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EQ On FOH

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Paul LaPlaca:
Hello-

I am working in a 400-seat theater environment with the option of opening the back and side walls for breakout spaces with separate overhead speakers. The main space has 2 L-Acoustics line arrays FOH stereo and some delay speakers in the back of house. All speakers have a preset EQ curve applied in Q-SYS and we are operating a Yamaha Rivage PM7.

Over the course of my career, I have met many sound techs who have different ways of EQing their systems.

Some leave the mains flat and EQ individual subgroups like LAVs, HHs, and video playback sources, some do it all on channels, some EQ individual boxes.

What has worked best for me in the past is I EQ each stack or zone with noise and an RTA, then a handheld mic to find any feedback or resonance. Then treat the Lav mix bus with additional EQ for feedback issues, and finally on individual channels to adjust for tone of voice and mic placement. I know it's a lot of layers of EQ but this sounds best to me.

There is a debate among my team that the FOH speakers shouldn't have another EQ on them but to my ear, the initial curve installed by system engineers does not make them sound flat, nor adjust for any tonal adjustments to make them sound pleasing. I've been told that even if I do EQ the mains that each side needs to have an identical EQ or there will be phasing issues.

The main speakers do not sound the same to me, we have tonal shifts as the humidity changes throughout the day, and with the walls going up or down on the client's whim, I am feeling hamstrung not having the ability to EQ the left and right arrays in the way I am used to.

I am happy to be a dog that learns new tricks but I have never been told that I need to have identical LR EQ in a live situation and for corporate events feedback reduction and a nice vocal tone seem to take precedence for any minor phasing that might occur from a difference in EQ.

Help!

Scott Holtzman:

--- Quote from: stentor on January 10, 2024, 12:03:59 PM ---Hello-

I am working in a 400-seat theater environment with the option of opening the back and side walls for breakout spaces with separate overhead speakers. The main space has 2 L-Acoustics line arrays FOH stereo and some delay speakers in the back of house. All speakers have a preset EQ curve applied in Q-SYS and we are operating a Yamaha Rivage PM7.

Over the course of my career, I have met many sound techs who have different ways of EQing their systems.

Some leave the mains flat and EQ individual subgroups like LAVs, HHs, and video playback sources, some do it all on channels, some EQ individual boxes.

What has worked best for me in the past is I EQ each stack or zone with noise and an RTA, then a handheld mic to find any feedback or resonance. Then treat the Lav mix bus with additional EQ for feedback issues, and finally on individual channels to adjust for tone of voice and mic placement. I know it's a lot of layers of EQ but this sounds best to me.

There is a debate among my team that the FOH speakers shouldn't have another EQ on them but to my ear, the initial curve installed by system engineers does not make them sound flat, nor adjust for any tonal adjustments to make them sound pleasing. I've been told that even if I do EQ the mains that each side needs to have an identical EQ or there will be phasing issues.

The main speakers do not sound the same to me, we have tonal shifts as the humidity changes throughout the day, and with the walls going up or down on the client's whim, I am feeling hamstrung not having the ability to EQ the left and right arrays in the way I am used to.

I am happy to be a dog that learns new tricks but I have never been told that I need to have identical LR EQ in a live situation and for corporate events feedback reduction and a nice vocal tone seem to take precedence for any minor phasing that might occur from a difference in EQ.

Help!

--- End quote ---


First off, per the rules on the top of the page, when you signed in and every other page your display name must be your full real name, like mine.   If you don't comply you can't participate.


A little taste.  EQ doesn't do much, so many people worry about magnitude when humans are far more sensitive to phase errors.  time aligning your system is a must.

Tim McCulloch:
Hi Paul-

Thanks for fixing your display name, it's been "a thing" here for a long time.

Since QSYS is probably locked down, any changes you need to make will have to be at the console, and your description kind of says whomever commissioned the system didn't do a very good job.

I start with voicing the zones (l/r/front fills, under balcs, etc) first so they all sound fundamentally the same (or similar enough) and present a unified "voice" across all zones.  Once I like the way the whole system sounds, what I do next depends on lots of things and I'll say that many workflows can lead to the same outcome.

Most of my zones are driven from L/R via matrix, and additional voicing or corrective EQ is applied at the matrix.  And additional zone delay is applied here as well.

I then route actor mics to subgroups- male/female leads, trebble/low voices in chorus, etc, then orchestra/band, playback/SFX, utility inputs (curtain speech, test channels, etc) and these usually feed L/R.  I apply anti-feedback EQ at the group, usually with some subtle compression.

That leaves me with all the input strip EQ and dynamics processing to apply artistically (or correctively) to individual inputs.

If you have very different sounding L/R, there are several possibilities: mis-installation (wiring/aiming), damaged or defective loudspeakers, or the installer loaded different presets into the amps or has EQd each side differently; or there are architectural issues (reflections/cancellations) that are not symmetrical.

TBH it sounds like the installation was not well thought out for the way the room seems to be used, and that's sadly common.  The folks who "make shit happen" are never consulted and the architect tries to please some committee that does not produce shows, events, or possibly even attend events, and the architect is beholden the client.

Good luck.

Paul LaPlaca:
Thank you!

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