Equalization (EQ-ing)

Per-track EQing (on a track's Pan/EQ/'PnEQ' page) gives each instrument or voice its own “tone shaping” so everything fits together without fighting for the same frequency space. Imagine a big group conversation: if everyone talks in the same pitch and volume, it becomes muddy. EQ (equalization) is like asking one person to speak a little deeper, another a little softer, and another a little brighter so you can understand everyone clearly.

In music mixing, every sound lives in certain frequency ranges. A kick drum and bass guitar both use lots of low frequencies, so they can clash and sound boomy. A singer and guitar may compete in the mids, making vocals hard to hear. Per-track EQing lets you boost frequencies that help a sound stand out and cut frequencies that are unnecessary or conflicting. For example, you might remove low frequency rumble from vocals, or add brightness to cymbals.

The goal is not to make each track sound amazing or "loud" by itself - it’s to make the whole mix sound clear together. A guitar that sounds thin alone might fit perfectly once drums, bass, and vocals are added. EQ is less about “making things louder” and more about carving out little spaces so every sound has room to breathe.

Specifically, the Woovebox gives you a 3-band parametric EQ, which allows you to 6db cut, keep or 6db boost a track's low (1/Cd/EQ.Lo) and/or mid (2/bS/EQ.Md) and/or high (3/Ld/EQ.Hi) frequencies. The "parametric" part comes in the form of a configurable pivot mid frequency (4/Ar/EQ.Fr).

For example, specifying a mid frequency (4/Ar/EQ.Fr) of 440Hz, mid frequencies (modified by 2/bS/EQ.Md) "live" around 440Hz, while anything around 220Hz (440Hz halved) and lower would be considered low frequencies (modified by 1/Cd/EQ.Lo), and anything around 880Hz (440Hz doubled) and higher would be considered high frequencies (modified by 3/Ld/EQ.Hi).

The gain relationships between the three bands are clean and predictable; if you instinctively deduced that boosting all three bands simultaneously simply makes the 6db signal louder, you would be correct. Similarly cutting all bands makes the signal 6db softer.

EQ-ing as a (low) priority when mixing on the Woovebox

In Woovebox world, EQ-ing is considered a "blunt" tool, in that it changes a signal's frequency response "forever" throughout your song. It is all well and good to remove frequencies from your lead that may clash with the chords, but if the chords aren't playing in a section of your song, this may leave your lead sounding unnecessarily thin.

Your Woovebox provides you with more advanced tools (chiefly the side chaining, FX ducking and compressors) that allow you to work "temporally", meaning that you can change when something should be audible in your mix, depending on what else is going on.

Therefore, on the Woovebox, you are encouraged to only use per track EQ-ing as a "last resort" fix, only to be used if you cannot achieve a satisfactory result using sound design, sidechaining and/or compression alone.

Aural Exciter mode

A classic aural exciter is like a "detail highlighter" for sound; instead of just boosting the high frequencies, it creates tiny new harmonics (extra high-frequency content) that can make audio seem clearer, brighter, and more alive without needing a huge volume boost. When used effectively, vocal samples may sound crisper, leads may sparkle more, and total mixes may feel more "present".

Conceptually, when the exciter is enabled (8/Pc/'Aura'), an absolute value is applied to the mid and/or high bands before they are mixed into the output of the EQ. Full-wave rectification (absolute value) of a band signal creates even-order harmonic distortion (primarily 2nd harmonic) concentrated in that frequency region. This has three consequences for the affected band:

• The original fundamental is removed from the band signal
• A DC offset is introduced (amplitude at 0.637 x the original peak)
• Even-order harmonics are generated; primarily the 2nd harmonic (one octave up, amplitude at 0.424 x), then the 4th, 6th, etc. with rapidly decreasing amplitude.

The perceptual result is a brightening and fattening of the affected frequency region with strong octave-doubling character, similar to a classic analogue harmonic exciter or soft fuzz.

The Woovebox implementation goes a bit further by applying it to not just the highs but also the mids, while also applying it for an EQ cut and not only boosts. This provides new interesting ways of harmonic distortion and tone shaping. Note that, if engaged, only the mid and/or high bands are processed. The low band is intentionally excluded. Rectifying bass frequencies would produce strong DC offset and sub-harmonic beating, which is generally destructive in audio contexts.

Summary of EQ with exciter tonal character (low band setting is ignored);

• Only high boost; Exciter Octave-up air and presence (classic exciter sound)
• Only mid boost; Mid-range harmonic enrichment with octave doubling
• Only high cut; Attenuated, phase-coherence-broken high end; unusual tonal character
• Only mid cut; Attenuated, hollowed, granular mid scoop; unusual tonal character
• Mid and high boost; full-spectrum fuzz at +6 dB
• Mid and high cut; full-spectrum fuzz at -6 dB