This isn't so much a problem with today's gear though. But by having a boost/neutral/cut you can maximise the distance between boost cut and keep the bandwidth narrow. Another reason eq's have a boost as well as a cut is because (especially in the old analog days) the further you boost or cut a frequency the wider the bandwidth effect, ergo more boost will effect a wider frequency range centered around the chosen frequency. Having a neutral centre allows the engineer to leave certain frequencies unaltered, This gives him a datum/reference to control the overall sound. Engineers tend to boost an eq to control the tone/sound and cut when they want to correct a problem (E.G bass distortion will result in a cut so will feedback in treble). It's not so much about gain, we have a master gain control for that. But if I get a better (subjective) result by putting them on my elbow, for example, then yeah, why not?

For example, the correct way to wear a headphone is put it on your ears. That said, it's the correct way, but not the only way. In other words, when the volume is at max, but still wanna add more loudness on particular frequencies.Īdding is prone to clippings, as opposed to subtracting.

Not absolutely sure, but I think the reason they can be raised is if there is no more headroom left on the gain/volume.

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