Tips & tricks with SlickEQ

[FabienTDR]

Herbert posted some tips about SlickEQ on his blog:

http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/201 ... h-slickeq/


How do you approach SlickEQ?

[nilhartman]

Nothing unusual here I guess

I mostly use it clean, even though I think the Out Stages sound great : Silky, Deep and Toasted are my favorite ones.

I love the American curves, which sound so musical to my ears, like an unobtrusive, subtle yet effective and elegant massage of the audio. I spend a lot of time getting my raw sources right, so that matters a lot to me.
I use this color 99% of the time, and will reach other ones if I want something to stand out : it works pretty well ! FWIW, I'd say American is super versatile, German suits bass heavy material really well, British is sharp and Soviet works great for high-pitched melodies. I haven't really used Japanese yet. Of course, it's by no mean a rigid classification !

I usually hit the HPF first, and then I just do whatever I feel I have to do ! The gentle LPF curve sounds great and never makes the sound dull (which I don't like), but I'll often prefer the high-shelf instead if I want something to "shine". Contrast is key, as usual.

If I need more than a couple dB of wide cut in the mids, then I go back to my synths/samples etc...

I barely ever boosted before, but since I use SlickEQ (GE) I enjoy doing adding a dB or two here and there. The "bass-boost before cutting + sat" trick can do wonders indeed.

Finally, the Tilt is a fantastic feature, it's incredibly useful to "finalize" settings. Half a dB can go a long way with it !

[vladg]

I love the American curves, which sound so musical to my ears, like an unobtrusive, subtle yet effective and elegant massage of the audio. I spend a lot of time getting my raw sources right, so that matters a lot to me.
I use this color 99% of the time, and will reach other ones if I want something to stand out : it works pretty well ! FWIW, I'd say American is super versatile, German suits bass heavy material really well, British is sharp and Soviet works great for high-pitched melodies. I haven't really used Japanese yet. Of course, it's by no mean a rigid classification !

Yeah! American mode is my favorite too! BTW, it was the first mode we added.

American is the most neutral and versatile for me.
British is good for "agressive" sounds (drum bus for example).
German is very very soft and I do not prefer it for mixing.
Soviet is good for high-frequency grit (overheads track for example).
Japanese is punchy. Its shelves are very good for kick and snare and its bell shapes are very useful for taming resonances (I switch all 3 bands to bells for this task)

I prefer "linear" mode. For sat modes (if I use them) I almost always set "calibration" to zero dB. I prefer "Silk" more (but "Excited" and "Toasted" have their own good flavor too). And I keep "EQ Sat" mode on because it's great!

"Bump" mode HPF and gentle LPF at 20 kHz both give "warm" feeling. I prefer tilt in "v-shape" mode.

And finally, if I drive a compressor or a limiter with SlickEQ, I turn auto-gain compensation off.

[xtrax]

Yeah! American mode is my favorite too! BTW, it was the first mode we added.

American is the most neutral and versatile for me.
British is good for "agressive" sounds (drum bus for example).
German is very very soft and I do not prefer it for mixing.
Soviet is good for high-frequency grit (overheads track for example).
Japanese is punchy. Its shelves are very good for kick and snare and its bell shapes are very useful for taming resonances (I switch all 3 bands to bells for this task)

I prefer "linear" mode. For sat modes (if I use them) I almost always set "calibration" to zero dB. I prefer "Silk" more (but "Excited" and "Toasted" have their own good flavor too). And I keep "EQ Sat" mode on because it's great!

"Bump" mode HPF and gentle LPF at 20 kHz both give "warm" feeling. I prefer tilt in "v-shape" mode.

And finally, if I drive a compressor or a limiter with SlickEQ, I turn auto-gain compensation off.

Thanks Vladg
I was looking for these tips. Only on GE edition I could use V tilt, and run thru the models to hear differences in sound btw. models without different curves. So different behaviors are those.

[Hermetech Mastering]

I use it pretty conservatively for mastering. Nearly always in German mode for the smoothest curves and lowest phase distortion - I'm looking for it to be as "invisible" as possible. Therefore no EQ Sat and no/linear Output Stage. Might occasionally use the Japanese mode for more surgical cuts.

I use one instance between the client's file and my DAC/analogue outboard (compressors and EQs)/ADC loop. Here I'm usually just HPFing out any sub bass (if needed), and making any surgical or wide band alterations that are obviously needed, before it hits the outboard.

I occasionally use another instance just before the final digital limiter, when I'm finishing up the album as a whole, for tonal consistency from track to track. Again, just very broad and subtle strokes, which it excels at.

Great trick with the HPF is to set it at around an octave below the lowest bass note in a track, and then play with the two types, as often the "tape bump" mode can give a nice, very gentle lift to the audible low end, an octave above the cutoff, while still removing sub. Very cleverly thought out!

Am sure I'd use all the saturation stuff if I didn't already have that covered with the analogue gear (ten trannies in the chain!!!)

[vladg]

Great trick with the HPF is to set it at around an octave below the lowest bass note in a track, and then play with the two types, as often the "tape bump" mode can give a nice, very gentle lift to the audible low end, an octave above the cutoff, while still removing sub. Very cleverly thought out!

Yeah! Another very good trick to mention!

[David Else]

Hey Mr Hermetech, I just checked your website and see you got a great testimonial from Danny Hyde... I am now paying extra attention to your advice!

[Hermetech Mastering]

Cheers man, been working with Dan since 2010, mastered his Svay Pak EP and the latest Electric Sewer Age release, did the Coil/NIN re-issue too.

Sorry for OT derail!

[nilhartman]

I'm having tons of fun, and great sounding results, trying to a mix a tune only/mostly using the HPF/LPF and Tilt (V-shaped most of the time), with the EQ Sat engaged. Pretty nice.