a mix for all CD players?

  • Thread starter Thread starter dobro
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dobro

dobro

Well-known member
Forgive me for asking this question which has been asked and answered before.

Before Christmas, I put together a song whose EQ sounded okay through headphones. People who listened to the mp3 of it said the EQ was okay. When I burned it to CD, it sounded okay on the discman. When I played it on my stereo system, I had to cut the bass, but it was okay. But when I play it on a modern home stereo player (the new ones typically have no EQ control), it's *way* too bassy - really ugly - coaster city. Before I launch myself into redoing all the EQ on these songs again, I'd like to know if it's actually possible to get a mix that sounds okay on all players. Or can you only come up with a mix that sounds good on some players?
 
Dobro.... *shakes head*

That's EXACTLY what happens when you make EQ/mix decisions using headphones.... they don't translate very well...

Bruce
 
Is there really flat anymore?

I've been pondering this recently Dobro--- welcome back BTW - I spent some time with an academic who is an audiophile as well as being a music buff. He has a huge setup with extremely high quality gear(sorry can't remember names) but he made the point that Classical and Jazz recordings sound great on his system with the bottom end sounding rich and smooth. Acoustic bass on jazz sounded great as well. But pop/rock productions required a lift in bass and sometimes a rolloff in tops to match the other recordings.

It appears to me that we have been progressively moving away from flat in pop/rock recordings. This I suspect has been created by pop radio stations that almost always have a bottom end/top end lift on their transmitters and stereo systems now invariably have a loudness control doing the same. Getto blasters also have huge bass boost systems as do car stereo systems.

So now we have pop/rock recordings that are down in bass and usually scream with top end and actually sound thin when played on a flat system.

Thoughts please??
cheers
john
 
You may have a point John - 2 examples come to mind - Peter Gabriel's "Security" album and Paul Simon's Graceland. Both digital recordings and both sound very muddy in the highs when played on run-of-the-mill systems. But played thru an exceptionally high-quality system, they sound very well-balanced across the frequency spectrum with no EQ adjustments necessary.

I have a decent car system, but when I play either of those there, I need to boost lows and highs - you know - the smiley face on the EQ....

Contrast that to Destiny Child's last cd - when I play that one in my car, the EQ gets the frown face, otherwise it is just PIERCING to the point of being painful!

Bruce
 
Yeah, I'm aware of the downside of mixing with headphones - that's why I listen to my stuff on a variety of players, in order to see what's going on, comparing it to similar commercial stuff I like.

But even if I *did* mix on monitors like all the sensible people, would it be possible anyway to get a mix that sounded good on all players? From some of the things posted in this thread, it sounds like the answer is 'sorta no sometimes'. I'm gonna go for it though, unless you think it's impossible. Or do you optimize your mix for the kind of sound system you want it to sound best on?
 
The whole point of translating a mix is to make it sound good across as many sound systems as possible. For example, if you listen on a boom box, you probably should expect muddy bass and less-than-stellar highs. Just play a commercial CD back on a good system and also a cheap blaster. The music still comes thru but reflects the limitations of the system it's played on... you want to have that same translation ability. And no, it's not easy to acheive.... but you have a much better chance of having that happen mixing thru monitors than via headphones.

Bruce
 
It would be great if the cd had some kind of code to tell the system how to eq itself. Yea, I know, my mind went to the Bahamas just for a moment.
 
I LOVE it when the bass is so incredibly fat that it wakes up the guys in the next building over. I LOVE IT!!! My favorite record id this old canadian techno record... cuz it has this, like 20Hz bass drop that makes me physically ILL to listen to. I LOVE IT!!! Ed hates it, though. Calls it 'unruly'. pppthbt.

xoxo
 
It would be great if the cd had some kind of code to tell the system how to eq itself.
Like who determines the preset EQ in stereo systems, they have Pop, Classical, Disco etc?? ;)
cheers
john
 
I don't think there's much point beating yourself up about it. Many consumers, even with fairly expensive mid-fi systems (as the audiophile types would describe it) will make poor EQ choices with any material they listen to. They'll never consider listening to anything flat- that just goes against their preconceived notions of what's right:
If flat were correct why'd they put that knob there?
 
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