Does anyone else do this?

  • Thread starter Thread starter antispatula
  • Start date Start date
antispatula

antispatula

Active member
Does anyone else here trust how their song sounds in their car stereo more then played anywhere else? Whenever I change something in my mix, I render it to WAV, burn it into a cd and go out to my car and listen to it. I don't contemplate wether or not it sounds good until I hear it in my car :D
 
I check it in my car once I'm happy with the sound I get from my speakers...

Then I check it in my cheap CD player/stereo from Wal-Mart, as well as my headphones.
 
I had a system in my car worth over $2k...I spent six years getting it just right. I always knew exactly what something should sound like in there...

Then I sold the car and started a new system but ran out of time and money. So now I have no idea what anything I mix sounds like. :(
 
Listening to mixes in the car is good for reference, but I wouldn't use it as a guide to get mixes to translate well everywhere.

I listen in this order:

Main Monitors
Mixing Headphones
Smaller Monitors
Klipsch 2.1
Tracking Headphones

Play CD on:

Home Stereo
Car Stereo (factory)
Boom Box
PA
Anything else I come across
 
Yeah, I'm guilty. I have an OK sound system in my car, and I have it set pretty flat compared to what many people do (hype highs/lows). I can usually get a pretty good idea if I am on the right track as far as balance of highs and lows, and sometimes it will bring to light if something sounds funky that I didn't catch on the monitors. If the track is a little too dull, it will be obvious; and if the bass is a little lacking/overbearing, it will be obvious.
 
The truck is the last stop. I'm not happy with the Taco's stock system, but I spend a lot of time in there. I mix A/B ing between my BX8's and my home theater (I keep them both plugged into my interface, and select back and forth), and when I think I'm done, I hit the truck. If it doesn't sound disgusting, I'm done.
 
sometimes i even listen and mix through ipod headphones...cuz u figure alot of people are most likely going to listen to my music on their ipods...so i make sure it sounds good on that...but as far as my car...idk...my system makes the highs stand out too much....thats why i rarely do that
 
{turn off the LOUD button...}
Oddly enough, the LOUD button is intended for when you are listening at a low volume.
 
doesn't the loud button on stereos function as a compressor?
 
Why don't they just roll in more lows as the volume knob is turned down? That's so easy to impliment, and so much smarter than a stupid, and stupidly named "Loud" button.
 
Or spend the right amount of time killing rattles and deadening panels and floors in your car so you lower noise and don't have to crank it as much.

I never needed any kind of "loud" button after I tweaked my car stereo. I would tune it so it sounds right at medium volumes (loud talking) and that's where I did most of my listening so as not to ruin my ears. If I cranked it up, the highs and lows would be overbearing so I didn't crank it :D

Properly tuned car system = better sound at lower volumes
 
A car stereo makes a poor reference system technically, but familiarity is key here. I have a long commute, and I spend a LOT of time listening to my car stereo. As a matter of fact, so do a whole lot of people, the same people you want listening to your recordings. I think it's a valid consideration to make "car stereo friendly" a component of a mix evaluation. The high noise floor and masking that happens with road noise can reveal elements of a mix that don't hold up well to that listening environment.
I'm not saying that I optimize mixes for car listening.....that would be silly. But I do most definitely check all my mixes in my cars, and I make notes in a little digital voice recorder as I'm driving. It's where I do the majority of my music listening for pleasure, why wouldn't I check the pedal tapping, steering wheel drumming inducement of my mixes there? It's where I conduct the "spicoli van" test on my mixes. :cool:
 
I think headphones and car stereos produce the same 'flattering' response, I've had real bad mixes sound good on 'phones and in cars (years ago when I mixed my first songs on 'phones, sounded great and great in the car... handed it to the other guys in the band who played it on their home CD systems and...total disaster, embarrassing lesson learnt)

But saying that, no matter how happy I am with the sound coming out of my expensive monitors, there's still important and obvious tweaks to be made from listening in the car. When it sounds right on both, I'm generally happy with it anywhere.
 
The great thing about the car is that the sound is never influenced by the structure!
 
has anybody ever played their own stuff in the car with the window down purposely for people to hear it (probably more a cave question!)
 
Another great location to check a mix is in a busy restaurant. It really tells you what will get heard and what will get lost. I read somewhere about a mix engineer that has a "vacuum cleaner" test. He turns on a vacuum in the control room while the mix is playing. That also seems like a good idea.
 
I used to do this lots before I got a proper monitoring room set up. It was the only way to make sure my mixed were working ok...but it cost $$ for those CD's..

But once I got a dedicated monitoring room, treated it with bass traps, my mixes started translating to other systems, to which point I no longer had to burn and test them, I would just A/B the mix on my KRKs and NS10s in the room..if it sounded good there..it sounded good elsewhere.

-LIMiT
 
...

the car is my best tool. always has been. why? mainly because that's one of the few places I crank music, and really know how things should sound since I listen to so many CDs there. many of my CDs have never been played on my computer or home stereo. but all of them have been in my car.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top