Vocals sound good on headphones but terrible on speakers

N

Niall Condon

New member
Hi I'm new to this website so I'm not sure where this question should go, when I record vocals over the song they sound in key through my headphones but when I take them off they sound horrible when unplayable them through my mac book speakers and iPod speakers. Does anyone know why this is happening and how I can fix it?
 
So your vocals change key when you switch to speakers?

Are you recording over commercially recorded backing tracks? They are probably heavily compressed. You may need to compress your vocal to match the dynamics of the backing tracks.
 
that could be the problem, im using a backing track (drums and Bass) i recorded acoustic guitar and vocals over it, I'll try compressing it now and i'll get back to you.
 
Niall Condon said:
that could be the problem, im using a backing track (drums and Bass) i recorded acoustic guitar and vocals over it, I'll try compressing it now and i'll get back to you.
Click to expand...

Don't compress the whole mix. Compress each track you recorded to fit the dynamics of the backing track.
 
Dynamics doesn't affect pitch. You said the vocals were in key in headphones but sounded bad in speakers so I am wondering what you meant.
 
sorry not pitch :L (dont know why i said that)
but why would compression affect how the instruments sound in the mix on speaker?
 
Niall Condon said:
sorry not pitch :L (dont know why i said that)
but why would compression affect how the instruments sound in the mix on speaker?
Click to expand...

Things always sound a little different on speakers than in headphones. I was thinking your speaker setup may be more sensitive to dynamics.
 
How are you recording - give us the list of equipment you are using, what DAW (recording software) you are using, etc.
 
How are you playing back the recordings through the MacBook speakers (I assume those are the tiny speakers built into the computer?) or iPod? Are you converting to iTunes format? That could be the culprit.
Post some more (use the 'get your 10 posts here' thread) to get the 15 posts needed in order to post a link, than upload your mix somewhere so we can listen to it to help pinpoint any problems. Use the 'MP3 Mixing Clinic' section of this forum.
 
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