am I mixing / mastering at vol levels too high for critical listening?

V

visa

New member
i mix at pretty high vol levels.

my mixes/masters always turn out to be very bass heavy and are pretty much unleistenable.

we recorded a song two days ago that sounded FANTASTIC at the practice space. i haven't listened on another system so far but today the drummer calls me to tell me that the mix is unlistenable on his stereo at home.

just a few seconds it came to my mind that i might be mixing at a volume that is too high for crticital listening. is that even possible?

i've been mixing my own stuff for seven years and it's always been like that...the mixes are bass heavy as fuck.


whats the recommended volume for mixing?
 
I think the best volume is that which suits your ears, anyways how do you want us to describe volume?

BTW what are your monitors?
 
high and low frequencies get more accentuated to the human ear as things get louder. this means that if you monitor really loud, you're going to end up with mixes that sound as if they have the "smiley face" EQ thing going on

many people monitor around 85-87db, because studies have suggested that human ears have the "flattest" response at that volume range

personally, i usually monitor so that the music is just loud enough so that i can't clearly hear what someone else is saying from across the room. works wonders when you're getting that "turn up this and that!" bullshit from the band.
 
I only have headphones (for now) but I always mix rather soft, as I heard that's a way to make "louder" mixes and is also much better for your ears. You'll want to turn it up later to make sure your bass isn't overbearing.
 
Read up on the Fletcher-Munson curve. But besides all of that, decent monitors and a treated room are critical to mixing. And beyond that is "learning" your room and monitors. It's a skill like learning to play an instrument. It takes time and not everyone is good at it.
 
A couple suggestions for you. One make sure that you don't mix the bass up to high, since normal computer monitors and stereo speakers are not a flattened frequency spread. Another suggestion is make sure your main mix output buss isn't peaking. If your main mix output buss peaks you will usually end up with distortion in certain frequencies that make the music unlistenable.
 
visa said:
whats the recommended volume for mixing?
Click to expand...

I recommend all levels. Listening at lower volumes allows you to hear how the mids hold up and helps to check balance of vox and music. Louder levels (around 85 db) for overall frequency balance.

If you're not hearing the bass well, maybe it's an issue with monitors or room. Try comparing your mixes to a trusted reference track (slighly lower in volume since it was likely mastered) and compare how it holds up if your track were on the same album.
 
I don't know your specific situation, but this is totally typical of a poorly treated / improperly setup mixing space and/or poor monitoring (or a combination of).
 
I think first of all, since (for me at least) there is a computer next to me making whirrs, the most important thing is to get louder than the fans! Then...Monitoring loudly to start and to check overall balance later is a great idea...No, a necessity!

The louder something is, the more the human ear compresses. At soft listening levels (like it's late and you don't wanna bug anyone), frequencies below 400hz are going to be almost 30db quieter than high mids and highs. At 85db, your ears is going to more or less hear everything much more balanced.

But there are better ways to get louder without actually cranking them sunsabitches to get a real handle on the bass. My favorite is to cover one ear and shove the exposed one right up to the monitor if you can get there. It's almost the same as slapping on headphones, but you aren't changing speakers, so it doesn't toss you out of perspective (at least in my experience.)

I say just monitor at a level at which you'd listen to music and check it in a car or to listen to music a lot louder than you're used to and adapt to it...Or just adapt to (ie cope with) the idea that at lower volumes, you shouldn't have globs of bass rolling around. It'll help you focus on being able to hear the upper register of bass instruments : )
 
Nine times out of ten when a rookies says his mixes are coming out bass heavy it's because of his monitoring environment.

G.
 
Ironklad Audio said:
high and low frequencies get more accentuated to the human ear as things get louder. this means that if you monitor really loud, you're going to end up with mixes that sound as if they have the "smiley face" EQ thing going on

many people monitor around 85-87db, because studies have suggested that human ears have the "flattest" response at that volume range

personally, i usually monitor so that the music is just loud enough so that i can't clearly hear what someone else is saying from across the room. works wonders when you're getting that "turn up this and that!" bullshit from the band.
Click to expand...

If you mix too loud then your mixes will sound dull and bass thin. This is because (as Ironklad mentioned) the louder you listen at the more the low end and high end stand out (to humans).
Try mixing at low levels and also at high levels.
You should be mixing loud, but not so loud that you get a sore head or that your ears hurt or anything!
You should know instincivley what volume is best to mix at.

Eck
 
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