Parametric EQ

[#2121313]

I just picked up a Rane PE15, it's a 5-Band Parametric EQ: http://www.rane.com/pdf/old/pe15man.pdf

Anyone have any tips/settings to close in on an 80's Metallica tone?

 

[Elpelotero]

yes...play around with boosting and cutting 120hz, 1.2khz, and 4.6khz. This is after you've dialed in the amp as close as you can.

 

[#2121313]

Thanks, any idea which ones are boosted & which cut?

What about the Bandwidth control, any suggestions here as well? What is the "bandwidth" control actually doing/affecting? And what about the "shelve" mode?

The manual is very vague so if anyone here has any experiences they'd like to share I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.

Thanks Elpelotero

 

[Tfunk Ian]

Thanks, any idea which ones are boosted & which cut?

What about the Bandwidth control, any suggestions here as well? What is the "bandwidth" control actually doing/affecting? And what about the "shelve" mode?

The manual is very vague so if anyone here has any experiences they'd like to share I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.

Thanks Elpelotero

Here is a little lesson in parametric EQs. In order for an EQ to be fully parametric it must have 3 controls: Gain, Frequency, and bandwidth (also called "Q"). The first two are pretty self explanitory so I'll concentrait on the bandwidth control. What the bandwidth control does is determine the amount of surrounding frequencies that are also affected. In your case, the EQ that you have is a "Peak" EQ, meaning that you have a center frequency that is the main frequency that you are either boosting or cutting. With any EQ, you can never control just one frequency, it always affects surrounding frequencies. Here is a way to visualize bandwidth. Picture your frequecy range as being a flat line. Now let's say that you take your EQ and boost 10dB at 2KHz with your bandwidth set to the lowest settings. What you would see on your picture would look like a very wide pyramid, with your center frequency being the top of the pyramid. Now as you twist your bandwith knob to a higher setting, the sides of the pyramid get steeper while the top point stays in the same place. What this means is that with a higher bandwidth setting, the less additional frequencies are affected by the EQ.

Now, to answer your questions about "Shelving." Typically, shelving EQs are reserved only for treble and bass frequencies. Here is an example of how it works. Let's say you are looking at that same frequency range picture and it is back to being a flat line. Now let's say that you use a shelving EQ and boost 10KHz by 10dB. Instead of your picture now looking like a pyramind, it looks like a plateau. What you'll see is the the frequencies that are lower that 10k are not afffected, but ALL the frequencies above 10k are affected the same amount as 10k is.

Here are some links to pictures that will let you see what I am talking about:

Shelving EQ - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/images/EQ-04z.jpg

Peak EQ - http://pagesperso-orange.fr/vb-audio/us/products/eqprox/pnc02.gif


I hope that helps...

 

[#2121313]

Yes Ian very well worded, I completely understand now, thanks for taking the time, this is exactly what i was looking for.

Thanks for inserting the pics directly to this post GTS.

 

[Tfunk Ian]

No problem. The only other advice that I can offer is if you really want to understand what I described above, take one of the bands and boost the gain all the way up. Then play with the bandwidth control to see what it does. That will give you the best understanding of what it does. You can also try the same thing expect pull the gain all the way down.