CUT-01

Subtractive EQ

Standby
Level1/5
Challenge–
Average–
Last–
SourcePink Noise
Level 1 · Dull
Fix it with cuts.

The sound has lost something and you’ll want to boost it back. You can’t. Cut what’s left over until it sounds like the original again. Levels are matched, so listen to the tone, not the volume.

Low cut 200 Hz 0.0 dB High cut 5 kHz 0.0 dB
Listen
Level Complete
0

About this exercise

Fix it without a boost.

Subtractive EQ means fixing a sound by cutting what’s in the way, not boosting what’s missing. Here the sound is dull, thin or its mids are buried, and the instinct is to boost. You get only a low-shelf cut and a high-shelf cut. Everything plays level-matched, so louder can’t fool you into thinking it’s better.

How it works

  1. Flip between Original and Changed and decide what’s wrong: dull, thin or buried.
  2. Cut with the low shelf, the high shelf, or both (Tab switches between them).
  3. Listen to your fix against the original, then check.

How it’s scored

How close the tone of your fix gets to the original, ignoring overall level: 100 is a perfect match. Buried mids can only be approximated with two shelves, so a perfect score isn’t possible there. Pass with a 65 average over five challenges.

Levels

Five levels: dull, thin, dull or thin on a drum kit, buried mids in a full mix, and any of the three in the mix. Levels 1 and 2 are free. Levels 3 and up are part of Mix Chops Pro, and every level is open while Mix Chops is in early access.

Step 6 of 7Next: Fix the MixLearn: High-pass and low-pass filtersLearn: Shelving EQAll exercisesDaily session