Channel EQ parameters in MainStage
The central area of the Channel EQ window includes the graphic display and parameters for shaping each EQ band. The master Gain slider is shown at the right. The Analyzer and Q-Couple controls are shown at the lower left.
Channel EQ parameters
Band 1 On/Off button: Switch on a high pass filter. Only frequencies above the set frequency value are allowed to pass.
Band 1 background or control point: Drag the red control point to change the frequency and Q values. Drag the red shaded area horizontally to change the frequency value.
Band 1 vertical/horizontal line: Drag vertically to change the slope.
Note: The Q parameter of band 1 and band 8 has no effect when the slope is set to 6 decibels per octave. When the Q parameter is set to an extremely high value, such as 100, these filters affect only a very narrow frequency band.
Band 2 On/Off button: Switch on a low shelving filter that cuts or boosts frequencies below the set frequency.
Band 2 background or control point: Drag the orange shaded area, curve, or control point to change the frequency and gain values. Click the control point to select the band.
Band 2 horizontal line: Drag vertically to change the gain value.
Band 2 vertical line: Drag horizontally to change the Q value.
Band 2 vertical/horizontal lines: Drag to change the gain and Q values.
Band 3 On/Off button: Switch on a parametric filter with three controls. Frequency sets a center frequency. Q sets the width of the frequency band around the center frequency. Gain sets the level of the band.
Band 3 background or control point: Drag the yellow shaded area, curve, or control point to change the frequency and gain values. Click the control point to select the band.
Band 3 horizontal line: Drag vertically to change the gain value.
Band 3 vertical line: Drag horizontally to change the Q value.
Band 3 vertical/horizontal lines: Drag to change the gain and Q values.
Band 4 On/Off button: Switch on a parametric filter with three controls. Frequency sets a center frequency. Q sets the width of the frequency band around the center frequency. Gain sets the level of the band.
Band 4 background or control point: Drag the green shaded area, curve, or control point to change the frequency and gain values. Click the control point to select the band.
Band 4 horizontal line: Drag vertically to change the gain value.
Band 4 vertical line: Drag horizontally to change the Q value.
Band 4 vertical/horizontal lines: Drag to change the gain and Q values.
Band 5 On/Off button: Switch on a parametric filter with three controls. Frequency sets a center frequency. Q sets the width of the frequency band around the center frequency. Gain sets the level of the band.
Band 5 background or control point: Drag the aqua shaded area, curve, or control point to change the frequency and gain values. Click the control point to select the band.
Band 5 horizontal line: Drag vertically to change the gain value.
Band 5 vertical line: Drag horizontally to change the Q value.
Band 5 vertical/horizontal lines: Drag to change the gain and Q values.
Band 6 On/Off button: Switch on a parametric filter with three controls. Frequency sets a center frequency. Q sets the width of the frequency band around the center frequency. Gain sets the level of the band.
Band 6 background or control point: Drag the blue shaded area, curve, or control point to change the frequency and gain values. Click the control point to select the band.
Band 6 horizontal line: Drag vertically to change the gain value.
Band 6 vertical line: Drag horizontally to change the Q value.
Band 6 vertical/horizontal lines: Drag to change the gain and Q values.
Band 7 On/Off button: Switch on a high shelving filter that cuts or boosts frequencies above the set frequency.
Band 7 background or control point: Drag the purple shaded area, curve, or control point to change the frequency and gain values. Click the control point to select the band.
Band 7 horizontal line: Drag vertically to change the gain value.
Band 7 vertical line: Drag horizontally to change the Q value.
Band 7 vertical/horizontal lines: Drag to change the gain and Q values.
Band 8 On/Off button: Switch on a low pass filter. Only frequencies below the set frequency value are allowed to pass.
Band 8 background or control point: Drag the pink control point to change the frequency and Q value. Drag the pink shaded area horizontally to change the frequency value.
Band 8 vertical/horizontal lines: Drag vertically to change the slope.
Frequency control: Drag to set the frequency of the selected band.
Gain/Slope control: Drag to set the amount of gain for the selected band. For bands 1 and 8, this changes the slope of the filter.
Q control: Drag to set the Q factor or resonance of the effected range around the center frequency in the selected band.
Note: The Q parameter of band 1 and band 8 has no effect when the slope is set to 6 dB per octave. When the Q parameter is set to an extremely high value, such as 100, these filters affect only a very narrow frequency band.
Analyzer Range display: Drag vertically to offset the scaling of the Analyzer range. Control-click to open a shortcut menu where you can set the Analyzer Range value.
Scale display: Drag vertically to offset the scaling of the overall EQ curve. Control-click to open a shortcut menu where you can set the EQ dB Scale Mode.
Master Gain slider and field: Set the overall output level of the signal. Use it after boosting or cutting individual frequency bands. Control-click the graphic display to open a shortcut menu where you can enable an overlay on the Channel EQ graphic display, which shows the overall EQ curve when adjusted by the Master Gain parameter.
Analyzer button: Turn the Analyzer on or off. Play the audio signal and watch the graphic display to identify peaks and troughs in the frequency spectrum. Control-click to open a shortcut menu where you can set Analyzer Mode and Analyzer Resolution. See Channel EQ shortcut menus, Channel EQ Analyzer, and extended parameters.
Analyzer (Pre/Post) button: Set to display the frequency curve before or after EQ is applied, when Analyzer mode is active.
Q-Couple button: Turn on Gain-Q coupling to automatically adjust the Q when you change the gain on any EQ band. This preserves the perceived bandwidth of the bell curve. Control-click to open a shortcut menu to set the Gain-Q Couple Strength value. See Channel EQ shortcut menus.
HQ button: Turn on to enable oversampling.
This setting is useful when you are EQing near the upper end of the spectrum (5kHz and higher) and your project sample rate is below 96kHz. Without oversampling, filters (notably peaking filters) can sound harsh because they become narrower at high frequencies, and have an asymmetric slope.
Processing pop-up menu: Choose to process both sides of a stereo signal, or the Left Only, Right Only, Mid Only, or Side Only signal. See Channel EQ use tips for information on using Channel EQ with Mid-Side recordings.