question about mixing: 'flatness'

[yvesa]

I've searched the forum but can't seem to find any info. It seems like a very newbie question but here goes...(I am a newbie so I please forgive me :P)

How flat should I be mixing my music?

Right now I'm mixing my music to make it sound good within my mixing application (Sonar5). But when I listen to it with a eq setting (like in winamp or itunes) it obviously has too much bass and treble (typical V eq setting) and only sounds really good when I turn off the eq. I'm guessing that isn't correct.

I'm guessing it comes with practice and you eventualy "get it" but if anyone has any tips to share please do.

I'm getting my monitors and new sound card shipped monday so maybe my crappy speakers have something to do with it.

Thanks in advance.

[edit]
Right now I'm listening to other similar music with the eq set flat and trying to get close to that type of mix.

[Cyrokk]

Originally Posted by yvesa

I'm getting my monitors and new sound card shipped monday so maybe my crappy speakers have something to do with it.

Theoretically, a good mix will sound good on all systems it is played on, given the system's shortcomings. If you are getting studio monitors, this will help you in determining what needs to be done to your mixes to make them sound better.

When I first started out, I was mixing on fairly high-priced Cerwin Vega consumer grade speakers. I though it sounded great until I played the mixes in the car stereo, where things sounded fuzzy and flat. Once I started working with nearfield monitors, I discovered that the main problem was that I was making extreme eq adjustments to bring out lows and highs, I was not matching the meters between my mixer and the equipment I mixed down to, and I was mixing at too low of a volume level.

When you get your monitors, spend time listening to professional mixes on them to get an understanding of how things are supposed to sound through the speakers.

After you get acclimated to your new monitors, do some trial mixes. When you think you have a good mix on these monitors, take a break to let your ears rest, then go to another system (such as the car stereo). Play a professionally mixed cd of a song similar to your mix to get your ears used to the car stereo speakers, then pop in your mix. Make adjustments so that the mix sounds good on both your studio monitors and in the car stereo.

Do this for every sound system you have. In the end you should have a pretty decent mix overall.

[Dogman]

What I have done, is try and replicate the sounds I have on my home stereo, on the system I mix on. I then play it through the system with Winamp, no eq. Commercial cd's sound pretty similar on my Home Theater system, and my mixing system, so my own mixes translate pretty close. This has helped me to achieve a mix that is closer to a "flat" sound, without a bunch of added bass.

[chessrock]

Originally Posted by yvesa

[edit]
Right now I'm listening to other similar music with the eq set flat and trying to get close to that type of mix.

There's your answer, right there.

.

[DrJones]

Originally Posted by Cyrokk

Theoretically, a good mix will sound good on all systems it is played on, given the system's shortcomings. If you are getting studio monitors, this will help you in determining what needs to be done to your mixes to make them sound better.

When I first started out, I was mixing on fairly high-priced Cerwin Vega consumer grade speakers. I though it sounded great until I played the mixes in the car stereo, where things sounded fuzzy and flat. Once I started working with nearfield monitors, I discovered that the main problem was that I was making extreme eq adjustments to bring out lows and highs, I was not matching the meters between my mixer and the equipment I mixed down to, and I was mixing at too low of a volume level.

When you get your monitors, spend time listening to professional mixes on them to get an understanding of how things are supposed to sound through the speakers.

After you get acclimated to your new monitors, do some trial mixes. When you think you have a good mix on these monitors, take a break to let your ears rest, then go to another system (such as the car stereo). Play a professionally mixed cd of a song similar to your mix to get your ears used to the car stereo speakers, then pop in your mix. Make adjustments so that the mix sounds good on both your studio monitors and in the car stereo.

Do this for every sound system you have. In the end you should have a pretty decent mix overall.

Heres another tip. RTA! Each control room has different room shape, accustics, sound deadining, reflections, ect... Artifically tuning your room is a very good way to solve all your problems. There are many software and outboard equiptment to do this. Good nearfeild monitors are needed also. Heres a breif overview on what you need. Parametric or dualband 31 band graphic EQ inbetween your system and monitors(I use a 31 band graphic), flat response mic, some kind of analizer (software or outboard) to genarate and analyze. now start searching on RTA to learn how to do this. If you ever bought a premium home theater system (like bose) the same process is used to tune your living room to make it sound like a movie theater. good luck!

[yvesa]

great tips, thanks for the info!