Sound & signal
Frequency range
The audible spectrum runs roughly 20 Hz to 20 kHz, and DJ mixers divide it into three: lows carry the kick and bass, mids carry vocals and most instruments, highs carry hats and air.
In practice
Lows collide hardest, mids collide most often, highs forgive. Most crowded blends are a mid problem.
Work the bands in order of consequence: swap the lows first because two basslines is unrecoverable, then check the mids because that is where the blend actually gets crowded, and leave the highs mostly alone because two hat patterns interleave far better than anything else. Roughly, lows are below 250 Hz, mids run to about 4 kHz and highs sit above that — the exact crossover points differ by mixer and are worth knowing on the one you use most.
20 Hz–20 kHz
The audible range
~250 Hz
Where lows hand over
Mids
Where blends crowd
Where these come from: Standard EQ band divisions on club mixers — conventional design, not catalog figures. For what we can measure, see the control that splits them.
Why it matters
The three-way split on a mixer is not arbitrary — it maps onto the three things that actually collide when two records play together. Two basslines fight in the lows, two vocals in the mids, two hi-hat patterns in the highs, and each has a different fix.
The mids are the band people neglect and the one that decides whether a long blend works. Lows are handled by the bass swap and highs are forgiving, but two records both stuffed with mid-range content will sound crowded no matter what you do at either end.
Frequently asked
Which frequency band should I cut first?+
The lows, because two basslines at once is the one collision nothing recovers from. Then check the mids, which is where a blend actually gets crowded.
Where do the bands split on a DJ mixer?+
Roughly 250 Hz and 4 kHz, though it varies by model. Worth knowing on the mixer you use most, because it changes what a full cut actually removes.
Why do highs forgive?+
Hi-hats and air are short and sparse, so two patterns interleave rather than overlap. Sustained mid-range content does the opposite.
Related terms
Three-band EQ
A three-band EQ splits each channel into low, mid and high and gives you a knob for each. It is the primary tool for deciding which parts of two records are audible at any moment.
Crossover
A crossover splits a signal by frequency and sends each part to the speaker built for it — lows to the subs, everything else to the tops. Every club system has one, set for its own speakers.
Sub-bass
Sub-bass is the lowest band of a record, roughly below 60 Hz — the part a club feels through the floor rather than hears. It is where most of a track’s physical impact lives.
Filter types
Filters differ by which part of the spectrum they remove. High-pass and low-pass cut one end, band-pass keeps a middle slice, notch removes a narrow sliver, and a shelf lifts or drops everything past a point.
Explore: Frequency detector · Note frequency chart · Three-band EQ · All DJ terms