Stange low frequency boominess

Hey everybody. I am having a strange issue with trying to mix down some tracks in Studio One 4. There is some ultra low frequency droning noise when I listen to the mix that I don't hear it in the original stems. It seems to be in the frequencies below 40Hz. I have used a high pass filter set to 48db cut below 50 Hz, but it still will not go away. I even tried to re-mix the stem files on another computer with different speakers and it just gets worse instead of better. I applied the same low cut below 100Hz in the original recordings as well... Anybody have any ideas what is going on. Even if I bring up the mix in a new file and re-apply the high pass set to 48db below 50 Hz it gets even worse instead of going away... I'm lost...

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Maybe try a different high pass filter and don't forget your equalizer??? I'm no expert. Sorry to hear about inappropriate boom Roger! :O If you could post an audio clip somehow of what you're talking about, might assist the experts in analyzing your issue you're having.

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Thanks Ernie,

This is a strange one for sure. I recorded my acoustic guitar through a preamp that has a high pass filter in it as well as compression. I've used it for nearly four years without a problem. The guitar sounded great while recording but the mix was boomy when I mixed it down, so I went back and re-recorded the entire thing using headphones with the speakers turned off thinking that it may be transient noise being picked up by the guitar body. The mix still sounds boomy. I didn't want to post it as a new track here on the loops yet so I tried to add it as an attachment to the previous message but it didn't show up as a link or attachment. (???)

Then I thought that the problem might be with the reverb so I split it into individual stem tracks and brought it to my other computer and tried mixing the mp3 there... same result. This is the same computer that I use to listen to music on the loops and those tracks sound good. I still get the same 20-40Hz ghost signal in the final mix even on my main computer. Is it possible that too many high pass filters could be adding to the issue? In all of my years of playing music and running live sound anytime I heard such an issue a high pass filter took the problem away not added to it. And like I said if I run the previous mix-down back through the software and cut to 48db below 50Hz the boom is actually worse. This is driving my nuts because I have a new arrangement of a chord progression that I did a couple of years ago that I wanted to upload. I gave it a bit more of a rock feel that would sound good with some strong drums and some master boomstick added. I'll try adding the attachment again...

[wl]272441[/wl]

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No expert but I downloaded the file and looked at it with a spectrum analyer. Yes, there are the occasional notes below 50hz (though - personal opinion only) they do nothing to make anything sound boomy.
I then used a low-cut on it and it worked perfectly, everything below 50hz is gone (but to my mind without any noticable change of sound).
Could be that you might have 2 unrelated problems: The ghost notes, where I think Ernie might be right in that your high pass filter might be at fault (worked with mine) plus as a different issue the boominess, which I fail to hear, but maybe that`s just my hearing.

Hmm, just looked at the file again. At 6.53 seconds on the left channel a deep note sets in right before you strike the chord. You`ll notice it gone when you set your (working) high pass at 98hz. It sounds as if you have a bass playing a quiet single note. Found that throughout the track. Maybe that`s what you meant with boomy.

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Thanks for the help... I do have some hearing issues, and low frequencies seem to bother me more than higher ones. I rely heavily on the spectrum meter because I can barely hear anything above 3k. I think you have found what I'm hearing. I re-recorded a similar chord progression with the acoustic plugged directly into the interface bypassing the preamp/DI. I still hear the same thing like you describe. It's like a low bass note where it shouldn't be, so maybe it's just some kind of resonance coming from my old vintage 54 Martin 0-18 that I need to isolate. This guitar has always had a sympathetic harmony at around 440hz. It may be getting more pronounced with age. Here is a screen shot of the spectrum meter from last nights recording. There seems to be only about 24db between the peek sound waves and the noise floor below 50hz.

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BooDoggie attached the following image:

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BD - when I heard your sample I thought you'd positioned your mike a bit too close to the sound hole... but reading further, and "plugged in directly" lets me assume that you're using a pickup instead?
Have you tried with a microphone, probably pointed to the 12th fret or so, some foot (or a bit more) away from the instrument?

And 48dB/Octave could be a bit too ambitious - and produce some resonance around the -3dB frequency where you want to cut. Maybe aim a bit higher (the lowest E on a guitar is 84 Hz or so), and try 12dB/octave...

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Thanks Wade, I had a K&K multi-pole transducer installed a few years ago. I also bought a Fishman Platinum Pro EQ DI Analog Preamp Pedal that I had been using as well. It sounds really good live through my studio monitors or headphones. The reason I don't use a microphone os because I have two dogs that tend to wait until I'm trying to record something to decided to bark a something across the road. I'll keep playing around with different things until I find that illusive ghost noise that is driving me nuts. In the mean time I may try putting my dogs in time out in a room without windows and try the mic. Thanks for the help... :)

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After a bit of tinkering I found that the high pass filter on the Fishman DI box was causing a lot of the problem. Since it has no identifying labels on the dial you cannot know what the frequency or magnitude of the cut off is. As I rotated the knob back (As in turning it down) the boom went away nearly entirely.

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Your dogs must be so relieved

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