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HPF/LPF - how and where do they fit in?
- Thread starter oomo
- Start date
Thanks! They're quite costly though, €274 and €333 respectively.
By the way, don't bass amp heads have inbuilt such filters on top of the EQ section?
Cave Puppy
"Humph Bo, he's wond!" - John Lennon
Some do and most don’t. I know Mesa have a few heads that have that feature. Some low powered heads have one built in. I don’t have a comprehensive list.
What about the EHX Q-Tron with "3 Switchable modes: low-pass, band-pass and high-pass", would it do the job?
Cave Puppy
"Humph Bo, he's wond!" - John Lennon
It will do the job ONLY ON THE ENVELOPE FILTER. It doesn’t appear that the high pass filter/band pass filter/ low pass filter can be used on its own without the envelope filter effect. That mode switch only effects what the pedal sees going in. A Broughton Always On HPF runs about $80, made in Canada, so probably shippable worldwide. I have switchable hpf they make.
I have a H/LPF at the end of my signal chain.
I put it at the end because i want the effects in my chain to get my full, unfiltered signal, because that changes how they respond. That includes octave pedals.
I adopted an HPF after talking to a LOT of sound engineers, several teachers at a few recording schools, and a friend who’s been doing sound professionally since before I was born.
I asked about common practices to make the bass work in a band mix, and almost everyone said “high pass filter”.
(Fun fact: one friend did foh for Barry White, and he puts an hpf on everything except the kick drum. Friends, if Barry White doesn’t have enough content below 75Hz, then nobody does. Put an hpf on everything.)
And the same responce for low pass. Not everyone uses a low pass, but enough of them did that i thought it’d be useful.
Mine are set at 60Hz & 4kHz, respectively.
I want to give the engineer a bass signal that he just has to turn up, and it’s already perfectly slotted into the mix.
and yeah, only subwoofers are really made to go below ~50Hz. So sending that sub-low content will just max out your amp’s power with zero return.
The other thing to note is that far and away no bass instrument actually produces the fundamental at any significant volume.
We get the most bang for our buck by emphasising the first order harmonic.
For the E string, that’s 82.4Hz. For the B that’s 61.7Hz.
So setting an hpf at a little below those frequencies will give you the best responce from your amp & the PA.
and third, the mind is a wonderfully fascinating thing.
If we hear a bass note of low E (fundamental at 41Hz) but there’s a high pass at 200Hz, our brain will use the harmonics to deduce which E is being played (Low E, Middle E, High E, etc) and full in the rest of the frequencies.
So all that low end will move air, but our brain doesn’t need it to recognize bass notes.
Fun stuff.
I put it at the end because i want the effects in my chain to get my full, unfiltered signal, because that changes how they respond. That includes octave pedals.
I adopted an HPF after talking to a LOT of sound engineers, several teachers at a few recording schools, and a friend who’s been doing sound professionally since before I was born.
I asked about common practices to make the bass work in a band mix, and almost everyone said “high pass filter”.
(Fun fact: one friend did foh for Barry White, and he puts an hpf on everything except the kick drum. Friends, if Barry White doesn’t have enough content below 75Hz, then nobody does. Put an hpf on everything.)
And the same responce for low pass. Not everyone uses a low pass, but enough of them did that i thought it’d be useful.
Mine are set at 60Hz & 4kHz, respectively.
I want to give the engineer a bass signal that he just has to turn up, and it’s already perfectly slotted into the mix.
and yeah, only subwoofers are really made to go below ~50Hz. So sending that sub-low content will just max out your amp’s power with zero return.
The other thing to note is that far and away no bass instrument actually produces the fundamental at any significant volume.
We get the most bang for our buck by emphasising the first order harmonic.
For the E string, that’s 82.4Hz. For the B that’s 61.7Hz.
So setting an hpf at a little below those frequencies will give you the best responce from your amp & the PA.
and third, the mind is a wonderfully fascinating thing.
If we hear a bass note of low E (fundamental at 41Hz) but there’s a high pass at 200Hz, our brain will use the harmonics to deduce which E is being played (Low E, Middle E, High E, etc) and full in the rest of the frequencies.
So all that low end will move air, but our brain doesn’t need it to recognize bass notes.
Fun stuff.
Haven’t read through all the posts, but I’ll assume someone has already explained what they do….for a while I was in the “why would I ever need that” camp. However, having tried one I’m now sold on there usefulness…when needed that is.
Last nights gig was a perfect example, a multi-band gig, listening to the earlier bands, the sound was real muffled, boomy and all the bass players were essentially washed out of the mix. When we set up, I went into the hp/lp filter, than fed that into a DI to FOH to roll off the muddy lows I knew the soundman wouldn’t. Sounded a lot better, several of the other players commented on the comparative tightness of the tone (and the band
Looks good and it's a booster too! I'd buy one on the spot but it's only sold as kit...
Azure Skies
Commercial User
I do ship world wide.
Also have the Broughton HPF/LPF and, while it's not always on, it's the only pedal I consider essential. Can be a lifesaver in boomy/basstrap rooms (really helpful with double bass) and is also really useful in getting more volume/efficiency out of lower power tube amps.
I got a Broughton hpf/lpf a couple of weeks ago to use with my geddy lee yyz pedal. The pedal works great with that and without it. My Fender Jazz has never sounded so good. It is very versatile. It also works very well with p bass with labellas.
The sounds very different if it is on front or end of the chain. I only use two pedals so I don't have to think much, thank goodness.
The sounds very different if it is on front or end of the chain. I only use two pedals so I don't have to think much, thank goodness.
That is quite good. Lookin the price phenomenal good. But it's a kit. They have also mini LPF or HPF.
VONG-Filterung - Filter Bausatz, 33,00
I would not agree with this. Having the hpf up front will preclude your ability to tune for the room, because adjusting the hpf up front will affect the tracking of all the effects after it.
I have begun using the Broughton BBA to filter infrasonic and ultrasonic noise from the signal up front, and then a cab sim (LPF+HPF) at the end to allow me to tune to the room. My Omnicomp has an hpf built in, but it's fixed and tuned for flat response, so I don't have to worry about it.
That. Plus at the end you can have a consistent sound and only change the very end of it (the HP/LPF) to compensate for the room or say a different amp/cab if you aren't using your usual. In the studio, you can just turn the HP/LP off if you want the engineer to control that all while leaving everything upstream unchanged.
I have one.... I'm in Europe.... the shipment from U.S. to Europe still works... but the import taxes are a PITA...
Best purchase ever...
The great majority of situations, a high pass filter improves the tracking of things after it in the chain.
High pass filters are useful because your bass signal will, at some point, come out of speakers so the audience can hear you. If you’re playing through a big PA, you set the filter to take out subsonic stuff. If you’re playing through a bass cabinet, those speakers can’t really handle the lowest fundamentals of a bass, so you set the high pass higher.
Low pass filters are (in our world) helpful in the case of playing direct through a PA - set at the right frequency, they mimic the high frequency portion of a cabinet response. If you’re playing through a capable PA, you don’t want to mimic what a cab does to the low end.
