earphones and speakers sounds awfully different.

[haim001]

Hello.
My name is Haim im new here.
i have a Major problem.

each time im recording, usually im doing the recordings with earphones. (superlux).
each time im recording and im really trying hard to get a good mix. but then i remove the earphones from my ears, turn on the speakers, and a disaster is happening. it sounds really awfull, especcialy piano and vocals.. the mix is different and sounds insanely awful. I dont know what to do, please help me to improve this.

im using cubase sx3.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Mix on the speakers.

 

[CrowsofFritz]

Because your mixing on cheap headphones. What speakers btw?

 

[haim001]

thank you for your answer.
I use not so good speakers, its of
"AIWA"... old ones but sound really good with "aerosmith" songs D:

ill try to mix with my speakers you are right, but i think ill mix and then ill listen to the speakers and it will be too brutal no?

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Okay, headphone mixes generally don't translate all that well to speakers, even when using good 'phones and speakers. The odds of headphone mixes sounding good on mediocre speakers are pretty slim. It sounds to me like you just don't have any reliable reference. There are many recommendations for affordable small studio monitors on this site.

 

[mjbphotos]

Yep, you need to get yourself some studio monitor speakers. Those old Aiwas are coloring the sound.

 

[CrowsofFritz]

Start looking into studio monitors. What is your budget?

 

[haim001]

actually i kinda have no budget. but if its surly neccesary, i have like 150$.................

 

[kcearl]

for $150 Id get myself a crown amp of ebay and look for some old high end hi fi speakers in pawn shops, craigslist etc....then at least you can upgrade them to passive nearfields come the time and still use the amp..

you can mix with headphones but it takes a much longer time and you really have to know what youre doing, lots of A/Bing with commercial mixes and to and fro'ing

Audio Technica ATH40FS Headphones cost around $50 and actually translate surprisingly well for a beginner set up but you still need speakers to check the mix on


of course this is just my opinion, there are prolly a few options that folks might offer

 

[mjbphotos]

There's not a lot of monitors for that price, but I would still recommend monitors over using an amp and stereo speakers of any kind.
If you shop around, you might find someone upgrading and selling their old ones.
For new, you can try THESE M-AUDIOs.

 

[Lt. Bob]

There's not a lot of monitors for that price, but I would still recommend monitors over using an amp and stereo speakers of any kind.
If you shop around, you might find someone upgrading and selling their old ones.
For new, you can try THESE M-AUDIOs.

nah ....... cheap monitors are just bookshelf speakers that they put the words 'studio monitors' on as a marketing terms. They're NOT flat and a decent pair of paradigms or any GOOD stereo speakers will be far flatter than any of the cheap monitors we use around this forum.

I see this conversation all the time and it's a myth that anything with the words 'studio monitors' on it is flat.
Yes, cheapo stereo speakers suck too but the blanket statement that you would use monitors over an amp and stereo speakers of any kind is not the truth.
$150 monitors, regardless of brand, aren't flat by any stretch of the imagination.

Those M-Audios will do a lot better than whatever crappy headphones he's been using but I'd rather mix thru my hi-end headphone rig than any cheap monitors.

That isn't gonna be the path for him since I've got a grand in my headphone rig.
But it amazes me that I see so many people talk about studio monitors 'being designed to be flat' when they don't get anywhere near flat until you get to maybe 1500 a pair and up.

 

[benage]

nah ....... cheap monitors are just bookshelf speakers that they put the words 'studio monitors' on as a marketing terms. They're NOT flat and a decent pair of paradigms or any GOOD stereo speakers will be far flatter than any of the cheap monitors we use around this forum.

I see this conversation all the time and it's a myth that anything with the words 'studio monitors' on it is flat.
Yes, cheapo stereo speakers suck too but the blanket statement that you would use monitors over an amp and stereo speakers of any kind is not the truth.
$150 monitors, regardless of brand, aren't flat by any stretch of the imagination.

Those M-Audios will do a lot better than whatever crappy headphones he's been using but I'd rather mix thru my hi-end headphone rig than any cheap monitors.

