home

Is It Bad to Do Huge EQ Boosts?

While huge cuts are often accepted, huge boosts are controversial. Discover when pushing an EQ by +10dB or more is the right move for your mix.

February 5, 2023|2 min read

We've talked about giant EQ cuts, but what about the opposite? Is it a sin to crank a frequency knob by +10dB or +15dB?

The conventional wisdom is to be careful with boosting. " boosting introduces phase shift." "Boosting eats up headroom." "It sounds unnatural."

While these are valid concerns, there are absolutely times when a huge EQ boost is exactly what the doctor ordered.

The "Dead" Track

Sometimes you receive a track that was recorded poorly. Maybe the microphone was covered in a blanket. Maybe the strings on the bass were ten years old.

If a snare drum has zero "crack" or high-end, a gentle +2dB boost at 5kHz won't do anything. You might need to crank a high shelf by +12dB just to bring it to life.

Does it introduce phase shift? Yes. Does it eat headroom? Yes. But does it sound better than a dull, muddy thud? Yes.

Pultec-Style EQ

Some of the most legendary EQs in history, like the Pultec EQP-1A, are famous for their ability to handle massive boosts musically. Engineers routinely boost 60Hz on a kick drum or 10kHz on a vocal by huge amounts using these units. Because of their broad, musical curves, it sounds pleasant rather than harsh.

Artificial Sounds

With synthesized sounds or samples, "natural" isn't the goal. You are sound designing. If you want a kick drum to knock the wind out of someone, boosting the sub-bass by 10dB might be the stylistic choice for that genre (like Trap or Dubstep).

The Caveats

While you can do huge boosts, here are the risks you need to manage:

  1. Headroom: A +10dB boost adds a massive amount of gain. You will likely need to turn down the output level of the EQ plugin to prevent clipping.
  2. Harshness: Boosting high-mids (2-4kHz) by a large amount is rarely pleasant. It usually results in a painful, piercing sound. Be much more careful boosting here than in the "air" (10kHz+) or low-end (60Hz).
  3. Noise: Boosting high frequencies also boosts the noise floor (hiss) of the recording.

Conclusion

Don't be afraid of the knob. If you find yourself boosting +15dB and it still doesn't sound right, the issue might be the source sound itself (or you're boosting the wrong frequency). But if you crank it and the track suddenly wakes up and sits in the mix? Leave it.