Ok so I mixed on my monitors, but it sounds shitty elsewhere. Suggestions?

R

RFrecordings

New member
I mixed a song on my monitors and it sounded really good (for me), but then when I played the song on my normal computer monitors, it just sounds... blehhh... nothing like what I mixed earlier. Things just seem to get buried... things that didn't happen when I mixed on monitors (low and high volume). Ok, so anyway, what are some suggestions on what I can do to fix this? I really don't even know where to start.
 
What kind of monitors are they?

I would guess it's either a problem with your monitors, the way you're mixing, or the room you're mixing in.
 
I had a similar experience when I first started recording (as many probably have). I've thought "it sounds good on my monitors". Then I listen in the car and hear that the bass is boomy as hell. Then I go back and listen on my monitors and suddenly I can hear the bass is boomy there too, though maybe not quite as much. Being able to hear ALL the problems on your monitors and predicting how it will sound elsewhere (translate) is a skill that you have to develop through practice.

It can take some time to learn your monitoring environment. The better your room and the better your monitors, the quicker and easier it will be.

Don't know if this will help, but I purchased a cheap boombox-type stereo with detachable speakers. I placed the speakers on my monitors (Alesis M1 passives). I also have a pair of AKG 240 headphones, which are pretty nice.

When I mix, I switch between all three. I've "learned" each device (as best as I can so far). Though none of them seem good enough to trust alone, between all three I can get my mixes to translate fairly well. It took about two years before I could mix a tune and feel confident it would sound decent outside of my mix room.

Also, having a reference CD of a professional recording that relates to the sound you are looking for is a must. Play something similar to what you are mixing on your system and compare it to your mix. That should help some problems jump out.
 
You also have to take into account that your computer speakers probably just sound like crap. They will do the same thing to any CD you play through them. However, you don't question the sound of a commercial CD, only yours.
 
RFrecordings said:
I mixed a song on my monitors and it sounded really good (for me), but then when I played the song on my normal computer monitors, it just sounds... blehhh... nothing like what I mixed earlier. Things just seem to get buried... things that didn't happen when I mixed on monitors (low and high volume). Ok, so anyway, what are some suggestions on what I can do to fix this? I really don't even know where to start.
Click to expand...

What i did to solve this problem, was put in my favorite album of my favorite band, and try to compare the sound of their music through the monitors and MY sound through the monitors (that is assuming that you can pop a CD into your recorder)
 
TAMPORA said:
What i did to solve this problem, was put in my favorite album of my favorite band, and try to compare the sound of their music through the monitors and MY sound through the monitors (that is assuming that you can pop a CD into your recorder)
Click to expand...
I second that, however I would import a reference song into my software and play it back as a track.
 
I have NS10's for that exact reason. When I mix through my NS10's, it always sounds good on other systems. Even my crappy computer speakers sound the same as if I play a commercial recording.
 
First step would be to get your equipment placed properly within the room and to make sure that your room is not overly coloring the sound at your mixing location. See the "studio building" forum for good basic information on these topics. Getting the room and the layout correct is over half of the battle.

Second step would then be to learn how to translate from your studo to the outside. Tampora describes a good starting point for learning that translation, but you have to go beyond that a bit as well; you'll also need to be able to successfully translate mixes that should sound nothing like your reference CD.

G.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
First step would be to get your equipment placed properly within the room and to make sure that your room is not overly coloring the sound at your mixing location. See the "studio building" forum for good basic information on these topics. Getting the room and the layout correct is over half of the battle.

Second step would then be to learn how to translate from your studo to the outside. Tampora describes a good starting point for learning that translation, but you have to go beyond that a bit as well; you'll also need to be able to successfully translate mixes that should sound nothing like your reference CD.

G.
Click to expand...


You said it. :D

You'll be amazed at how much your room will affect your mixes. Translation is something you learn through mostly trial and error so don't get discouraged just keep working at it.

Research these site to lean more about "tuning" your room.

http://www.realtraps.com/

http://www.johnlsayers.com/
 
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not withstanding all the other great comments here.....but I'd like to mention something that has helped me incredibly.......the use of a 'spectrum analyser'.
I've got a hardware type by kenwood, with beautiful blue fluro, hi-resolution, 'micro'-stepped display, and it's real fast!! (don't like the software ones!!)
I send a nice recording (some one else's, lol) thru that and watch the frequency lights dance, study them during differing parts and movements of the music.
I try to emulate that 'dancing' thru my own, similar program via mix/eq control. I can switch it to particular tracks, or use it to 'look' at my program.
Not that i would only trust a bloody spectrum over my monitors, but as an added feature, I'm finding my mixes are cutting it within 2-3 takes, (not 10-15 like before!!)

PS...my analyser signal is coming straight from the 'master out' of my desk, just prior to going back into my Delta 44.....works for me!! :)
Kindest Regards,
SS
 
hindustudiosgod said:
Just get cheaper dollar store ear phones or headphones and mix and master with them. They are much more effective and professional than Genelec or Event monitoring systems. Why does people even get monitors, so stupid and illogical.
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Much more effective at what? Making your mix sound a bit prettier wehn your listening to it?

