Guitar mix sounds good on monitors but on phone speakers it sounds thin.

[Simplex09]

Hey guys,

I have a mix that I have been working on and I'm quite happy with it on my monitors or headphones but when when I export the file it sounds really thin on phone speakers. So I expected anything to sound different on phone speakers due to the size of the speaker but its low volume and sounds weak/thin compared to anything else I listen to. So I did some research on the subject just to check to see if I can find a reason why from my understanding online cell phones have a smaller frequency range they can playback then monitors or headphones which makes sense. Which then people suggested that you can add Saturation to frequency range above >150ish which still i'm not really happy with how it sounds and have it on its own buss then you can control the level and mix it together with the main one. Also it sounds quite quiet on phone speakers like you have to crank it to hear it properly. I heard you can add harmonics to add I guess you could say 'illusion bass' to your audio.

But what is the workarounds that people use instead of?

Anyways this is my setup;

Guitar Gear;
Mesa Boogie 50 cal head
Marshall 1960a cab
Fender JAG/Fender Strat
Boss DS1

Mics;
1960s Reslo Ribbon Mic (Center) > To BUSS
SM57 (40% L) > To BUSS
AT2035 (40% R) > To BUSS

DAW Side;
LA-3A Audio Leveler (Each guitar track the UV meter reads -3 and on the master its -1 uv)
Reaper DAW
My meter2 UV meter and it reads about 0 on the master and on the main buss with the reference level about -14

Main Buss
reaverbate reverb for live stage sound echo on the buss
ReaEQ for cutting high frequencies above >10k and low under>90


I tried to list almost everything to get to that point from the guitar to the amp to the final stage in the master track just so you have as much info as possible but if I forgot anything or you have any suggestions just let me know
Here is what SPAN Plus reads also

 

[rob aylestone]

Pretty much the usual choice is that if you want a sound for any instrument to be the same on speakers and small devices, you have to mix for the feebler one. That means some eq and treatment choices must be constrained within areas they both can manage. Michael jackson’s Billy Jean was a good example when it came out. On laptops and small radios at the time, the bass part almost vanished. Not totally because there is a fair amount of harmonics on the bass that dont completely vanish.

Your guitar sound is quite solid at the bottom, and if you lose that it suffers. I doubt anything you can do will help that much because of the way the guitar part uses those bottom strings? Plus it is doubled with almost identical more distorted guitar in the same area. Have you tried the original on the same devices?

 

[Simplex09]

Pretty much the usual choice is that if you want a sound for any instrument to be the same on speakers and small devices, you have to mix for the feebler one. That means some eq and treatment choices must be constrained within areas they both can manage. Michael jackson’s Billy Jean was a good example when it came out. On laptops and small radios at the time, the bass part almost vanished. Not totally because there is a fair amount of harmonics on the bass that dont completely vanish.

Your guitar sound is quite solid at the bottom, and if you lose that it suffers. I doubt anything you can do will help that much because of the way the guitar part uses those bottom strings? Plus it is doubled with almost identical more distorted guitar in the same area. Have you tried the original on the same devices?

Sorry on my phone so I can't go into to much detail but anyways. Thats really interesting about the michael jackson song but thats from the 80s so when modern digital devices came out it sounded thin? Like laptops with small speakers? So did it have to be remixed? Or some radios at the time it sounded thin I guess they couldn't handle the low frequencies? Thats really interesting as that's a really full song on both small speakers and on big speakers.

So would you suggest to pick your favorite mic and try that on your phone? Or try the three raw audio to the master/phone. I have heard some others play the same riff and it didn't suffer but maybe they did something tricky.

Thanks for your help

 

[TalismanRich]

I put ZERO value on how it sounds on a phone, and almost as little on the sound through puny laptop speakers. Phone speakers have no low frequency. While it's amazing that they get as much sound as they do, it's is not quality sound.

Do a frequency sweep on a phone and see what the range really is. Then do the same on your monitors. The phone will never sound like the monitor, but do you want the monitor to sound like your phone?

If your guitar sounds thin and fizzy on the phone, you have to get rid of the upper frequencies. You'll never add bass to a phone.

 

[rob aylestone]

Rich summed it up - if your target audience is phone listening, then nothing at the bottom is worth chasing. Plus decent HF response might be nasty sounding on a phone. The Michael Jackson example has octaves at the bottom (or maybe mega 1st harmonic) - but you still think you are hearing the bass, that is simply missing!

 

[Slouching Raymond]

It might pay to listen to Spinal Tap's 'Big Bottom' on a phone.