But if I had to pick an analog emulation EQ-- the Maag EQ4 because that air band is pure silk to the ears.

@Tom Baldwin I can definitely understand the frustration. I have that problem with UAD as well. I stopped shopping from them after a while.

@Tom Baldwin still watching, but this test is done with just noise. I guess there's no way to prove this easily, but I feel like anything naturally musical above 20k will not having random, noisy effects on the frequencies below it, but instead have musical effects on the frequencies below 20k. To properly run this experiment, it must be done with music, not noise, in my opinion.

For the record, I mix at 48 and use oversampling, and now I understand why that works so well. Thank you for the video, it was enlightening! Oversampling corrects unwanted artifacts and noise levels that a higher session sample rate cannot, or does not. I stand corrected.

@Karlton Bethea that song sounds really really cool!!! I'd love to hear it when it's done! I only dabble in EDM right now, as I'm still learning all the different flavors of it but I do enjoy house, trance, and dubstep varieties. I'm glad you have a solid plan going forward as well! I am wishing you luck and success and I hope you can achieve all that you want.

@Karlton Bethea you're very welcome! Can't wait to hear it :)

I'm not sure what session view or arrangement views are, but in my DAW, I gain stage in the "arrangement" view (or what I imagine that means) and the console window, which overlays the arranger, so both at once? Gain staging happens at many points throughout your signal chain. 1. At the file level, 2. The input level (my DAW has input pots that control the volume post clip / arranger track), 3. And finally, after each plugin via makeup gain or a gain plugin. The purpose of gain staging is to keep the signal consistent with the input at all steps of your signal chain. This is beneficial for a few reasons: A. It ensures you're always hitting your gear at intended operating levels (or plugins too, if you use plugins that are analog emulations or from UAD or Acustica Audio this is vitally important) B. You can A/B easily C. It's easier to leave yourself headroom for mixing D. Probably a few other reasons I'm forgetting (I just woke up). But as far as INITIAL gain staging, here's a solution no one ever mentions that I think is very, very beneficial because it keeps your audio at appropriate volumes, while still allowing you to clearly see the data in the arrangement view (the actual waveform on the clip remains visible in all DAWs), and still gives you the headroom you need on your input knobs. Steps: 1. Normalize clips / files to 0 dB peaks (for visibility and a starting point). 2. Use gain plugins at EQUAL attenuation on every track to reduce those peaks between -9dB and -12dB, so that the RMS hovers around -24dB. Adjust so that your loudest track meets these requirements, and then make all other gain plugins (should be the very top of your chain) match this exact same volume reduction / attenuation. 3. Then, go one step higher and use your INPUT knobs to actually create an initial mix with just gain. This ensures your precious input gain is only going maybe +-5dB and saving you a lot of space on them. This also means that your faders will all remain at unity gain (0dB) for your initial mix! This, you will discover, is incredibly useful later. It discourages you from turning things up so loud that you push limiter and compressors too hard later in the stages. If you want a little more headroom on your faders for exactly that purpose, then add 6dB gain to your initial Stage 0 gain plugins and turn your faders down 6dB. The point is, your faders all start at the same volume when you mix, and leave plenty of room for gain and reduction. Your clips will be normalized right? So all the waveforms will be large and easy to see for any additional edits or tweaks or finding peaks, etc. Your input knobs will have plenty of wiggle room, and you'll still be at the correct volume for your software and hardware. It's the best of all worlds.