I know there should be tweaks based on the uniqueness of the voices involved but does anyone have a advice/a link/ or a guide on where to get started with EQ settings with a male and female voice?
I always start from “flat” and work from there.
As you say, each voice is unique and the EQ should be set to match.
However, as a rough guide, for male voices, they tend to have lower frequency components,
so you may want to increase the bass frequencies if you want to enhance them or, reduce
around 80-200 Hz if it’s has too much rumble.
Female voices on the other hand, tend to have higher frequency components extending up to several KHz.
Both female and male voices, tend to have most of the energy concentrated between 300 Hz and 2-3 Khz.
As I have mentioned, this is a generalization, so always apply EQ is small “doses” and watch out for “thumps”
created by plosives ( "T’s and P’s) which are indicative of too much low frequency boost/gain.
On the high end (around 3-6 KHz), watch out for sibilance (S’s), which means you need some high frequencies
reduced in level.
How are you listening? You should be on a good quality music system or top quality wired headphones. Earbuds or wireless doesn’t count. Bluetooth can cause problems. If you’re listening for your own enjoyment, that’s one thing, but if you’re in the middle of production, it’s good that your monitoring is better than your audience.
Me:
“What’s that rumble-thumping sound in the background of your voice?”
Producer:
“What rumble-thumping?”
What is your audience? We are warned against going into pages of effects, filters, or corrections without knowing where the work came from or where it’s going.
Koz