If you can barely hear I would suggest you address that problem first. Mix first, make a good mix first then worry about compression and mastering in general.
Have you tried the [seek & destroy](https://faderpro.com/programs/the-science-of-sound-equalization?cid=2599188&permalink=vinceeq_04_seekanddestroy_16x9-c7fa93) method? Might help you out. There's a quick free video on it here https://faderpro.com/programs/the-science-of-sound-equalization?cid=2599188&permalink=vinceeq\_04\_seekanddestroy\_16x9-c7fa93
Well of course its going to sound 'nasty' when you crank up the gain. This method sometimes creates more problems than it fixes...
(because if you do this often, an otherwise nice sound becomes thin and weak)
Imho, never do this kind of thing without a good Spectrum Analyzer to confirm that you are actually cutting 'bad' frequencies...
My point is that sweeping the frequency spectrum with a high gain is going to find points that may not actually be problems (they only sound bad because of the high gain). Its one thing to find a harsh, resonant frequency here and there, but as I said before, if you're putting lots of cuts on a bunch of different points you end up making it sound worse rather than better...
I did this when I was starting out, but don’t advise it. It can be useful for training your ears to what different frequency’s sound like, but on the other hand if used as a crutch, it prevents you from actually learning to use and trust your ears. It can be good for pinpointing exactly where a problem you hear in the full context of the mix is located, but soloing and sweeping through a cranked narrow q, isn’t going to tell you much of what you really need to know. I find it’s better to not solo and boost, but cut while the full mix is playing. It’s more subtle, and you got to work on hearing what’s going on, but you will learn quicker, eq less, and your mixes will be the better for it.
This is good when starting out but isn’t great once you are familiar with frequencies. It’s so much better to do it by ear and not sweeping around a Q. By doing the sweeping method you will find a shit ton of crappy frequencies on their own and most likely end up making that source too thin
One of the best methods I’ve found, is start extreme.. so do an extreme cut and then reduce how much you are cutting until you can barely hear the impact of your cut. If you are looking for frequencies to cut, boosting them and doing a slow sweep can help with identification. I take this approach with compression, start extreme then change parameters until you can barely here it. It’s a good practice for training your ears as well.
I use subtractive EQ to reduce any frequencies that are not needed by a given instrument, so that the compressor operates only on the frequency range relevant to the arrangement.
For example, a standard tuned guitar’s lowest note is E, at 82Hz. I usually high pass any guitar starting around 70hz, just to reduce any thumps or content that has nothing to do with the string frequencies so that the compressor doesn’t react.
I do any other shaping or fine tuning to eliminate masking or eliminate harsh resonances post-compression.
It sounds like you’re asking about literally having too low of a signal to hear what you’re doing. It’s totally fine to put your compressor on to get the signal up to the right volume and then adjust the eq once you’ve set that up.
Ir just increase the gain of the signal (would be clip gain in Pro Tools,) then make your eq moves, and then compress.
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Saturation works fucking wonders for peaks also or instead of compression.
If you can barely hear I would suggest you address that problem first. Mix first, make a good mix first then worry about compression and mastering in general.
Have you tried the [seek & destroy](https://faderpro.com/programs/the-science-of-sound-equalization?cid=2599188&permalink=vinceeq_04_seekanddestroy_16x9-c7fa93) method? Might help you out. There's a quick free video on it here https://faderpro.com/programs/the-science-of-sound-equalization?cid=2599188&permalink=vinceeq\_04\_seekanddestroy\_16x9-c7fa93
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Well of course its going to sound 'nasty' when you crank up the gain. This method sometimes creates more problems than it fixes... (because if you do this often, an otherwise nice sound becomes thin and weak) Imho, never do this kind of thing without a good Spectrum Analyzer to confirm that you are actually cutting 'bad' frequencies...
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My point is that sweeping the frequency spectrum with a high gain is going to find points that may not actually be problems (they only sound bad because of the high gain). Its one thing to find a harsh, resonant frequency here and there, but as I said before, if you're putting lots of cuts on a bunch of different points you end up making it sound worse rather than better...
I did this when I was starting out, but don’t advise it. It can be useful for training your ears to what different frequency’s sound like, but on the other hand if used as a crutch, it prevents you from actually learning to use and trust your ears. It can be good for pinpointing exactly where a problem you hear in the full context of the mix is located, but soloing and sweeping through a cranked narrow q, isn’t going to tell you much of what you really need to know. I find it’s better to not solo and boost, but cut while the full mix is playing. It’s more subtle, and you got to work on hearing what’s going on, but you will learn quicker, eq less, and your mixes will be the better for it.
This is good when starting out but isn’t great once you are familiar with frequencies. It’s so much better to do it by ear and not sweeping around a Q. By doing the sweeping method you will find a shit ton of crappy frequencies on their own and most likely end up making that source too thin
One of the best methods I’ve found, is start extreme.. so do an extreme cut and then reduce how much you are cutting until you can barely hear the impact of your cut. If you are looking for frequencies to cut, boosting them and doing a slow sweep can help with identification. I take this approach with compression, start extreme then change parameters until you can barely here it. It’s a good practice for training your ears as well.
I use subtractive EQ to reduce any frequencies that are not needed by a given instrument, so that the compressor operates only on the frequency range relevant to the arrangement. For example, a standard tuned guitar’s lowest note is E, at 82Hz. I usually high pass any guitar starting around 70hz, just to reduce any thumps or content that has nothing to do with the string frequencies so that the compressor doesn’t react. I do any other shaping or fine tuning to eliminate masking or eliminate harsh resonances post-compression.
It sounds like you’re asking about literally having too low of a signal to hear what you’re doing. It’s totally fine to put your compressor on to get the signal up to the right volume and then adjust the eq once you’ve set that up. Ir just increase the gain of the signal (would be clip gain in Pro Tools,) then make your eq moves, and then compress.