I have a problem with my mix translation. Don't know a thing about it. Help me!!!

I

irtiza96

New member
Hello. Hope you are all doing well. I am new to this site and i don't know how things work. But i have a problem with my mix translation. Here's the problem: Okay so i record in a home. No acoustic treatment or whatsoever. I have a samson C01U pro condenser studio microphone. I record vocals only and by vocals i mean only words. Like podcasts etc. No music no beat and nothing. Only words. The mic records great. After the recording and editing and stuff, when i hear the sound or audio on my mobile's ear phones (LG g4) it sounds like very squeaky. It sounds like someone is yelling in your ear but with a very squeaky sound. Very sharp and thin sound. And when i plug in my studio professional audio technica ATH m30x headphones (just mentioning this for reference :) ), it sounds great.
Now when i turn down the 3k setting in equalizer. (BTW i use garageband 10) so when i turn down the 3k setting in eq, it seems to lower down the squeakiness and thin and sharp voice coming from the ear phones. But when i plug in the speakers or etc the sound is not what it should be. Audio sounds great after lowering the 3k in mobile ear pods. But its not that great when i plug in the headphones or speakers etc. Even when i play it on my mobile loud speaker it sound so weird because of the 3k lowered.
I record vocals only. And add an effect of reverb. Thats it. Thats what i record in my home.

At first i didn't even know what this issue was. Someone told me its about compression. Then someone told me a specific name for this issue: Mix translation. Really need your help. I want my audios to sound equally great on all devices.

Also i listen to other things as well ofcourse. :)) like songs etc. The sound about same on the headphones, earbuds and any other sound appliance. I want that. I want my recording to be same no matter on what i am listening it. Looking forward to your answers and help. :)
 
Okay i am ready to send an example audio. But i have to confess something. When i said vocals only it really means that i record Quran Recitation. If you agree to listen to it. Tell me how can i send.
 
Without hearing it, it would only be a guess... But if it sounds good on real headphones and speakers, but sounds bad on crappy earbuds, it's probably the ear buds.

Most likely, everything sound kind of bad on the ear buds, but since you don't have any control over those recordings, you accept it. Now that you have control over the recording, you are trying to fix something that is unfixable.
 
I personally don't care what you are recording. Free speech man... :)

So, from this thread 'Quick Reply'. Then click on the 'Go Advanced' tab. From there 'Manage Attachments'. That will give you ability to upload files to your post.

If you wish us to hear a full .wav version you will need to use a sharing site like Dropbox or similar. Many here will not download anything so ability to play a song directly from the site or streaming from a server is your best bet.
 
Hello! sorry for late reply. There's some issue i don't know. the file isn't uploading. anyway i tried changing the earbuds and turns out yeah those are crappy ear buds. I used Apple's handsfree. And the sound is just fine on those. But i don't know why isn't it good on my handsfree (lg g4) Those are pretty good too but i dont know. i Listen to other things as well and it sounds just fine on all of the handsfree. Plus i think i should stop dropping the 3k on equalizer because i think this step is making the sound crappy on mobile loud speakers.

I am new to this recording so please give some tips. I record in a room with no acoustic treatment whatsoever. In front of me there is a wall and thats it.The mic is on the scissor boom stand' laptop on the table and thats it. Any tips??
 
Broadband absorption and plenty of it. The best possible monitoring chain you can get.

You can only ever hear as accurately and consistently as your monitoring chain allows you to hear (period).

Your monitoring chain will only ever be as accurate and consistent as the room allows it to be (period).

Every time, all the time, no exceptions.
 
3k is in the range of frequencies that give clarity to words. You need a certain amount of it to be able to understand what you are saying.

Since it seems to sound decent on everything except the set of ear buds, it's the ear buds, not the recording.

No matter what you do, you can't compensate for a bad playback system at the mixing process. A lot of people starting out run into this problem, they wonder why the mix sounds great in the car, but really thin on laptop speakers...it's the laptop speakers. When listening to commercial music on the laptop, you tend to accept the sound, mainly because you can't control it.
 
