do filters differ from one another?

dmajor100

New member
Im not experienced yet but ive read and hearf about of filters wither it be pro tools,waves,analog,any plug in can do more than give u low pass or high pass but some can change the tone. Im at audio school and a intern that told me to use a different eq plug in cause he said it sounded way better than pro tools and i was freaked out a bit cause my thinking was like” this is digital not analog so how can it be different”. Also over heard a chief enginner say to another pro that good filter are hard to find so im assuming theres truth to this. Mainly bringing this up cause im thinking of getting a old akai s950 to sample drums and use the filters in areas they need. So any real techy enginneers with real answers that would like to shed some light on this?
 
I don't know that I'd turn to an old sampler for decent filters. Not that it can't give you good results, but the digital to analog conversion and analog to digital conversion is likely to introduce noise and lessen your quality unless you're using decent converters.

I think the bigger question is, what do you want a filter to do, that you can't do with a filter that you have now?

As far as them being different. As with traditional filters, some have steep curves, some smoother. Some are selectable between 12db/24db. Many eq's can be used like filters. Filters are easier to grasp due to their simple knobs user interface and the resonance can really affect the sound by making a certain frequency more prominent, depending on the cutoff. I don't use filters that much when mixing, at least not dedicated filters. I use an EQ as a filter, however.

Someone won't be able to tell what filter or eq you used unless you tell them. So I don't think you can just say pro tools filters are not as good as others. Not that it can't be true, because there is a market for plugins for a reason, but it's like someone telling you to use a better hammer because you nailed something crooked.

I just realized. If you're just talking about drums. It won't hurt to try it. Knock yourself out with the Akai unit. Would make for a good learning experience, if anything. Even better if you can get a unit for very cheap.
 
Filters in general come in five types:

  • Low pass/High cut
  • High pass/Low cut
  • Bandpass ~ frequency pass band limited by a high pass filter that feeds a low pass filter or vice versa
  • Bandcut/Notch
  • All pass ~ causes a known shift in phase, and is used a corrective filter in broadcast and speaker crossover systems amongst other things.

In addition to these you can get digital filters that emulate electronic implementations, such as the Moog filter with it's compensating resonance control.

From a pure technical standpoint an eq section is a filter with boost and cut. Both Active (amplifier in each section) and Passive eq (eq without amplification built in) are constructed by paralleling high and low pass filters with separate corner frequencies. If you have more than treble/High and Bass/Low you are also using cascaded high and low pass filters to create each band of mid-range eq run in parallel with the other bands.

All filters have Real poles - points in their response where the filter is maximal - and some have real Zeroes as well - points in their response where the filter is minimal. Most filters also have Complex Zeroes, i.e. imaginary number plane - these are inaudible and have no affect on the quality or response of the filter.

The number of poles and zeroes determines the slope of the filter how sharply it rolls off at the cutoff frequency and beyond. Most filters we see are implemented as 2-pole filters, with a cut-off slope of 12dB per octave or kHz (design considerations determine which). A 4-pole filter will have a cut-off slope of 24dB per octave/kHz; an 8-pole filter will have a cut-off slope of 48dB per octave/kHz and so on.

Choosing a filter is an art in itself, despite all of the science and mathematics behind the construction of them. Knowing when to use which type is half the battle in treating any track.
 
There is nothing wrong with the ProTools stock plugs. Ever since version III of the stock plugs came out they are very good. And there are the AIR plugins that come with it also now. Very decent. If you really want an amazing eq though check out Massenburg, Sonnox, or Aplusoft Apqualizr if you have the VST to RTAS adapter.
 
You know, I wrote a long, exceedingly complex post, delving into areas that I'm not formidably knowledgeable... but I'm just going to say this instead:

Yes, filters sound different, so listen carefully.
 
There are two great families of digital filters. Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) ones have almost the same behavior than their analog conterparts. The other familly is the Finite Impulse Response (FIR) which only exists in the digital domain because it's based on delays.
IIR changes the magnitude of the signal, but also the phase relation between frequencies. FIR changes the magnitude without affecting the phase.
All manufacturers use these two basic designs. But depending of their exact implementation, the results can vary in a very very subtle manner.
 
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Yes, filters differ from one another. Good examples already given in this thread. But long and short of it, have a listen to the different ones and decide what works best for you.
 
im getting sick of these ****ing VST EFFECT and TOOL Analogies, jesus. its DAW not OSH...
making me feel like im not making music anymore..










TROLLLIN :D
 
im getting sick of these ****ing VST EFFECT and TOOL Analogies, jesus. its DAW not OSH...
making me feel like im not making music anymore..

Oh, I'm sorry, I thought that everyone knew that everything we do today is based on some electrical analogue - even digital synthesis started out as an electrical circuit, albeit a digital circuit, but the output would still be analogue as is the output from what we do in DAWs today as we have yet to invent the brain to computer interface to reliably transmit audio and visual ouput from our computers, even then it would still have to be a form of digital to analogue converter as most of the communication in brains whilst pulses of electrical energy is also reliant on chemical transducers to maximise throughput.....







right back at ya
 
looking for some great free filters high pass and low pass
FL Studio has them but I wondering if some one has some free ones that are easy to use and high quality as in how far you can get in in quality in filters thanks in advance


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