Cutting the top end......

[Jomox]

Best to leave it all to mastering, including not using all that compression, eqin'g etc you say your using on the low end, this along with you potentially doing that on the high end actually makes the work harder for whoever is mastering especially if you have not done it right.

But if you want to get the top end right, then you need to use reference material and set a standard that your ears can adapt the high end to, that or maybe your monitoring is set up to bright for you.

[elasticc]

I don't agree with what you say about taking all compassion and eq off and leaving it all to mastering.
I take off everything that is on the master output before it goes to mastering, but not off individual channels, i would do if i was having it Stem mixed and mastered for me, but i'm not.

[Karloff70]

Use reference records throughout the process, especially towards the end. Use them A LOT. Everyone any good does, don't believe any different. Then you don't have that 'surprise' of oh, I'm a lot toppier than this sweet sounding record AFTER you're finished.

[elasticc]

yes i think i should use reference records more. I do sometimes, but not a lot. I do more so for production than sonically.

[RCM - Ronan]

One really good strategy is to not let everything have top end. You only need one or two bright elements in a mix to make it sound bright and shiny. You might also find that if you have less conflict in the high end, that the mid range can get more interesting.

[elasticc]

Thanks, good advice, I will try and carve out a bit more space for highs by cutting highs out of things like synths etc which may be taking up space up in the 10k and above range.

[Fezzle]

I feel that if you have an element or more of well recorded/sampled sound with decent top end + moving air its alot easier! To me it never sounds right just going in for top shelf if there isnt much in the first place, things like cymbals and hats start to get harsh pretty quick if your not careful and phase distortion rears its ugly head. But yes some good advice above, yet remember you need the goods in the first place and if theyre there the rest is easy

[Manfrensengensen]

I like to put a HPF on tracks especially distorted guitar and slide it up to about 8-12k and listen to just the high end to hear what's there and decide if its doing much for the overall mix. Then remove the HPF and use a LPF to kill the nasty fizzle.
Then there's room for the cymbals and makes clarity better without boosting everything in the top.