Filter vs. EQ?

[KillerAmp]

So recently i have been experimenting with FM8 and Massive and can get some cool sounds out of them, although what i feel after getting them is that they sound, almost sharp/edgy, and i want them to feel a bit warmer.

I was wondering what i should do to make them sound smoother, and more rounded.
Ive heard many people with many techniques, some say filters, and others say equlizers but i still am not sure how to configure either/both to get a smoother sound.

i guess my issue is the sounds i currently am achieving in massive sound TOO electronic for me, and changing the cutoff with different filters in the vst still wont give me quite the sound im looking for,

any help is appreciated

[vladnuke]

Hurm. More envelope work, try to make the release longer, try to examine some of the pad presets in massive and the techniques they use.

[KillerAmp]

thanks, ill try that too! and the thing i just noticed was that in massive, even the presets, i feel that the sound is just so rough, so im starting to wonder if its more of how i use it in the song rather than it is that it needs to be changed. ill try working with the envelopes and see if i can get better results!

thanks for lightning response too

[Versilaryan]

First, go through your synth and figure out what about it is making it sound so harsh. If it's only a couple things, then fix it. Otherwise, use an EQ and take away some of the highs. That's where all the sounds are that make something sound harsh.

Assuming you're making dubstep wobbles (because that's all everyone uses FM8 and Massive for nowadays), experiment with Ohmicide, or Tridirt if you can't get your hands on Ohmicide. It's a multi-band distortion, so you can distort the parts that matter and sound wonderful and gritty (meaning, the lows and mids), while sculpting away the super highs that are giving your sounds too much bite.

Also, just to clarify, an EQ is just a bunch of filters mashed into a single plugin. Specialized filter plugins typically give you more control over the sound of the filter, though, so that's why those exist.

[KillerAmp]

Also, just to clarify, an EQ is just a bunch of filters mashed into a single plugin. Specialized filter plugins typically give you more control over the sound of the filter, though, so that's why those exist.

That makes more sense! thanks

Assuming you're making dubstep wobbles (because that's all everyone uses FM8 and Massive for nowadays), experiment with Ohmicide, or Tridirt if you can't get your hands on Ohmicide. It's a multi-band distortion, so you can distort the parts that matter and sound wonderful and gritty (meaning, the lows and mids), while sculpting away the super highs that are giving your sounds too much bite.

i was actually looking for a more melodic synth at the time, but this will defiantly help, and i was noticing that there were a lot of those super highs when i looked at the sound through a frequency analizer and now i know how to remove them

ill keep all that in mind, i really am learning a lot from you guys!