Hey guys , this is something that i was trying to figure out.... its the high end when the filter opens up... how the hell it is so clean ? Whenever i do something with digital synths = sylenth, massive it sounds so harsh that i want to rip my ears off. Is it because he was using analog synths or am i doing something wrong here ?
Thanks for any responses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2PM5iTlmRE

You gotta control the high end as much as the low end dude.

You do that controlling the range at which you hear (both ends of the spectrum) of the sound/track in question.

Understanding the human frequency range of human hearing, helps you understand the range at which you should be processing the sound.


Understanding standing the frequency range at which your speakers operate at helps you understand the range at which you should be processing sound.



Understanding you own limitations of frequency range that you hear helps you understand the range at which you can process sound accurately.


summing those three points of understanding helps you make better mix decisions.

Understanding the limits at which those three understandings are applied, is also very crucial. Mostly because it gives you the insight as to what a more applicable procedure to process sound of any variety.

Think outside the synth plugin. You can use an EQ to sculpt the sound between the filter and effects.
e.g. Sylenth (Dry) -> Parametric EQ -> Delay -> Reverb
This way, you can soften the top frequencies with a High Shelf set to a very low resonance/bandwidth. Use it as a nice gradual roll-off of the upper frequencies.

When setting up this EQ, make sure to have the synth's filter fully open and turn the volume down. Then, while looping a test pattern (preferably the longest one from your song), adjust until you've found a value you're satisfied with and turn the volume back up to verify that it still sounds pleasing.

There's probably less high end allowed in those synths than you realize. Add to the fact that he doesn't overdo it with volume levels. You can get a lot more high end or allow a lot more highend in a sound when it isn't the loudest part of the mix. I think of highend as 8-10k plus though so I might be perceiving things differently but most of the highs in this song sound like hi hats to me.

This is definitely worth considering.

If you filter out the high and low end, and then adjust with increased volume, you've tamed both ends of the spectrum and increased the more audible content of that particular sound (the mid range) by focusing the mid range to be more apparent.

The sound on the opposite ends of the spectrum are there still, but at a lower quantity, but what makes up that sound is actually what you hear. Thus the frequency range of the signal is important.




Also, you need to realize what's making certain sounds be the sounds given their particular means of projection. Is this on a sound system? is this in your home studio? the differences between the two lie in the fact that you're dealing with two different systems in which they operate. Big loud bumping sub bass in a club is different than how it sounds in the studio. The club system is made to project like that where, it'd be a pain in the ass to mix with that level of sound coming out.