Basic monitoring question...PLEASE HELP!

[singlecoil]

To give me a reference point EQ wise for monitoring my own material, I play some well produced commercial CD's thru my board+power amp+monitors to hear what I should aim for EQ wise. Problem is, I have to add high and low EQ for these to sound similarly good like thru my home stereo which has the treble and bass boosted as I am used to hearing them. With no EQ they just sound dull and low on bass. So, do I listen to these CD's with board EQ or without board EQ. Then should I then try to make my mixes sound similar to the unEQ'ed CDs or the EQ'ed CD's? Or, should I listen to the CD's on my home stereo and try to get a similar sound with my material thru my board? OR, should I monitor thru my stereo reciever with it's EQ on like how I usually listen to it? I never have read anyone discuss this anywhere. What is the "pro" way to do things? If I try and get proper treble and bass thru my board and monitors, then isn't that adding to much bass and treble, because when I then listen to it on my home reciver or car stereo, it has too much bass and treble because the bass and treb are already boosted on those systems, which is how most people adjust their home stereos, car stereos, boom boxes, etc. Or, do I try and mix comparitively to "flat" CD's thru my board and try to make my resordings sound equally flat? I'm confused.

 

[Platinum]

I recommend the following:
1. Adjust both your board and home stereo EQ flat. Take a moment for listening some CDs you think are well mixed. Adjust the EQ levels of your home stereo as accurately as possible when it sounds good and leave the levels that way.
2. Play some your own recordings that you think are as ready as possible for final mastering. Add some EQ (If necessary!) to your mix with the board EQ and record it. Note: If the final recording goes thru the EQ of your home stereo (EQ of your home stereo affects for recording, not just listening) then adjust the EQ of your home stereo flat when recording.
4. Listen to the tape with as many different types of setups as possible. Make some notes of frequencies you think you have to boost or cut and record again with new EQ settings. Sometimes you have to compromise between different listening sources. In that case you should do it the high end stereo way, not the walkman way.

If you record separate tracks to a hard disk of your computer or to a multitrack remember that sometimes less is more! What I mean is that while recording tracks add just slightly EQ for each track to make it sound natural. After you have recorded all the tracks you can add some master EQ to the final mix.

 

[wantabe]

Singlecoil:

You have asked a million dollar "?"! Basically, it's just going to take lots of time and experimenting to get it right. Like you've already heard, just try your mixes through different sources. Remember, you're looking for "the norm", your mix is definately going to sound different on every source. But, as you get use to your monitors and how it should sound through them in order to produce a professional sound through most other sources, then you've got it. Everyone has a different pair of "ears"! That's why they give us E.Q. in our vehicles, in our home stereos, etc, etc, etc. I advise patience & practice. Use all of your resources. For me, I try listening to my tunes after I mix them with the monitors, through several different pairs of headphones. (cheap to more expensive) What that allows is the ability to hear with mega bass, studio, and cheap plain jane sound sources. If I get it to sound good through all of them with miniumal adjustment to my EQ then it usually sound just right after completed.
Good luck!
wantabe