Sound & signal
Kill EQ
A kill EQ removes a band completely when the knob is turned fully down, rather than merely attenuating it. On a mixer with true kills, taking the bass to zero leaves genuinely nothing below the crossover.
In practice
A true kill turns the low band into a switch: one record owns the bass or the other does, with nothing in between.
That is a better model for transitions than gradual crossover, because the state you are trying to avoid is exactly the middle one. Roll the incoming track in with its low killed, find the phrase boundary, and swap ownership in a single move. On a mixer without true kills the same technique still works, but the residual low end means the swap wants to happen faster and more decisively rather than being held open.
−∞
What a true kill gives
−26 dB
Typical non-kill minimum
1
Records that should own the low
Where these come from: Mixer conventions and a design principle, not catalog figures — attenuation at minimum varies by model, so check yours. For what we can measure, see what the three bands actually hold.
Why it matters
The difference between a kill and a normal cut decides how clean a bass swap can be. A conventional EQ at minimum still leaves a residue of low end; two residues still sum, so the mud you were trying to avoid arrives quietly rather than loudly.
It also changes how you use the knob. With true kills, the low band becomes a switch — one record has it or the other does — and the transition becomes a decision rather than a balancing act.
Frequently asked
What is the difference between a kill EQ and a normal EQ?+
A normal EQ at minimum still passes a reduced amount of the band. A kill removes it entirely, which matters most on the low end where any residue from two records will still sum into mud.
Does my mixer have kill EQs?+
Check the specification for the attenuation at minimum. Anything quoted as "−∞" or "full kill" is a true kill; a figure like −26 dB is a deep cut, which behaves differently in a bass swap.
Is an isolator the same as a kill EQ?+
Related but not identical. An isolator is a master-level three-band with steeper crossovers and usually full kills, designed for shaping the whole mix rather than one channel.
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.
Filter
A filter removes everything above or below a moving cutoff point. A high-pass strips the bottom away as you turn it up; a low-pass takes the top off as you turn it down.
Kick
The kick is the low drum that states the beat — in most dance music, on every one of the four beats in a bar. It carries the pulse and most of the energy a floor actually feels.
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.
Explore: Mixing guides · Three-band EQ · Filter · All DJ terms