Try EQ after Compression

Have you tried EQ after Compression?

The topics of EQ and compression have been discussed in prior articles, but have you ever considered the effect that their order in the signal chain has on the final sound? I was once interviewing for a traveling worship team, and the staff asked me to describe the signal flow in a system. I went through and described all the details of the signal traveling to a mixer, through HP filter, gain, EQ, Compressions, and so forth. I didn’t realize at the time that the order of compression and EQ matter a lot. In a perfect world, you are not limited to only one compressor or one EQ per channel. Advanced boards such as DiGi Co. Venue Profile allow you to have studio-like control over your signal flow and processing.

When you compress a vocal with a standard compressor, you are bringing down the energy in the troublesome frequencies. When you do this, you are gaining down or smashing down the energy in the frequencies which cross the compression threshold. What naturally happens is that your frequency response becomes less dynamic. It’s not just the signal level, it's the individual frequencies which are crossing that threshold which get compressed. So often what starts as a vibrant and clear signal loses that brightness and shape when it passes the compressor. This is why overcompressing ruins a good signal.

So to counteract this, you can add an EQ after your compressor. This allows you to target specific frequencies and boost or cut their levels to bring back the dynamic shape of the signal. You will probably still want to EQ before the compressor to help eliminate or minimize frequencies, such as sub 80 Hz in vocals or other signals from triggering the compressor.

In my mind, the ideal vocal processing chain is actually EQ, slight compression, harder compression at a higher threshold, and corrective EQ. The initial EQ cleans up and sets the signal headed in the right direction. The initial compression helps to smooth the vocal dynamics and keep them in less harsh ranges of too low or painfully loud. The second compressor has a higher threshold and ratio, only triggering when the signal crosses the upper limit of tolerance which must be corrected at all costs. This is almost as harsh as a limiter, but not quite. Finally, the corrective EQ is used to restore the shape and brightness. Don’t overthink it. All you need is a slight boost between 1-3 kHz, and you’ll have the energy and presence back in your vocals.

Try it out sometime. You’ll be glad you did.