rvriccardi
New member
Hi all,
I was using my home stereo as a monitor when mixing/mastering, but what sounded good on my home stereo sounded terrible everywhere else.
A few weeks ago I decided to buy monitors so I can accurately mix my projects so they sound good on most stereo systems. I read many reviews and decided that the only "true" way to find the right monitors was to go to the store and listen to them.
I visited my local Guitar Center and listened to about 15 different monitors using the same song on each one. As I listened to each monitor I noticed some were cleaner sounding than others, some had a lot of bass, some were flat sounding. Price wasn't a major concern so I just went by what my ears told me. I liked the KRK Rokit8 the best. The Rockit8's didn't overemphasis bass or treble, the sound was very clear and the instruments were easily identified.
I've mixed various projects using my new monitors including live studio recordings and projects where I laid multiple keyboard tracks (bass, organ, guitar, etc.) and multiple drum tracks (kick, snare, toms, overheads, etc.). My final mixes sounded full, clean and clear through the monitors. I burned a CD and played it through the monitors and it sounded just as good.
-now the problem-
I put the CD in my home stereo which has a sub-woofer and the bass was overwhelming and the overall sound was very muddy. I then put the CD in my car which also has a sub-woofer and got the same results. Next, I put the CD in a regular home stereo, the sound wasn't as muddy but there was still too much bass and it sounded somewhat distant. Overall the CD didn't sound as good as when it was played through my monitors. I also experienced different volume levels on each song, which wasn't that noticeable on my monitors.
Question:
1) Since my mixes had too much bass, should I be mixing through my monitors with very little audible bass?
2) Should I be using the VU meters to set the db level roughly the same volume in stead of my ears?
3) Is this just a matter of getting use to my monitors?
Thanks for the help
I was using my home stereo as a monitor when mixing/mastering, but what sounded good on my home stereo sounded terrible everywhere else.
A few weeks ago I decided to buy monitors so I can accurately mix my projects so they sound good on most stereo systems. I read many reviews and decided that the only "true" way to find the right monitors was to go to the store and listen to them.
I visited my local Guitar Center and listened to about 15 different monitors using the same song on each one. As I listened to each monitor I noticed some were cleaner sounding than others, some had a lot of bass, some were flat sounding. Price wasn't a major concern so I just went by what my ears told me. I liked the KRK Rokit8 the best. The Rockit8's didn't overemphasis bass or treble, the sound was very clear and the instruments were easily identified.
I've mixed various projects using my new monitors including live studio recordings and projects where I laid multiple keyboard tracks (bass, organ, guitar, etc.) and multiple drum tracks (kick, snare, toms, overheads, etc.). My final mixes sounded full, clean and clear through the monitors. I burned a CD and played it through the monitors and it sounded just as good.
-now the problem-
I put the CD in my home stereo which has a sub-woofer and the bass was overwhelming and the overall sound was very muddy. I then put the CD in my car which also has a sub-woofer and got the same results. Next, I put the CD in a regular home stereo, the sound wasn't as muddy but there was still too much bass and it sounded somewhat distant. Overall the CD didn't sound as good as when it was played through my monitors. I also experienced different volume levels on each song, which wasn't that noticeable on my monitors.
Question:
1) Since my mixes had too much bass, should I be mixing through my monitors with very little audible bass?
2) Should I be using the VU meters to set the db level roughly the same volume in stead of my ears?
3) Is this just a matter of getting use to my monitors?
Thanks for the help