Instead of using an EQ put a stereo to mono plugin and A/B compare the mono vs stereo. If you're having to use EQ on the master buss you're not doing a good enough job with the individual tracks. If you are afraid of runing something you like, you can always duplicate and disable the entire track and make your changes on a copy. Compression will make elements stick out differently at times.Īnyway, you get the idea. Perhaps the compression is too much when compounded with the mix-bus compression and the mix's natural compression. Something could have sounded great in the early mix process, but ended up being too much due to other elements in the mix coming in.

Regardless of fault, dial in what needs to be dialed in with the rest of the mix active. this is where I find out if a plugin is at fault or the source audio shortcoming. Once I'm into the track with the issue, I look at each plugin in the same manner I did the tracks. In this case, each of those tracks being muted will seem like a partial reduction. Sometimes it's a pair of elements fightin over the same frequency. The method I use when discovering a thick section is to mute/unmute each group of tracks until it goes away. By that, I mean it will allow other element to breathe or be more noticeable. Ok, but if I have too much 400 Hz on all my tracks, wouldn't my quick fix be the same as cutting 400Hz on all my individual tracks?Opening up a thick frequency range at the track level can and probably will open up the mix more.

Eq master track