Vocal track changed using headphones vs monitors

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highriser

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Hi guys
I recorded vocals thru 3 diff mics and was trying to choose the best. My headphones (mdr v6) showed one as the clear winner clear and crisp with no bass probs the others were either too bassy or too thin and trebley. My monitors (Behringer ms20s) in an untreated famly room (pretty big) showed a diff one as the best, the best b4, now sounded too bassy with not enough highs on my monitors. and the one before with too much high frequency actually sounded very even and full.

What is going on and how do I decide? which is right?
 
Well maybe you guys can help me out with it. Here I have the clips uncompressed and keep in mind this is in no way polished these are scratch vox that were intended for my listening only. I am thinking perhaps it is my recording room that may be an issue, i am recording in an empty small rectangular room 8 by 11 and I built a sound booth out of 4 corning 703s on stands around me. What do you guys think? change rooms?

and on a separate note which of the three takes sound better?

My Song 2 by Adam Mishan on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free
 
I like the second best .... the first is odd sounding ..... something wierd in the lower mids ..... second sounds best to me by itself but I'm betting in a mix I'd find myself wanting the thirds' slightly thinner sound.
This is just on my crap puter speakers just so you know.

Sounds really dead though, to my ears ..... you might want to rethink your vocal booth and get a little more room to the sound so it'll have some 'life' and 'air' to it ...... it's pretty dead right now.
 
Different speakers and headphones sound different. That's why you want to get some that you can trust. They might just be the most important part of your signal chain.

(I even wrote a quick little article about it this month: The Art Of Choosing Speakers)

Headphones like the Sony V6 and their close cousins the 7506 are remarkably hyped in the lows and highs. They always sound obnoxiously bright and aggressive to my ears. They way I hear it, if an instrument sounds too tinny, harsh and bombastic on the V6s or 7506s it'll sound pretty right just about anywhere else.

Good luck!
 
The sound will always sound different on every system/headphone/speaker you try. How it sounds in the mix will vary, too. Mix for the overall song sound, not just one part of it. Then burn a disc and listen on every different system you can find. You'll be surprised how things change.
 
mjbphotos said:
The sound will always sound different on every system/headphone/speaker you try. How it sounds in the mix will vary, too. Mix for the overall song sound, not just one part of it. Then burn a disc and listen on every different system you can find. You'll be surprised how things change.
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^^^^ best answer ^^^^
 
TrustMeScience said:
Different speakers and headphones sound different. That's why you want to get some that you can trust. They might just be the most important part of your signal chain.

(I even wrote a quick little article about it this month: The Art Of Choosing Speakers)

Headphones like the Sony V6 and their close cousins the 7506 are remarkably hyped in the lows and highs. They always sound obnoxiously bright and aggressive to my ears. They way I hear it, if an instrument sounds too tinny, harsh and bombastic on the V6s or 7506s it'll sound pretty right just about anywhere else.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Good article. I enjoyed reading it!
 
This is a monitoring issue. I would use the monitors and not the headphones to judge which is the best recording. But if you are not totally sure how your monitors sound then this will be very hard to judge what recording to use.
I would suggest listening to commercial mixes that you are very familiar with through your monitors to get used to how they sound and how they sound in your room.
I would suggest room treatment also.

G
 
A for the clips, I would say that clip 1 is the best, but it would still need a good amount of EQ at mixing. I would hi pass the lows and cut some low mids and then maybe cut some high mids to balance the cuts in the low and low mids. It all depends on the rest of the mix though.
Clip 1 has the most detail (I believe you used a condenser mic for clip 1 and dynamic mics for 2 and 3?)
Although clip 1 sounds a bit nasely in the mids, so some cuts in the mids might be needed as I mentioned.

Good luck with this,
G
 
ecktronic said:
A for the clips, I would say that clip 1 is the best, but it would still need a good amount of EQ at mixing. I would hi pass the lows and cut some low mids and then maybe cut some high mids to balance the cuts in the low and low mids. It all depends on the rest of the mix though.
Clip 1 has the most detail (I believe you used a condenser mic for clip 1 and dynamic mics for 2 and 3?)
Although clip 1 sounds a bit nasely in the mids, so some cuts in the mids might be needed as I mentioned.

Good luck with this,
G
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Actually they were all Condensers except for number 1 lol number one was the internal mic of an Apogee ONE

Ok so here are 2 of those mics in the context of a mix, the vocals are not as tight as I would make them on the final take but for this I thought they would do. I added a bit of compression to have them sit in the mix....i hope I got that ok, and I added a touch of reverb to both and a noise gate. Thats it, now can you guys tell me which do you think works better?

