hover anything for the why
20 Hz to 20 kHz · ±18 dB · DrumsThe gold line is what the EQ does to every frequency; the green shape under it is the sound right now. Drag a band’s dot.
Level
Play runs the pattern round two bars. Hold: dry bypasses every band while you hold it, so you can hear what the EQ is changing. The space bar plays and stops.
Source
Four sounds with four different spectrums. The 808 lives in the sub; the vocal has its body in the low mids and its consonants above 5 kHz; the stabs sit in the mids. The same EQ move means something different on each.
Bandin
bells
parametric band
The bands in the order the signal meets them: a high-pass, a low shelf, the parametric bells, a high shelf, a low-pass. Choose one and the dials belong to it; In and Out is the bypass for that band alone. Bells is how many parametric bands you have: one to find a problem, two to cut in one place and boost in another.
Frequency1 kHz
the centre of the band
The centre of the bell. Sweep it while the gain is up to find where a sound honks or rings, then cut there. The scale is logarithmic, like the ear.
Shape0 dBQ 1.0
Q 1.0 = 1.4 octaves between the half-power points
Gain is how much the band boosts or cuts; Q is how narrow it is. Cuts are usually narrow and boosts wide: a narrow boost rings, a wide cut thins. In the exam, name both numbers.
What you should hear
0 dBMid at 1 kHz
1.4 octwide, between half-power points
0 dBthe curve's biggest boost
0 dBits deepest cut
every number here comes from the dials
Every number here comes from the dials: the band you chose, its frequency, its gain or slope, and what the whole curve adds up to. Those are the things an exam answer about EQ names first.