Damned iPhones

[GuitarLegend]

I really hate it when you use all the talent you have to produce a great mix and someone judges you by listening on an iPhone. Nothing sounds good on iPhone and I don't know that I want to optimise my recording for iPhones. And yet everyone seems to use one for listening to music....

What can you do?

 

[jonny deep]

Do you mean listening on the speaker or using headphones? Mine sounds fine.

 

[GuitarLegend]

Do you mean listening on the speaker or using headphones? Mine sounds fine.

Listening on the speaker. With headphones its not bad. But the person in question doesn't use them on her iPhone. So my stuff is judged by what she hears on the speaker and there is no bass response at all, some of the instruments disappear, even on commercial recordings

 

[Mr Clean]

Listening on the speaker. With headphones its not bad. But the person in question doesn't use them on her iPhone. So my stuff is judged by what she hears on the speaker and there is no bass response at all, some of the instruments disappear, even on commercial recordings

I think I would personally struggle to take anyone's judgement/opinion seriously, of any music/mix, if they had listened on an iPhone speaker.

Does it matter or can you just laugh it off?

 

[Massive Master]

Put the phone in an empty glass.

Otherwise -- Are we talking about judging recording quality or a song / arrangement / performance...?

 

[Schwarzenyaeger]

We call these people "mono-bastards". They used to be an endangered species until they saw a resurange in the early 2000s, enabled by a device that could a lot of things at once at the cost of quality and quantity of all aspects.

Narrated by David Attenborough.

 

[Mr Clean]

There's nothing wrong with mono, it's all I hear.

There's everything wrong with crappy little speakers on phones.

 

[GuitarLegend]

I wouldn't worry about it except that the person was the client for the recording. She is the lead singer in the band that I recorded live. I have told her several times not to review my stuff on her iPhone but she keeps doing it.

This is the live recording in question. Said she couldn't hear the bass or the keys. I just facepalmed that comment and told her again not to review it on iPhone...

Resound - Out Of Reach

 

[gecko zzed]

The recording sounds fine. It is possible to quibble about levels of this or that, but that's down to taste more than musicality.

All you can do is what you've already done . . . tell her not to review it on iphone.

 

[GuitarLegend]

Oh I quibble with myself on levels. The number of times you listen to it and re-mix it.... its never good enough but there is a time when ya gotta say its enough and let it go.

Any comments you may have would be welcome. It is always good to have another set of professional ears on the mix. You listen to it so many times yourself, you start to ignore obvious glitches. But a word from someone with ears makes you take another look.

They seem happy with the recordings because they have never had anyone do this before. The idea was to make a demo CD but I will be recording every gig from now on. I remember so many gigs that I did as the guitarist in various bands with no recording of the occasion. I think recordings are priceless, whatever their quality. But I still want to make the best that I can.

 

[Armistice]

Let me guess.. she's the singer.

 

[Mr Clean]

I wouldn't worry about it except that the person was the client for the recording. She is the lead singer in the band that I recorded live. I have told her several times not to review my stuff on her iPhone but she keeps doing it.

This is the live recording in question. Said she couldn't hear the bass or the keys. I just facepalmed that comment and told her again not to review it on iPhone...

Resound - Out Of Reach

You should tell her to get a better phone. I can hear the bass and keys and everything else on a Galaxy S5. Obviously it sounds pretty pants but it's all there.

Personally I would just ignore her and her reviews. Eventually she'll get the message and change the medium she listen on. Or, stop giving them mp3's and give them CD's instead. For them to use a stereo or some description.

 

[GuitarLegend]

Let me guess.. she's the singer.

No need to guess, I did say she was the lead singer

 

[gecko zzed]

I've listened to it a couple of times now. Here are my thoughts:

1 Instrumentally,everything seems to play nicely together. Guitar, keys, bass and kit are all fitting together in the same space well.

2 This is a most unusual statement from me, but I think the lead vocals are a bit too loud. (Normally I complain that they are not loud enough!) I found myself wanting to turn the track down to get the vocal to a good level, but when I did that, the band started disappearing.

 

[GuitarLegend]

I've listened to it a couple of times now. Here are my thoughts:

1 Instrumentally,everything seems to play nicely together. Guitar, keys, bass and kit are all fitting together in the same space well.

2 This is a most unusual statement from me, but I think the lead vocals are a bit too loud. (Normally I complain that they are not loud enough!) I found myself wanting to turn the track down to get the vocal to a good level, but when I did that, the band started disappearing.

I appreciate your comments. I try to get the vocals down as far as I can before they start getting lost in the background music. I think I may have to ride the fader on them. They do vary in level but if I drop the level any more, I get the feeling she is sinking into the mix. Thank you for your comments. I will give it another look and see what I can do with it.

Same file but will post the link here to save going back through the thread

Resound - Out Of Reach

 

[Mr Clean]

Same file but will post the link here to save going back through the thread

Resound - Out Of Reach

That sounds pretty damn good to me here on my modest set up. (Which is no more than a fantastic hi-fi rather than proper monitors) Vocals are sitting nicely here. The only thing that really sticks out for me is the Ride. You could probably lose a touch of volume on that but it's not offensive in any way.

Good mix, good performance.

 

[GuitarLegend]

That sounds pretty damn good to me here on my modest set up. (Which is no more than a fantastic hi-fi rather than proper monitors) Vocals are sitting nicely here. The only thing that really sticks out for me is the Ride. You could probably lose a touch of volume on that but it's not offensive in any way.

Good mix, good performance.

Thanks for the kind words. Funny you should mention the ride; after my last post, I thought the ride was too in-ya-face and dropped it a touch. Have another listen if you would

 

[VomitHatSteve]

You should tell her to get a better phone.

ha ha! Yessss!

 

[GuitarLegend]

Its a Samsung S3. She listened with her Sennheisers and said it sounded good

 

[mjbphotos]

Burn it to CD and give her the disc, tell her to 'play it on her iphone'!!