The idea is to be able to hear whats going on accurately. The notion that a cheap dollar store set of anything will be all that accurate or professional is pretty funny.

Not to mention that mixing on headphones doesn't really work too well.
 
I'm dealing with a similar situation now; Great mix through both phones (Senn 280) and monitors (Peavey HK-8... :eek: ), but sound like mud on my consumer grade livingroom stereo and in the truck...Boomy, low mid spikes, really yucky vocal eq)...

I have a cheap boombox that I use on construction jobs that has an aux-in...So I plugged it in and remixed with it...Day & Night!! Ya gotta just have access to reality, find a way to put the world into your studio instead of the other way around...The monitors and phones are great for (and designed for) tracking and hearing detail, but don't for a minute believe that the same technology is used universally in the cheap consumer market...

Eric
 
hindustudiosgod said:
Just get cheaper dollar store ear phones or headphones and mix and master with them. They are much more effective and professional than Genelec or Event monitoring systems. Why does people even get monitors, so stupid and illogical.
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You' re a dumbass. Cheap speakers will probably not represent the full range of frequencies and mask various frequencies among those that are represented. Also commercial speaker and stereo companies create speakers and equipment which purposely colors sound. They expect that the average music will be mixed and mastered on equipment with a fairly flat frequency, and then design their equipment to color the sound in a way that they feel would improve their sales, for example increasing the bass. If everyone mixed on speakers and equipment that was colored completely different from one another accurate translation of mixes from one set of speakers to another would be impossible. It would also effect the companies producing stereos and other audio equipment who compete by purposely coloring the sound of their equipment to make it more accepted by consumers by making it impossible to predict how coloring the sound would effect all songs as a whole. That, dumbass, is one of many of the "stupid and illogical" reasons people use monitors
 
i look at speakers like microphones...some are bright some are bass-y...but where no mic is 'wrong' per se...speakers always are!!

know which kind you have and it will help you out a lot. just answering the question "are these bright or are these bass-y" helps me out like 75 % in balancing a mix irregardless of the room i'm in...the last 25 % is a major pain in the ass...stuff like midrange detail and 'quality' of the top end. rrrrrrrrrrr :mad:

be glad you work alone...i can't tell you how many recordings i've done that were ruined by the bass player or guy in charge thinking the bass was too low on my ns10's. :eek: and this was after i figured it out...so i trashed a few as well.

i still do the car check for bottom. not as much as i used to but it's still a place i scope out my mixes.

sorry if this is disjointed, my coffee is off. it's like 48 degrees and i'm not used it! waking up is a drag... :eek:

MIke
 
This is what I red from an engineer who was recording for over the past 20 years:

You just need to compare and know the strong points and weaknesses of your monitor system.
It IS possible to mix on normal HIFI-systems if your ears are trained enough.
He also said that monitors under 1500 euros are NOT flat at all it's just what the home recording businness wants you to think.


To practise I use my just bought NS10 and a click switch so I can switch to HIFI-system boxes (with alot of bass).
Like every question posed in audio I'm guessing the answer would be practise practise and practise :p
 
legionserial said:
Much more effective at what? Making your mix sound a bit prettier wehn your listening to it?

The idea is to be able to hear whats going on accurately. The notion that a cheap dollar store set of anything will be all that accurate or professional is pretty funny.

Not to mention that mixing on headphones doesn't really work too well.
Click to expand...

i mix on NS-10m's, which are deadly 'honest', i like to say. if its crap, you hear crap.

i then switch to iPod headphones just to compare to what i/others would mostly be using. then i bounce and listen on my laptop speakers (which make EVERYTHING sound like crap..) and then i listen in a car, and everywhere else i can.
 
In HR most want one set of $300ish monitors to do everything.
and a rare few seem to have the skills to do it.

the ploopy bass smearing seems to be the #1 HR sound problem doesn't it?

Get playing some consumer stuff on your monitors and re-check the sound, match it up better to your Home grown weed....er...I mean Home grown stuff.

Focus on the bass, tricky damn freq range.
 
the ploopy bass smearing seems to be the #1 HR sound problem doesn't it?
Click to expand...

yea, but i would bet that it has more to do with tracking issues than mixing...for example, i have a less than ideal room for tracking drums in - so small that it won't allow for any bass trapping, so i spend a lot of time combating the mud
 
So yeah... I used a pink noise track to make sure my monitors were putting out all the freq's equally (adjusting each freq with my monitor hardware eq), then I listened to some of my fav music through them and tightened up the eq a little (meaning I made the eq curve sligtly less severe). Remember that some of the quiet noises on your monitors will not be heard on normal stereos. One thing I like to do while mixing/mastering is turn my monitors down reeeal quiet and make sure the song still sounds good.

Randy
 
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