Drive by Adam Mishan on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free
Drive1 by Adam Mishan on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free
 
.go with the monitors playback.

and then do what mjb said.... listen and tweak, listen...repeat
a lot of articles on the listening time and taking notes and adjusting.
then burn another version and play it around different places. then notate and document and the next songs will become easier.

its common, some of us want to Fast Food the music, and have one listening session and burn the perfect CD in 20 minutes that can play on every type device.
good luck with that, I never got it to work.

good question... hopefully some more inputs will help... I wonder what the average number of playback systems HR people use?
1) studio
2) car
3) Ipod earbuds
4) headphones
5) ? Band PA?
6) ? computer speakers

I would hope, eventually, a person could learn to reduce the need for all the playback system checks or re-mixes...but thats the goal, to get it the first take..maybe an unrealistic goal?
 
highriser said:
Well maybe you guys can help me out with it. Here I have the clips uncompressed and keep in mind this is in no way polished these are scratch vox that were intended for my listening only. I am thinking perhaps it is my recording room that may be an issue, i am recording in an empty small rectangular room 8 by 11 and I built a sound booth out of 4 corning 703s on stands around me. What do you guys think? change rooms?

and on a separate note which of the three takes sound better?

My Song 2 by Adam Mishan on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free
Click to expand...

I liked Verse of #2 but the chorus of 3 best. Earbud check... the s's were tamed more on the #3 chorus, which these earbuds magnify the s'sssssssss on everything. But the pro stuff sounds fine on them, so go figure?

really like the "It Will Rain"...great tune. I could hear some /imagine some added parts hear and there, too.. add some pump in the chorus, build up somehow... filler stuff here and there maybe... try a lead guitar part in there, its ballad enough to try a ripping ballad lead guitar track might fit? thatd be interesting to try,. like right at the line 'keep you from walking out that door..." a build and add another color there to lead into the Chorus..a.small run of notes you know?

vocals sounded good on that "It Will Rain", what did you do for that one?

i think #1 was pretty thin on these earbuds. just one input...you asked. :)
 
CoolCat said:
I liked Verse of #2 but the chorus of 3 best. Earbud check... the s's were tamed more on the #3 chorus, which these earbuds magnify the s'sssssssss on everything. But the pro stuff sounds fine on them, so go figure?

really like the "It Will Rain"...great tune. I could hear some /imagine some added parts hear and there, too.. add some pump in the chorus, build up somehow... filler stuff here and there maybe... try a lead guitar part in there, its ballad enough to try a ripping ballad lead guitar track might fit? thatd be interesting to try,. like right at the line 'keep you from walking out that door..." a build and add another color there to lead into the Chorus..a.small run of notes you know?

vocals sounded good on that "It Will Rain", what did you do for that one?

i think #1 was pretty thin on these earbuds. just one input...you asked. :)
Click to expand...
That sounds like a good idea but I don't play any instruments. I may have my buddy add that in...
The vocals there I recorded through a SM7B, I really liked it except for its extreme directionality. It took EQ beautifully though. I am wondering if maybe I should go with a modded SM57 with the tab-funken transformer
 
And the most important tip I've got here, besides listening on multiple systems, is to set it aside, and come back a day, two days or longer, later. Your ears get used to what they are hearing on repeated listens.
I got used to workign on 1 song at a time, then moving to the next one. Much better to have multiple tunes going. Work on 1, set it aside, work another, set IT aside, etc.
 
The vocals in the mix. Both could do with less low mids, and maybe boost in the highs and high mids.
I wouldn't say one was that much better than the other.
#1 is clearer, and #2 has a dirty muddy sound over the whole thing.

Best way to test them is to mix them in with EQ (and more compression) to see which sounds better.

G
 
Yeah, the first one does sound weird. Second is the clear winner. I used my Sennheiser HD 600s and my B&W stereo to make that decision btw
 
highriser said:
Hey guys I did another recording, what do you think of the eq and compression on the vocals.

And in general how is it? Drive final by Adam Mishan on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free
Click to expand...
The vocal dynamics are still a bit much, you might need to ride the fader if compression is not enough to tame those peaks. The EQ sounds a bit too mid rangey, I can hear distortion in the mids, (could possibly be from the mic.)
The vocals are too loud also. :) If you bring the vocal down then the mid range might work better within the rest of the mix.

G
 
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