Well iv'e looked at the images, and in tonal balance the heavier sounds like midrange bass etc gets more db level, the highs are fast transients popping up and down fast AF so when you read it you need to have a very slow release... Pictures looks fine to me, the roll off is probably around 17-18k, there are various analysers and i've been starting to use minimeters, very good, and Vienna suite 2's analyser. And ofc SPAN.

Im not sure there is an issue in those pictures, at least not in Izotope tonal, it looks like that iv'e tried it, it gives a curve where the action is, harmonise wise if you will. If there would be a roll of at 10k in those images it would look like a hard cut at 14k maybe.

And ofc depends on the material, some music has little highs, techno has a lot of highs, so if you take a screenshot when everything is popping you will see that in most EDM music the high peaks are the kick and the top end, eg when hats/snare hits and kick hit. Mid frequencies are a couple db lower but has a lot of stereo so it sounds rly good, i always push my mids 2db in the multiband compressor when mastering.
There is a difference in fast sounds and slow sounds, so you cant really rely on analysers, i use them to see harmonic content and try to understand what the artist did with a certain track, Izotope tonal balance sucks, cus its always track by track basis.

And everbody does things differently, the roll offs are meant to clean up a mix, and make it easier for the limiter.

Sub is usually cut at 30hz give or take, depends, because it gives more loudness to the limiter, it doesnt take space, this applies to high end as well, so usually you cut in my case 24db curve, 30hz and 18khz, if mix is rly harsh i can go down to 17khz but it makes more sense to gainstage properly.

 

Reminds me of the "K-Weight" on our ears

 

If it were only the perceptual loss of high frequency I might be able to recover it, though I'm afraid it's the hardware itself that's been comprimised. Good catch!

 

just take a physical CD with a good quality classical recording or computergenerated electronica from 2005 or newer and compare how the graph would look for those.

 

UNDERSTAND EQ - HERE IS A VERY HELPFUL OVERVIEW OF FREQUENCIES

3KHZ

• Raise to make bass more defined.
• Boost for more “attack” on guitars and low piano parts.
• Boost to make voices clearer/harder.
• Lowering to get an airy, soft sound from background vocals.
• Lowering to conceal out-of-tune guitars/vocals.

5KHZ

• Lifting for vocal presence
• Boost to give bass drums more attack (also toms).
• Raise to bring out plucking noises in the bass.
• Boost to increase the “attack” of piano, acoustic guitar.
• Lower to make the elements in the background appear “further away”.
• Lowering to make quiet guitars softer.

7KHZ

• Boost to give (bass) drums a more metallic sound (NuMetal).
• Boost to give percussion sounds more attack.
• Boost to make muffled vocals clearer.
• Raise to make the double bass more defined.
• The S frequency of the most votes.
• Boost to make synthesizers, rock guitars, acoustic guitars and piano “sharper”.

10KHZ

• Boost to make vocals more brilliant.
• Boost to make acoustic guitar and piano more gently brilliant.
• Raise to make the pelvis “harder”.
• Lowering for an overall less sharp S-sound for vocals

15KHZ

• Boost to make vocals “airier”.
• Raise to make cymbals, strings and flutes more “expensive”.
• Boost to make samples sound more “real”.

ACUSTIC GUITAR

• Look for and attenuate muddy frequencies between 100 and 300Hz. Small cuts between 1-3kHz help to shift the sound image further upwards. Boosting at 5kHz leads to greater presence.
• 100-250Hz – Body
• 6-8kHz – Clarity
• 8-12kHz – Brilliance

STREICHER

• Completely dependent on sound and mix.
• 50-100Hz – Depth
• 100-250Hz – Body
• 250-800Hz – mud range
• 1-6hHz – “crunchy”
• 6-8kHz – Clarity
• 8-12kHz – Brilliance

Source: https://duophonic.de/en/understanding-eq/

 

Last edited: Dec 13, 2025 at 1:57 PM

I was the mastering engineer for John Cage's 4'33". It was one of the most difficult jobs I ever undertook...the silence was deafening.

 

pathetic, he didn't even tweak the chair, didn't turn pages for each movement, couldn't play without some kids stopwatch