That isn't gonna be the path for him since I've got a grand in my headphone rig.
But it amazes me that I see so many people talk about studio monitors 'being designed to be flat' when they don't get anywhere near flat until you get to maybe 1500 a pair and up.

This is what I find confusing, people say Monitors are designed to be flat, and Hi-Fi speakers colour the sound to be more pleasing to the ear, yet the consensus after reading a few of these Hi-Fi speakers vs Monitors threads seems to be that if the're cheap, then neither are perticually flat, and if the're expensive then high end Hi-Fi Speakers are just as flat as monitors so they reproduce the music as it was intended.

So is the whole you need monitors thing complete bullshit then? I do notice that alot of members still seem to have them anyway, are mid-range priced monitors better than mid-range Hi-Fi speakers? Also the 'Detail' people say you can hear on monitors - is that a frequency response thing or something else?

 

[theD1CKENS]

This is what I find confusing, people say Monitors are designed to be flat, and Hi-Fi speakers colour the sound to be more pleasing to the ear, yet the consensus after reading a few of these Hi-Fi speakers vs Monitors threads seems to be that if the're cheap, then neither are perticually flat, and if the're expensive then high end Hi-Fi Speakers are just as flat as monitors so they reproduce the music as it was intended.

So is the whole you need monitors thing complete bullshit then? I do notice that alot of members still seem to have them anyway, are mid-range priced monitors better than mid-range Hi-Fi speakers? Also the 'Detail' people say you can hear on monitors - is that a frequency response thing or something else?

Take it with a grain of salt. You can mix on ANYTHING, as long as you're familiar with your speakers. Two tin cans and string is better than headphones, as long as the cans are matched.

"Monitors" just make it easier and a lot faster

 

[Lt. Bob]

So is the whole you need monitors thing complete bullshit then? I do notice that alot of members still seem to have them anyway, are mid-range priced monitors better than mid-range Hi-Fi speakers? Also the 'Detail' people say you can hear on monitors - is that a frequency response thing or something else?

no it's not bullshit and the speakers I'm talking about are more expensive than the monitors you'd probably buy.
I'm just taking issue with the blanket statement that 'studio monitors are ALWAYS better.

 

[benage]

no it's not bullshit and the speakers I'm talking about are more expensive than the monitors you'd probably buy.
I'm just taking issue with the blanket statement that 'studio monitors are ALWAYS better.

Ok cheers (for both replies).

 

[juanONE]

just bounce back n forth between em till it sounds good on both(or at least decent)

 

[grimtraveller]

just bounce back n forth between em till it sounds good on both(or at least decent)

You could be mixing until the moon is in a vernal equinox.........

 

[CrowsofFritz]

Knowing your room and speakers is the key.

 

[Lt. Bob]

Knowing your room and speakers is the key.

^^^^^^^ this ^^^^^^^^^

If you get to where you know how mixes on your speakers (whatever they are) translate to other speakers you're in pretty good shape.
More accurate speakers make it easier to do that but ultimately people get good mixes on a wide variety of speakers and even cans so get the best you can and then learn them.
And ditch the earbuds for any mixing use. If you HAVE to use cans sometimes you need to invest in a decent pair.

 

[Richie2708]

Been there done that...

I've suffered with headphones before (No where near as high end as Lt. Bob's rig though) but its workable providing you are used to how it will sound when you take the mix elsewhere.

Then I had a pair of large Kenwood speakers from an old hifi system running from a Cambridge Audio surround sound amp set to stereo....Used to mix my songs in my lounge through these, and the mix was always great...(Never quite figured that out) I guess I just knew these speakers really well.

Then moved my mixing rig to a separate studio (well that's what I called it ) so I used smaller speakers 'Monitor Audio Bronze BR2's, through the same amp) This worked well for me yet i did have to compare on different systems at times to perfect the mix. Was never quite as good as mixing on the crappy kenwood speakers (Like I said earlier ...go figure??)

Now I use the KRK Rokit 8's and they are on par with the old crappy kenwood system for mixing...

Now I'm not saying any of this makes any sense, but its the way it was for me......

Take whatever you can outta that rambling mess and I hope you can make good use of it...