Do it on the X32 · Step 5
Low-cut (high-pass filter)
Throwing away the low rumble a source never needed cleans up the whole mix. It's the cheapest improvement on the desk. The full explanation → Guide, Step 5
The short version
- SELECT the channel
- HOME → Config tab (or the LOW CUT knob in the channel-strip section)
- Switch the low-cut on
- Set the frequency from the table below
- Leave kick and bass alone — 20–40 Hz or off
What it actually does
A low-cut throws away everything below a frequency you pick. That's it.
Why bother? Because most sources produce low-frequency junk they don't need — stage rumble, air conditioning, footsteps, someone bumping a mic stand, the thump of a singer's breath. None of it is musical, all of it stacks up. Thirty channels each carrying a little low-end mud adds up to a mix that sounds thick and unclear, and nobody can point at why.
Cut it at the source and it never gets into the mix at all.
Step by step
-
Select the channel.
Press SELECT on the channel.
-
Find the control.
Two options, same setting:
- On the desk: the LOW CUT knob in the channel-strip section on the left, which acts on whichever channel is selected.
- On screen: press HOME, go to the Config tab.
-
Switch it on.
It's off by default on most channels.
-
Set the frequency.
Use the table below as a starting point.
-
Listen.
Push it up until the source starts sounding thin, then back off. You want it high enough to clean things up, low enough that the instrument keeps its body.
Where to set it
| Source | Low-cut |
|---|---|
| Lead vocal | 80–120 Hz |
| Backing vocals | 120 Hz+ |
| Spoken word / pastor | 100–120 Hz |
| Kick | 20–40 Hz or off |
| Bass | 30–40 Hz |
| Snare | 80–100 Hz |
| Toms | 60–100 Hz |
| Overheads (cymbals only) | 200–400 Hz |
| Hi-hat | 200–300 Hz |
| Electric guitar | 80–100 Hz |
| Acoustic guitar | 80–100 Hz |
| Piano / keys | 30–40 Hz |
| Pads | 30–40 Hz |
| Horns | 80–120 Hz |
| Electronic drums | off |
| Tracks / playback | off |
Full source-by-source settings →
Do not put a high low-cut on kick and bass.
It is the single most common rookie error on this desk. Those instruments live in the low end — that's their entire job. Setting a low-cut at 100 Hz on a kick drum removes exactly the part you're trying to hear, and then people turn the channel up to compensate, which makes everything worse.
Kick and bass get 20–40 Hz, or nothing at all.
Same logic for finished audio — tracks, playback, electronic drums. Those were already mixed and filtered by someone else. Leave them alone.
What good looks like
| Check | Should be |
|---|---|
| Vocals & most mics | low-cut on, 80–120 Hz |
| Kick & bass | 20–40 Hz or off |
| Tracks / e-drums | off |
| The test | source still sounds full, mix sounds cleaner |
Done right, this is invisible. Nothing should sound obviously filtered — the mix should just feel less cluttered.
If it goes wrong
- The kick lost all its punch.
- Low-cut is set too high. Drop it to 20–40 Hz or switch it off.
- Vocals sound thin.
- Too high. Come down toward 80 Hz.
- The mix is still muddy with low-cuts set everywhere.
- Then the mud isn't sub-bass, it's low-mids — usually around 200–400 Hz — and that's an EQ job, not a low-cut job. It sounds bad →
- A wireless handheld thumps every time it's set down.
- Handling noise. Bring the low-cut up a bit on that channel.