Using Parametric EQ as a Poor Man's HPF?

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#61
agedhorse said:
I don't need to justify what I learned in my 6 years of engineering education. Your posts are becoming more confrontational and less respectful, I don't think this is appreciated by anyone here.
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Anyone who doesn't appreciate my posts has the option to block me if they feel so inclined.

Perhaps like BFM, my style of discussion is underappreciated.

40Hz said:
Uh-huh. Now about your credentials?
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Well, it only took me 3 years of engineering education to lead into a career, so I guess I'm about half as good?
I'm not an electronics engineer but I did enough of it to know my way around a basic circuit.
Does it matter though. The information is now freely available. Go learn it for yourself.

I'm also a locally gigging bass player, and ultimately this question isn't about the numbers, but if it makes a noticeable difference or not to the player.

We were discussing where the -3dB point is and yes it's different. does it matter? maybe.
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That is purported to be the response of a "driver has specs similar to the standard driver used in Ampeg SVT cabs"
Depending on how you want to look at it the response goes up and down by 5-10dB, so is that 3dB point actually all that significant? In the above case the -3dB at 200 would probably flatten out the low end response.


I have no doubt that a HPF wil help some people with some amps a lot, some people a little and some not at all. The way people go on about it here you'd think it was an absolute necessity for everyone all the time no matter what.
Much like the BFM cabs I referenced earlier The hype is extremely overblown. People probably still use them, but I don't see many if any mentions on here anymore. Check back again in a few years and tell me if an additional HPF really is all that or not.
 
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#63
crazyBassClown said:
If the 3 are already built into an amp and will do the job acceptably, why buy an additional external one to achieve the same effect?
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Because the result is not the same. I would rather do the job with a piece designed for it.

So you own a hand saw. It can cut through a 1 ft diameter tree limb. You would not buy and use a chain saw if you were going to be doing this task often?
 
#64
crazyBassClown said:
If the 3 are already built into an amp and will do the job acceptably, why buy an additional external one to achieve the same effect?
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You are 100% right on that...why buy an external box to duplicate what a head can already do? On the other hand, if a player wanted to have two different voicings to help with a wide range of covers, it might be useful to set the amp one way for your main sound and then have a supplemental voicing (using very similar filters) that would be easy to kick on and off as necessary.

An external HPF is only going to prove useful in situations where it can actually add value over and above what your head already has. However, I do use an external variable HPF on heads with a fixed internal HPF for tone shaping options I cannot get with just straight EQ (internal or off-board). Actually a LPF can be useful for some in achieving their one goals. Nothing I know of is a must have, value-add for everyone in every situation all the time. That said, a good variable HPF (on or off-board), much like a well-designed full parametric EQ, can work wonders in acoustically challenging venues when typical EQ is out of its league.
 
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#69
PraiseBassing said:
So should we use 3 filters to fix it or replace the amp and/or cab?

Why not just use the tool that is designed for the job or just use what you have?
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The tool designed for the job is the EQ that was designed into your amp. But if you feel a HPF helps then knock yourself out.
Given there only seems to be small scale boutique manufacturers actually making them, I'm guessing the vast swath of bass players not on talkbass are doing just fine HPF'less.
 
#73
crazyBassClown said:
A HPF is hardly revolutionary. They have been around literally since before the electric bass was invented.
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I didn't say it was revolutionary. But it is something that is becoming more prevalent in bass amplification, after being used for decades at FOH. The same benefits that you have from FOH can be applied to bass amplification.

If the amp/cab combo "is not the right tool" because someone decides to use a HPF to improve their set up, does that mean that every commercial sound company, who generally run some of the best available products, are using the wrong tools because they are using HPF's?
 
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#75
I used HPFs on all kinds of inputs (including bass) at FOH since the mid 1980's, when consoles began including them on the channel strip as a feature. It was a major step forward in sound reinforcement, a feature that is standard in every pro level board on the market. Most semi-pro boards also include one on each channel these days.

Why shouldn't this feature "trickle down" to the bass world, where it has proven to be a useful feature for many players.
 
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#76
I think it's useful to think of a HPF as a 'brick wall' limiter, the difference being that while a Limiter will firmly insist that no signals may rise above a (very particular) amplitude, a HPF will firmly reject any signals which fall below a (very particular) frequency, while leaving ALL other frequencies completely intact. It's a frequency wall. It's not like EQ. EQ is gentle and broad; HPF is severe and sharp but ONLY affects things directly at or below it. Frequencies above it are completely unaffected; those below it are GONE.
 
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