High Pass on Master Bus

[Sampire]

I am curious after reading through the "What's on your master bus?" thread about people rolling off at in between 20 hz and even as high as 40 hz??

I read a "mastering guide" once years ago that said you should always roll off at like 60 hz because the human ear bla bla.......

I was told on here that this was madness and rarely ever was there a need to roll off lows on the master bus

for hiphop especially....wouldn't 40hz sound a little thin?

[PettyCash]

Do whatever sounds right. The fastest way toward getting the type of results you don't want is to do stuff just because you hear about other people doing them. We've all been there.

Typically, if I wanted to roll off anything on the master bus, it would be around 20Hz and below, or maybe as high as 30Hz, and I would do it only to get rid of any low end rumble or audio junk that doesn't help the record in any good way.

Some guys may roll off at a higher frequency if they want to tip the balance of a mix so that it sounds brighter.

Hip Hop nowadays can sound like whatever it wants, sub frequencies are no longer a prerequisite when making a record. More and more "thin" sounding stuff gets made everyday.

[Sampire]

thanks for the feedback!

I know that I should just "do what sounds right to me"

but I think it's worth taking into consideration what people with more experience then me are doing. Also, since I don't have a treated room with good monitors for mixing, it's possible that what I think sounds good, might wield more revealing results on a more "accurate" setup, so knowing what people with better setups and more experience generally do as a rule of thumb, or at least a general/typical range of adjustments should hopefully be a step in the right direction for me

[Tnevz]

I would roll off to 20hz. the human ear generally speaking can't hear that low anyways. It's not gonna help a bad low end mix though. that's all about highpassing, low passing, levels, eq in general and having a good source sound.

[ryst]

I rarely put any hi pass on the master buss because if there is excess bass I take care of it in the mix and it's usually very easy to find. I'll use the EQ section of Ozone 5 to compare my overall eq curve with an eq curve of a track that I'm referencing just as a visual to what my ears are telling me.

However, when I'm mastering an outside project I will hipass the mix when needed. But it usually doesn't go above 30-40hz and it's no more than a 6 to 12 db/oct cut. I find that a less abrupt slope allows me to go higher if needed without cutting the bass too much. It's a smoother and more effective in my opinion.

[stinkyfingers]

a HPF is great for cleaning up the unwanted sub-bass (DC??) generated by the use of compression...
usually i like to use between 16Hz and 32Hz...

[PettyCash]

Originally Posted by Sampire

thanks for the feedback!

I know that I should just "do what sounds right to me"

but I think it's worth taking into consideration what people with more experience then me are doing. Also, since I don't have a treated room with good monitors for mixing, it's possible that what I think sounds good, might wield more revealing results on a more "accurate" setup, so knowing what people with better setups and more experience generally do as a rule of thumb, or at least a general/typical range of adjustments should hopefully be a step in the right direction for me

I here ya, and it's good that you are asking questions.

I know most people hate on mixing with headphones, but do yourself a favour and go out and buy a really good pair to use as a second reference, or if what you are using right now is that bad than as a first reference. Mixing without room treatment is real dicey, but having a pair of good headphones can even out your odds a bit. Also be sure to have a pair of computer speakers as another reference. Between those and your monitors, you should have an easier time getting good results, even in an untreated room.

Even when you know a bunch of advance mixing techniques, you can still go very wrong if you are mixing in an environment you haven't figured out the sound of yet. Believe me, once you can trust what you are hearing, and you know what to listen for, mixing will seem a lot less trivial than some people make it seem.

[K_Haze]

Depends on the track but I tend to start roll off @ 30hz or as low as 20hz for more 808 filled tracks

[beat you down]

some people even seem to filter everything from 50 hz and down.

[K_Haze]

Originally Posted by beat you down

some people even seem to filter everything from 50 hz and down.

No love for the subs...prolly not a single 808 in those tracks I take it....

[Danny Downer]

Originally Posted by K_Haze

prolly not a single 808 in those tracks I take it....

What a shame

[CXP]

I usually cut everything below 7khz and then boost with a broad Q between 15 and 20 khz. Sounds fantastic! Also I am deaf.

[clivek]

It totally depends on the track and how its mixed !!

Yeah if it's bass heavy a nice cut below 50 hz will tighten things up !!

If you can't hear the low lows get some high end cans, they will help !