Two Techniques for Cutting High End

Cutting high end is one of the more difficult things to do in a mastering context.  The ear naturally perceives more high end as greater detail, so cutting highs feels like losing detail, and makes A/B comparisons difficult.

1) Make a broad and deep high frequency cut, way more than needed so the track sounds really dull.  Give your ears a few seconds to adjust.  Or even better, listen for 10-20 seconds, and turn off the monitors for another 10-20 seconds.  Play the track again and slowly bring the highs back in, adjusting the width of the cut (if needed) as you do. Settle at the point where the highs now sound sufficiently bright and clear.   

2) Make a high frequency cut normally, but do it with the monitors turned down a fair bit.  10db or so down usually works for me.