Getting the Bass right

[Pinachi]

Yeah room acoustics will be the first thing.But here's something interesting.

I have 2 sets of speakers,and my walls are not treated(at all).My first monitors have bass ports in the back,and the second ones are in the front.So when i hooked them up and did a comparison(same pleace) i noticed the ports in the back made me puke in the way they sounded (bass)compare to the ones that had ports on the front.So shortly i will never go with the back ports again.And if they sound so much better without acoustical treatment,surely they will sound right with the treatment(front ports that is)

MY worthless 2 cents.

 

[leddy]

I agree with Pinachi, I don't like rear-ported monitors (though I still have a pair).

I had the same problem with bass. What really helped me was getting a crappy little $100 boombox with like 5" woofers and a line-in so I can hook it up to my sound card. It has one of those fixed-preset EQ's where you can pick from one of five settings. While mixing, I go back and forth between my monitors and the boombox. I scroll through the different EQ settings and check to see if the bass gets too boomy or too thin on different settings. It also helps me get the high end silkier. If I can dial out the nasty on that boombox while it still sounds good in my monitors, the mix translates well anywhere.

My room is reasonably treated with some modest foam wedges and foam bass traps, as well as a few strategically-placed bookshelves etc..

It ain't Abbey Road but it seems to be working for me.

 

[VesuviusJay]

Good eye leddy. I have seen mixing and mastering rooms with many different configurations including home and car speakers on ABCDEF switches to go back and forth and listen to translation!

 

[daveparker]

Thanks for all the interesing replys. I've done a couple of things that seems to have
helped a bit.

First, I have now put my monitors on some Auralex Mopads. As well as isolating the
speakers from the surface thay are on, then also tilt the speakers down a bit. I guess
in theory this means that the reflection from the wall behind me will be going down rather
than back into my ears. In any case, things seem to sound better now.

Second, I am now EQ'ing before compression rather than after. This tightens things up
better in my opinion.

My rather high HPF settings were in response to some probably higher than they should
have been boosts on the amp. I guess this was an example of mixing to what sounds
good to my ears, rather than looking at the number on the screen.

I may look at some bass traps in future, but I dont what to change the room significantly
at this point in time.

David