1. Mix chain and sub-lows

Mixing bass has a very concrete goal: the instrument has to carry weight without masking and be audible on any speaker. We start with the structural part, which is what makes everything else work: the order of the chain and what to do with the lowest frequencies.

The order of the chain

Order matters because each plugin hands the next one a different signal. This is the order that works in the vast majority of cases:

High-pass (HPF)remove the useless

→

Corrective EQsharing with the kick

→

Compressioneven level

→

Saturationaudibility

→

EQ / final levelfine tuning

The high-pass: throwing out what doesn’t sound

Below roughly 30 Hz there’s energy no speaker you’ll ever use can reproduce, and which does eat headroom, make the compressor and the limiter work, and move the meters. It comes from handling noise, from the bass cone moving, from the desk.

Bass goes in the center, and in mono

Low frequencies are the one range where stereo position is barely perceived: your ear places them using timing and level differences that, at those wavelengths, hardly exist. And having low end spread across both channels brings two real problems: it cancels when summed to mono (phone speakers, bars, some car systems) and it burns twice the headroom.

Gain staging: coming in evenly

Before inserting a compressor, set the level at which the signal enters the chain: if the bass comes in too hot, every plugin you add will sound more aggressive than you expect, and you’ll end up fighting plugins instead of mixing.

• With the fader at 0, aim for the bass track to peak around −12 to −10 dBFS on the channel.
• If you had to push a plugin’s output a lot, compensate with the Gain of the 🔧Mixtoolstock or with the plugin’s own output, not with the fader.

Try it: EQ with analyzer

Load your bass (or pick the bass source in the player) and watch the spectrum analyzer while you move the filter. Two things worth seeing with your eyes: how much energy there is below 40 Hz (more than you’d imagine) and how little the sound changes when you cut it.

Playground · 3-band equalizer

▶ Play

No EQWith EQ

↺ Reseti

• •▶ Play — plays the audio in a loop.
• •No EQ / With EQ — switch between the sound with and without the EQ to compare, at the same volume. The segment with the lit border is the one you're hearing (the classic studio “A/B” comparison).
• •↺ Reset — returns the controls to 0.

🔊

🎧 Audio to processiChoose which sound goes through the effect:

• •🎸 Bass — a synthesized riff with dynamics: ideal for hearing compression.
• •📢 Pink noise — an even sound across the whole spectrum: ideal for “seeing” the EQ.
• •🎵 Load your audio — your own file (MP3, WAV, OGG, FLAC, M4A…); it's processed locally in your browser and isn't uploaded anywhere.

🎸 Bass📢 Pink noise🎵 Load your audio

Each control changes one zone of the sound. Move it and listen (and watch the spectrum above move):

LOWS

FrequencyiSets how high the low shelf reaches.

• •Higher (≈200 Hz) — also includes the low mids in the adjustment.
• •Lower (≈50 Hz) — affects only the sub lows.

FREQUENCY chooses WHERE it acts; GAIN, how much.100 HzGainiRaises or lowers the lows below the Frequency you chose.

• •↑ Raise (≈80–120 Hz) — more body and weight.
• •↑ Raise (≈40–60 Hz) — sub and rumble; too much muddies and covers the kick/bass.
• •↓ Lower — cleans up rumble and mud, clears up the sound.

On metal rhythm guitar it's worth lowering it a bit to leave room for the bass.0 dB

MIDS

FrequencyiChooses the center of the bell to boost or cut.

• •200–500 Hz — body and warmth (too much sounds “boxy”).
• •800 Hz–1.5 kHz — nasal / “honky”.
• •2–5 kHz — presence and attack (makes something “come forward”).

Together with the Q it defines how wide the affected zone is.1.0k HzGaini

• •↑ Raise 3–5 kHz — more presence and definition.
• •↑ Raise 300–600 Hz — more body, but it muddies.
• •↓ Lower — removes nasality or a “boxy” sound.

It's the band where instruments fight the most: adjust it thinking about the whole.0 dBQ (width)iHow wide or narrow the bell is.

• •High Q (narrow) — affects few frequencies: ideal for CUTTING a specific problem (surgical).
• •Low Q (wide) — affects a large range: more musical for BOOSTING.

With a lot of Gain, a narrow Q sounds more aggressive.1.0

HIGHS

FrequencyiSets where in the highs the “air” begins.

• •8–12 kHz — air and openness.
• •5–7 kHz — edge and presence (too much is harsh).

With GAIN you decide how much of that zone you add.6.0k HzGainiRaises or lowers the highs above the Frequency you chose.

• •↑ Raise (≈8–12 kHz) — air, brightness and clarity; too much is harsh/sibilant.
• •↑ Raise (≈5–7 kHz) — presence and edge.
• •↓ Lower — darkens and smooths (useful if it got strident).

Raising the highs also brings out background noise, breaths and “ss” sounds.0 dB

An easy experiment: choose 📢 Pink noise, lower the LOWS Gain (it clears up) and raise the MIDS gain at 3–5 kHz (it gets more present). Switch the EQ on and off to compare with and without.

Common mistakes

What you should NOT chase yet

Quick route — getting the foundation ready

Expected result