Welcome to Sage Audio. Today we’re covering How to Inverse EQ
But first, if you have a mix that you need mastered send it to us at SageAudio.com to
receive a free mastered sample of it.
Best EQ for Inverse EQ
The Best equalizer to use for inverse equalization is most likely the FabFilter Pro Q 3. I’ve
tried using Izotope Ozone's Match equalizer and some others; however, they don’t seem
to offer the needed functionality - comment below if you know of another one that works.
Let’s listen to the mix we’re going to be using this technique one.
Picking External Side Chain
When you want to use inverse EQ matching, insert the Pro-Q 3 on one of the 2 tracks
you’d like to separate - then make the other track the external side chain. For example,
if you want to separate your kick and bass, insert the plugin on either or.
Then make the external side chain the kick if the plugin is on the bass, and vice versa.
Let’s listen to the kick and bass isolated to hear how they’re overlapping currently.
Match EQ and Set Bands
Now that we have the 2 tracks routed correctly, hover over the Analyzer settings at the bottom,
and click EQ Match - then select your external side chain as the reference. Then push space
bar or play, and the match function will begin to measure the 2 signals.
The white overlay is what the matched curve will look like. Then select match and decide
on the number of bands you want to create before hitting finish.
Let’s pick the full 24 and have a quick listen to the matching - this shouldn’t
sound too good since we’re not finished, but it will give you an indication of what
this sounds like so far.
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Edit Matched Bands and Invert
As we can see, some of our bands are pretty extreme, so I’ll change my scaling to 30dB
in the top right, and then begin to delete bands. I’ll delete super low and high bands,
as well as ones with extreme amplitudes - then I’ll highlight all of my remaining bands.
With all the bands highlighted, I’ll use the gain dial to affect all of their amplitudes,
in turn inverting their amplitudes. I like to make the amplitude only a few dB.
Let’s take a listen.
Smooth or Sharp Inverse EQ
Once our EQ curve has been inverted, we’re pretty much done; however, there are a couple
of other techniques we can try. For example, if we highlight all of the bands, we can make
the curves smoother or sharper with the Q value or the slope value.
If you’re using this to reduce problem frequencies, try a higher Q value and a 96dB per octave
slope. Try the opposite for a more musical sound.
Linear or Natural Phase Inverse EQ
Another thing to consider is the phase setting we choose - with all of these bands, we’re
changing the phase of the EQ’s internal filters, making the curve slightly less accurate
which is problematic since it kind of defeats the purpose. To remedy this, use a low-latency
linear phase setting.
Or if you want a slightly more natural sound, try the natural phase setting which emulates
the phase shifts caused by analog equalizers.
Let’s listen to both to see if we notice much of a difference.
Dynamic Inverse EQ
One way to make inverse equalization more interesting is to make the bands dynamic - to
do this, highlight the band, right-click, and select make dynamic. If you choose to
use this effect, I’d move the curves closer to unity and let the dynamic aspect do the
work.
Let’s listen to regular vs dynamic inverse equalization while using a low-latency linear
phase setting. Real quick, if you want to see exclusive advanced
videos, have priority response to your comments, and get some other future perks - consider
joining our channel and becoming a member.
Mid-Side Inverse EQ
Unfortunately, the Pro-Q 3 doesn’t like you match the signals on a mid and side basis
- at least not in a way I’ve found without creating mid and side versions of my tracks.
Regardless, we can change some of the bands to mid and side for a creative effect.
For my lows, I’ll make positive bands mid and negative bands side. For the highs, I’ll
do the opposite.
Let’s take a listen.
Super Quick Inverse EQ
If all of this seems like a headache or you simply don’t want to purchase the Pro-Q
3 - there is another option. You can use a plugin called Trackspacer by Wavefactory to
perform dynamic inverse equalization, which causes a similar effect to some of the methods
detailed earlier.
Just use the external side chain as we did earlier and the plugin separates the 2 in
real time.
If you have a mix that you need mastered send it to us at SageAudio.com to receive a free
mastered sample of it.
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for watching!