high end frequency

iskra · Post by **iskra** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 7:27 am

I've noticed on a lot of the har-bal reference files in different genres and on a lot of commercial mixes I've looked at many seem to have quite steep roll off at about 13k Hz(sometimes starting to role off a little earlier before cutting off sharply)...whereas my mixes dont (I make electronic music with synths & drum machines mostly). In some cases my mixes have a little spike going upwards as they get towards 20k.

Intuit q always leaves this area alone.

should I cut these very high frequencies or leave then alone? is this a problem with my mixes? or does it just depend on the content of my mixes? (sometimes bit crushing or distortion on certain synths seems to give extra high freq content)

for just one example here first is a commercial mix

then here is my most recent mix (& by no means the most extreme in high frequency content, I just had it handy).

Post by **har-bal** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 3:42 pm

Did you know you can turn the tips off by clicking on Options/and unchecking "Show Tips"?

The bottom line is this "How does it sound to you:. How about sending us a 1 minute mp3 of your file so we can hear it.

Cheers

Earle

HarBal · Post by **HarBal** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 7:01 pm

What is the sampling rate of those examples? If it is 44.1 or 48kHz then I'd suggest you are correct in your thinking and spectrums showing an upsloping behaviour at the top end is a a probable sign of a poorly constructed synthesized sound. It could be aliasing for example.

I would suggest you try cutting it above 15kHz so that it slopes down and see if you like what you hear. I usually find tracks with that sort of top end sound a bit "fuzzy".

If it is sampled at 88.2 or 96kHz or higher then it may be fine but by the same token you should listen to it to figure out whether it sounds better the way it is or tamed. Also, if it is to be mastered for CD (44.1kHz) then it would be wise to tame it so as to reduce the possibility of aliasing and/or reconstruction issues.

Regards,

Paavo.

iskra · Post by **iskra** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 1:38 am

Sample rate is 44.1, & thanks for the offer to have a listen, but I've figured out why this track was like that. After looking at every element in the track individually I realised it was a virtual analogue drum machine (with a lot of distortion used on it) that was causing most of the excess high end, I put a high cut of 15kHz over that, & it solved it. Its funny though how I didnt pick it up till I looked at it in Har-bal, maybe my top end hearing isn't what it used to be, maybe its poor accoustics in my room, or maybe just listening to the track too many times. Anyway thanks for the suggestions, it sound better now.