+1 to step 1. Please find a way to share the raw recording, before any eq edits.
You might be fixing a problem that isn't in the recording.

A plain old spoken voice recording shouldn't sound drastically different from system to system, unless one of the systems is ridiculous in which case everything would sound drastically different on it.
 
What do you mean by absorption panels?? can i use reflection filter behind the microphone?? will it work or not?
 
Massive Master said:
Broadband absorption and plenty of it. The best possible monitoring chain you can get.

You can only ever hear as accurately and consistently as your monitoring chain allows you to hear (period).
Click to expand...


What do you mean by absorption panels?? can i use reflection filter behind the microphone?? will it work or not?
 
Farview said:
3k is in the range of frequencies that give clarity to words. You need a certain amount of it to be able to understand what you are saying.

Since it seems to sound decent on everything except the set of ear buds, it's the ear buds, not the recording.

No matter what you do, you can't compensate for a bad playback system at the mixing process. A lot of people starting out run into this problem, they wonder why the mix sounds great in the car, but really thin on laptop speakers...it's the laptop speakers. When listening to commercial music on the laptop, you tend to accept the sound, mainly because you can't control it.
Click to expand...


Yes 3k give the clarity to the words and drops the squeakiness too. But it works on professional headphones but sounds crappy on mobile loud speaker or car speaker. you are totally right the we dont complain when listening to commercial music 'cause we can't control it. :))
 
here it is. No editing or anything. Original audio. i use a little compressor and then add reverb.
(Again: i use garageband 10) And i have already told you about the positioning of my mic.
 

Attachments

  • Untitled - 20:12:2016, 5.19 PM.mp3
    4.9 MB · Views: 10
irtiza96 said:
What do you mean by absorption panels?? can i use reflection filter behind the microphone?? will it work or not?
Click to expand...

The reflection filter will keep a lot of the room sound out of the mic, which is what it is for.

Absorption panels absorb the sound that would normally bounce off the walls and make your room sound boxy or just bad. They are used to stop the room reflections from coloring the sound of your monitors, which makes what you are hearing from the monitors more accurate...which should make things translate better.

I am not in a position to listen right now, but I will see what you are dealing with when I get to the studio.
 
Sounds pretty reasonable. Certainly some 'detached' sounding room going on, but not excessive.

Could it be better with a strategic treatment of the space? Sure.

Does it suck the way it is now? Nope.
 
Massive Master said:
Sounds pretty reasonable. Certainly some 'detached' sounding room going on, but not excessive.

Could it be better with a strategic treatment of the space? Sure.

Does it suck the way it is now? Nope.
Click to expand...


Yeah i think i should stop using the voice modes and eq as i dont know anything about it and i spoils the audio. Thanks for your review. I put some pillows and small quilt behind the mic and below the mic on the table. It seems to affect the audio in a good way. I am trying to get absorption panels. will see how that looks. Thank you!
 
One more thing. Can you please tell me how to reduce the "ssssss" sound. Any word that starts with "s" The "S" sound. I use pop filter for pops but what about "s-es"
 
Usually, when the Sean is prominent, it's because you are either over pronouncing the S, or you are speaking too quietly.

Consonant sounds are the same volume (more or less), no matter how loud you talk. This means that if you speak quietly, the S's will seem too loud in comparison to the vowel sounds.

Sorry, I never made it to the studio yesterday. Stuff came up. But I trust massive and his assesment.
 
I just listened and it sounds fine. Even the S's aren't that bad.

There is a reverb that sounds kind of boxy, which could be the room.

Try hanging a quilt behind you. The mic is picking up the room sound behind you, so that is what you need to treat. The pillow on the desk is a good idea as well.

The reason the reflexion filter and other things like it work is because they help keep the sound from your vocal from getting into the room and bouncing off the walls, causing the boxy reverb. This works fairly well, but has its limitations. If you are doing this kind of quietly, you will have to turn up the gain, which also makes the mic more sensitive to the room reflections and makes the S's stick out more.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top