more than halfway through the video when I finally looked down and recognized your name... I'm already using a ton of your music in an RPG Maker game that I'm developing, but I'd never come across your channel before until now, lol.

[mylittleheartscar]

This is something you do subconsciously in Electronic Dance Music especially if you are mixing for headphone music or trying to get loud with out paining for big EDC or Ultra shows. Only problem is processing power and time someone has to make a perfect loud yet destroyed mixes

Love the info

[lilwombat]

im not a fan of this as a blanket eq for actual song mixes it's clearer but loses the weight i could see that being useful in a live setting. 160 300 700 and 2k are all good places to check anyway