emphasis eq

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Parameters
• Explanation

Overview

The emphasis EQ is responsible for adjusting the distortion intensity at certain frequencies, which can vastly change the tonal characteristics of the distortion.

There are two stages of EQing, one before the distortion and one after the other, consisting of a series of peak filters. If a cut is made at any frequency, it will be opposed by a boost at the same frequency after the sound has been distorted.

Parameters

There are 6 parameters on the Emphasis EQ, with default values, ranges and descriptions listed below:

Emphasis Low Frequency: 62 Hz (Range 30 Hz - 200 Hz)

- The frequency of both filters in the low band

Emphasis Mid Frequency: 1.2 kHz (Range 500 Hz - 3.0 kHz)

- The frequency of both filters in the mid band

Emphasis High Frequency: 9 kHz (Range 6 kHz - 18 kHz)

- The frequency of both filters in the high band

Emphasis Low Gain: 0 dB (Range -18 dB - 18 dB)

- The cut/boost amount of both filters in the low band

Emphasis Mid Gain: 0 dB (Range -12 dB - 18 dB)

- The cut/boost amount of both filters in the mid band

Emphasis High Gain: 0 dB (Range -12 dB - 18 dB)

- The cut/boost amount of both filters in the high band

Explanation

To explain how the emphasis EQ sounds, you can follow along by loading an instance into your DAW and playing a sample or an instrument through it, or listening to the audio demos. Make sure your instance of Hamburger is set to the Soft Clipping distortion type (See Distortion Panel for more info).

Try turning down the low emphasis gain at the default frequency (62Hz). Notice that the low end is much quieter, but has introduced heaps of distortion to other harmonics. This results in the classic hard-clipped sound you hear when people distort the everliving heck out of their instruments.

todo: add sound demo here

Now instead, try turning up the low emphasis gain, still at the default frequency. The low end is much louder now, and not only that, the distortion is much more subtle.

todo: add sound demo here

This is because the first EQ is making the low end quieter, so when it is fed into the soft-clipper, it does not get distorted as much. It is then boosted back up by the second EQ, which is why the low end is louder. It makes for a very smooth and warm distortion that would be tedious to achieve with regular plugins.

The interesting part is when you start to mess with the other bands. Try turning down the mid emphasis gain at the default frequency (1.2kHz). It will mute the mids and shift their distorted harmonics into higher frequencies.

todo: add sound demo here

It's tricky to describe how this sounds, but it sounds like a metallic fuzz pedal of some kind, but it's nowhere near as aggressive as a real fuzz pedal can be. On the other hand, turning up the mid emphasis gain at the default frequency (1.2kHz) lets the mids through as explained earlier.

You want to be careful with the high end, since that can introduce a lot of aliasing. Increasing the oversampling factor on the Oversampling Panel can help with this, but it is still best to keep the high emphasis gain the way it is.

From personal experience, it seems like the high emphasis gain sounds great when you have noisy inputs, or when you want to add extra high end to a sound that doesn't have any. It also works really well with the sizzle parameter on the Distortion Panel.

Overall, the emphasis EQ is very useful for shaping the distortion to your liking, and it is a very powerful tool for creating new sounds. It is also very easy to use, so don't be afraid to experiment with it.