Question on EQ cutting or shelving

[Deakar]

In FL studio's parametric EQ2 I've seen others take the first band (low shelf), bring it down all the way, then move to where they want to cut. The practice I use is to make the first band a high pass and move to where desired. Does my way cut out too many frequencies? Does the first method keep enough of the lower frequencies to perhaps keep the sound(s) more full? Or does it even matter? I tend to cut everything below 40hz, sometimes higher depending on the sound of course.

[AxeD]

Depends entirely on the track at hand. Whether you're cutting too much is something only you can decide
by listening to it carefully.

I tend to cut at 30hz, problem is, most people (including me) have nothing that can properly reproduce sound that low. So it's kind of
a blind decision. Also note that mp3 compression also cuts every at around 30hz anyway.

[Triphosphate]

In FL studio's parametric EQ2 I've seen others take the first band (low shelf), bring it down all the way, then move to where they want to cut. The practice I use is to make the first band a high pass and move to where desired. Does my way cut out too many frequencies?

That depends, do you want to cut away the frequencies completely? or not? if you use a shelf it won't cut away completely, but the "leftover" might be quiet enough that it's negligible, another thing to consider is the steepness of your cut. I could be wrong, but, I think a shelf will ring significantly less than a steep cut.

Does the first method keep enough of the lower frequencies to perhaps keep the sound(s) more full? Or does it even matter? I tend to cut everything below 40hz, sometimes higher depending on the sound of course.

This depends on what you're cutting. If the sound you want to cut has nothing going on below 1000 hz than there won't be much of a difference between cutting at 40hz and cutting at 900 hz. Personally, I would recommend using lowcuts on almost everything to keep your low end clean. The way I do this is to put a lowcut EQ on every instrument excluding sub and maybe kick, then I slide the cut up the frequencies until I hear it begin to change the sound and take it back a tiny bit. If you're hearing any ringing, then try a less steep cut, if you're still hearing ringing then use a shelf.

[bouncingfish]

Shit I read that many times. I should sleep.

[titchbit]

Don't have FL and your question is a little ambiguous, but you probably could answer it for yourself by just taking a spectrum analyzer and looking at frequency responses after different EQ curves.

[benjam]

Don't have FL and your question is a little ambiguous, but you probably could answer it for yourself by just taking a spectrum analyzer and looking at frequency responses after different EQ curves.

This. I always used to make really drastic cuts but keep an eye on the scale on the right , A/B with a spectrum analyzer and think about how much you actually need to roll off.

[AxeD]

Or listen with your earballs.