Ah Damn it, Can't Figure out if I like mastered sound or not

  • Thread starter Thread starter ibleedburgundy
  • Start date Start date
ibleedburgundy

ibleedburgundy

The Anti-Lambo
So I am having my band's album mastered right now. Got my first test mix, sounds totally awesome...except...on certain stereos some of the lower frequencies (60-80 hz) dominate a bit. This is the weird part: On my HD 280s - which allegedly have a frequency response that goes down to 8 hz - the bass sounds balanced and nice. On my friend's M audio BX5's - which only respond down to 53 hz, the bass is out of control (they're not mounted properly, just sitting on the floor). On earbuds it sounds nice. On my other friend's home stereo the bass was too much (bose speakers, pioneer tuner, no fancy settings) and then when I put some bass traps in the room it improved. In my wife's Rav4 the bass is a bit too much. On one of those iPod speaker plug thingies it's a tad bassy but nice overall.

Thing is, the mastering engineer is very good at his job and I trust him more than I trust myself. So my default setting is to STFU.

I can't decide if I want to tell the mastering engineer anything about this or not. The one thing I haven't done yet is play it back in my tracking room on my HS80s (which are properly mounted). I guess I'll let that be the tie breaker. Please weigh in. Any of you been here before? What would you do? Thanks!
 
I did test masterings with a few guys who normally do good work and have the right gear to do it....
...they all did it a little differently, and each one had something I liked and something I didn't like.
One of them I asked twice to change things, and it was OK, but then other things were not right...so the whole thing started to get away from where it needed to be, and I didn't want to keep pestering.

In this electronic world...it's harder to get on the same page with a mixing/mastering engineer than if you could sit in on the sessions.
Some guys don't want sit-ins, and/or will charge extra....but it really is the easiest/fastest way to come to a meeting of the minds or to realize he/she might not be the right person for YOUR style of music.

The electronic file exchange options can work, and a lot of guys have no problem with redoing things for you and sending new files...but he/she and you are NEVER hearing the same thing when you do it that way....and that's the problem.

Anyway....he may be a great engineer, but just isn't connecting with what you are after, or you may not be listening as objectively as he is....so you need to find out which is it and then work with it.
AFA trying out the mastered mix on 10 different systems....well, people can say that great mixes/mastering will always translate well on any system....but that's not really the case. They may sound decent, but every/any mix will always sound different from system to system....just how much difference I guess it the key to it being mastered as well as it can be or not.
If you're not really happy at least overall, then it's not good.

I'm no mastering engineer....but that's my take.
 
You know more than me, I won't offend you, but, sounds like you're chasing. Put on other commercial songs that you know on the same systems and use that as your "sanity check".
 
I'd go with your tie breaker. However, don't just sit down in front of your studio equipment and listen. Instead, make a coffee or pour a beer. Get comfortable in your chair. Hit play then close your eyes and just listen without extraneous distractions of flashing meters and so on. (I'm serious--all the distractions of a studio can subtly affect your perceptions.)

Mixes are always going to sound different when played on a variety of different transducers--and each of the ones you mention can have their own limitations and errors. For example (and I'm only speculating) for a speaker with a 5 inch driver to reproduce audio down to 53 Hz, I have to suspect there's some compensation EQ going on the crossover. Couple this with sitting the floor and who knows what effect you get. The same with car stereos and iPod docking stations which are often tweaked to "sound good" to the unclean masses who equate heavy, uncontrolled bass with "good".

Finally, don't forget your own personal biases in this. You did the recording and have a firm idea of how you want it to sound. Even with a million dollars worth of gear, you'll never get exactly that sound and it's easy to be hypercritical. However, to somebody not attuned to critical listening, your "uncontrolled bass" may just be perceived as a "nice heavy thump" which is great--except you didn't want that.

Or maybe the mastering engineer got it wrong! :)
 
DM60 said:
.. Put on other commercial songs that you know on the same systems and use that as your "sanity check".
Click to expand...
+1
Do you have a system or two that you are familiar with and or have done this with?
On my best speakers I found out mixes can sound fine in the 80-150Hz range for example, and still come out out'o whack on the typical 'bumped humped speakers.
You learn and compensate. When in doubt go back to the refs' that best fit the tracks in question.
Get up and listen in different places in your room if need be (This is part of my routine as my room is not perfect!) But in the end it works. The mastering guy(gal :) ) is a good thing. Fresh ears, maybe better ears'. But now here you are listening -focusing! on these details. Next logical is.. now you can begin to incorporate this.. into your skill set, into you mixing.. :)
 
It sounds like your saying the master leans toward being a touch bass heavy. What genre is it? Some modern masters are really boomy but that's generally in dance-electronica. If its too much in your genre, its not a big deal to turn down the bass a touch is it? or to compress it a bit more. Good Luck!

So many times I or anyone of my friends mixed/mastered at a pro studio, things came out bass heavy, (with one studios exception) I never figured it out, and I just work from home now.
 
Thanks everyone. I did some reference songs on stereos that I know previously and I did some in my tracking room just now. That definitely helped to reset my ears.

I am now thinking there is a little extra "rumble" on the bass that wasn't intended, meaning the bass extends to 20-30Hz and this comes across as a little loose. I was tinkering with my EQ in my tracking room and I put -3.7 DBs with a Q of 1.82 centered at 30 Hz. This seemed to tighten things up a bit without taking away the bass "bottom" (60-80 Hz). I think I am going to sleep on this before I tell the guy anything.
 
ibleedburgundy said:
Thanks everyone. I did some reference songs on stereos that I know previously and I did some in my tracking room just now. That definitely helped to reset my ears.

I am now thinking there is a little extra "rumble" on the bass that wasn't intended, meaning the bass extends to 20-30Hz and this comes across as a little loose. I was tinkering with my EQ in my tracking room and I put -3.7 DBs with a Q of 1.82 centered at 30 Hz. This seemed to tighten things up a bit without taking away the bass "bottom" (60-80 Hz). I think I am going to sleep on this before I tell the guy anything.
Click to expand...
Just for curiosity, was that there on your mix too?
 
PDP said:
It sounds like your saying the master leans toward being a touch bass heavy. What genre is it? Some modern masters are really boomy but that's generally in dance-electronica. If its too much in your genre, its not a big deal to turn down the bass a touch is it? or to compress it a bit more. Good Luck!

So many times I or anyone of my friends mixed/mastered at a pro studio, things came out bass heavy, (with one studios exception) I never figured it out, and I just work from home now.
Click to expand...

Thanks man. Genre-wise, we're all over the place. Alternative/rock/raggae-ish/punk-ish. Some of it really does need a heavy bass presence. I'm thinking turning the bass down a tad won't hurt anything but I don't want to take anything away unintentionally.
 
You're paying an expert but you're still the customer. I've worked with a couple of ME and I trust both but that didn't stop me pointing to things I thought weren't as I intended.
With both MEs they responded with comment/reasoning or suggestions for alterations.
It could be as simple as a bad day, a piece of gear frying or an error in the encoding.
With one chap I found a glitch that sounded like a stick/rim hit that wasn't there in the mix. It occured during the dither from 24 to 16 and the ME apologized, re did the task & I had a great master.
 
Happily ever after is something to achieve,
Mixing with a master who processes through a Neve.
Ozzy had to use a lyric sheet but since he was barely literate it was only a crutch but knowing it was there it held up well excpet where the syllables were smudged to illegibility my M&M dye.
Question - is the text illegible if the the reader is illiterate?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top