Compressor first or EQ?

[Jason from MaggieJack]

Any knowledge or experience about what order of plugin inserts, as far as EQ and Comp go. Is it better to have the EQ first or Comp, why?

Thanks,
Jason

[Master Mind]

On vocals eq seems to work best in front of the compressor. Dial in some brightness, and do some mid to low cut to give the compressor a more economical signal. It makes sense to give it only frequencies your going to use. Sometimes I'll run another eq after the comp, or a faster comp or limiter just to catch any fast stuff that got by the first slower comp. A shinny hot vocal can create some pretty tough sibilance. Put the De-esser in front of the eq if needed. I use this order on most sounds, but any track may prove better in a totally different configuration. My favourite lead vocal setup goes: Filter Bank P2 - LA2A - 1177.

[lwilliam]

Personally, I never EQ vocals going in, although I'll often compress them a bit. I go for the best mic (for the singer) and the best distance, and possibly a high-pass filter only. Obviously, this is not the only way to do it and there are nice voice processor boxes with built-in EQ, like an Avalon 737 or the new AMEK box.

On mic'ed instruments, I usually EQ first, then compress. That way, the compressor is only comping the frequencies that you want in there rather than the whole spectrum.

On direct instruments, I inevitably get the tone out of the guitar/bass first, then compress, if necessary. I never use outboard EQ on DI stuff - I'll switch instruments first - but that's just me.

Now maybe if I had a real Pultec or a Manley EQ, I might change my mind about things...

Cheap EQ sounds it. I don't think there's a right or a wrong way. If it sounds good, then it is good.



------------------
LW

[Jason from MaggieJack]

Thanks guys. As always great information.

Jason

[MichaelK]

I find it depends on the track. Sometimes it works better one way, sometimes another.

The way I approach this is by what seems to be the most prevalent need. For example, if the track seems to have too much "air" then I'll compress first, worry about EQ later. If a guitar's tone is annoying the crap out of me then I'll fix the EQ first, maybe compress later if necessary.

In mixdown, I tend not to use either compression or EQ unless I hear a clear need for them or room for improvement.

When tracking I use compression when necessary but almost never EQ unless it's to remedy a specific problem. For a little while I was adding a 2dB boost in the 4-5 kHZ range because I read somewhere that it's a nice range to boost slightly for vocals. Then I was spending hours with compressors and de-essers during mixdown trying to remove all this extra sibilance. That's when I discovered that my mic already has that "hump" built in. What a dope!

------------------
- Michael