Do people mix for Stereo EQ presets...

N

nonreversebird

New member
Now a days on many many stereos or take the iPod for example. It has multiple eq settings, like one for Rock, Jazz, etc. Do people take their mix and use a player or stereo and mix so it sounds right on one of these presets.
That is what I did already but I mean I still can remix. Windows media player also has a Rock preset for Media Player 10. I am infact listening to my music right now on this preset in Windows media player. I feel it sounds pretty damn good but not good enough. It really sucks to have put over 6 months into this music and I still cant be satisfied. I dont have any money to buy more gear and sheesh pay 1 grand to someone. But I will tell you if someone could actually make my music sound as good as it needs to be maybe I could work out something.
 
I might be wrong but a lot of times those presets are designed to address limitations in the speakers that are provided or they are for accentuating those frequencies people "think" they should be hearing; like adding more bass to something. Personally, I don't think you should mix with into those things becuase you are dealing with a situation where the frequencies are usually pretty whacked to start with. Your best bet is just to mix and make it sound good and neutral. The end users can do whatever their preference is afterwards.
 
No, people don't mix (for example) a rock song so it sounds good on a rock eq preset on their ipod.

A well mixed song should sound good without any additional eq. Of course as the above poster says you might have a playback system which is lacking in certain areas and so some material might benefit from a little eq. And the listening environment is also a factor.

The better a mix is though the better it should transfer to different systems without the need for additional eq. That should be your aim.
 
I thought the whole reason I am saving for decent monitors is so my mixes will translate well to lots of different playback mediums... Don't mix so that it sounds good on one particular preset.... Yeah what Kevin said :)
 
nonreversebird said:
Now a days on many many stereos or take the iPod for example. It has multiple eq settings, like one for Rock, Jazz, etc. Do people take their mix and use a player or stereo and mix so it sounds right on one of these presets.
Click to expand...
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER......................
 
<rant>
I kind of laugh when I see folks on the Dell DJ forum (I have a Dell DJ, much cheaper than the iPod!) discussing what EQ presets to use, or how they've come up with great "custom" EQ settings. Hello! - The folks mixed the stuff to sound good "as-is" (at least if you listen to "good" music :) ) I NEVER use any EQ settings in my car, on my DJ, I keep my Home Receiver/Amp thingy flat as a board, and all sounds as nature (errr, I mean the engineers) intended.
</rant>
 
Blue Bear Sound said:
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER......................
Click to expand...
Just to amplify on Bruce's most excellent and insightfull post.........
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!!!!!!!!!
 
gordone said:
<rant>
I kind of laugh when I see folks on the Dell DJ forum (I have a Dell DJ, much cheaper than the iPod!) discussing what EQ presets to use, or how they've come up with great "custom" EQ settings. Hello! - The folks mixed the stuff to sound good "as-is" (at least if you listen to "good" music :) ) I NEVER use any EQ settings in my car, on my DJ, I keep my Home Receiver/Amp thingy flat as a board, and all sounds as nature (errr, I mean the engineers) intended.
</rant>
Click to expand...

I think if you did play with your eq settings, especially in your car, you would often have a much more enjoyable experience. I mean road noise alone is reason enough to tinker with the eq in the car. If the car stereo has less than fantastic speakers (like the stock 4 inchers that came with my corolla.. They are gone now :) ) then surely upping the bass and even the treble a bit to calm down the ridiculously overpowering midrange is a good thing.
 
nonreversebird said:
Now a days on many many stereos or take the iPod for example. It has multiple eq settings, like one for Rock, Jazz, etc. Do people take their mix and use a player or stereo and mix so it sounds right on one of these presets.
That is what I did already but I mean I still can remix. Windows media player also has a Rock preset for Media Player 10. I am infact listening to my music right now on this preset in Windows media player. I feel it sounds pretty damn good but not good enough. It really sucks to have put over 6 months into this music and I still cant be satisfied. I dont have any money to buy more gear and sheesh pay 1 grand to someone. But I will tell you if someone could actually make my music sound as good as it needs to be maybe I could work out something.
Click to expand...


One word: Mastering

Seems to be a reoccuring thing lately, but it's the honest truth. It's the ME's job to make that final mix sound as good as possible at just about any EQ setting you can find out in the world.

In the end, you shouldn't have to set your EQ to just "Rock" to make it sound good.

With that said, it isn't uncommon for the ME to make a mix just for radio play. Different EQ settings, compression settings, etc.
 
I do something that's somewhat related to what the OP is describing when I check a file I'm processing on my two home stereo systems, boombox and car. Each system has a "loudness" or bass boost button of some kind, and I know if I've got the lows or low mids balanced well if it doesn't sound too boomy when the loudness button is pushed, or too thin when it's not activated. Since those are the actual systems I listen to, and since they are pretty representative of the playback systems of most of the people who listen to my recordings, it seems to work for me.

However...

I wouldn't mess with any of that if it was something I was going to have mastered. I've only had one CD project mastered professionally. I sat in with the engineer to learn what I could in a few hours and it was a humbling experience. I wouldn't ever use the word "mastering" to describe the processing I do.

Tim
 
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