Help with EQ technique

[Aspirations]

I really hope this isn't a double-post. I posted once but it never appeared so I'm going to go ahead and post it again.

Sorry this post is so long but I will greatly appreciate any help I can get with this question. I have read everything I can get my hands on…all the books and articles on mixing and EQ I can find…and still can’t overcome this problem.

I have been working quite awhile at trying to learn how to create mixes that sound more professional and sound more consistent across the different systems that I play them on. I have the classic problem of sounds (relatively) okay on the system I use to mix it but sounds like garbage on almost everything else I play it. I believe that it is mostly an EQ issue. I know compression can give a recording more punch and make it louder but I don’t think that is the problem I’m hearing. Let me start by explaining my process.

When I’m creating my recording, I usually have some idea of the sound I want for each part (we’re talking primarily electric guitar). Its usually a tone/sound that I’m referencing from a commercial CD. I try to get my sound as close as I can with the gear I have by monitoring my signal and the commercial source through the same speakers. Often I can’t get very close but I come up with something I hope is decent. Once I get as close as I can I record it. Then I use a parametric EQ plug-in (Cakewalk) to try and fine-tune it more closely, again listening to my recording and the commercial “reference” through the same amp/speakers. This is where my real problem starts. I can never find the settings to get me there. I have all the guides about where to boost and cut to make it more/less nasal, more/less airy, more/less warm…etc. But I always just end up sweeping up and down with enough gain or cut that I can hear a real difference and getting nowhere. This is the first thing I would like help with. It just seems like there are too many combinations and permutations of frequencies and levels to boost and cut for me to ever stumble onto the same or even similar sound as the reference. Is there any tool I can use to help me analyze and compare the spectrum of the two recordings; is that the right approach to take? Or am I making it too hard. Somehow I can’t see Daniel Lanois (my own personal Tone-God) doing such a thing. Should I being using a parametric or a graphic EQ? Any suggestions?

Now, the next part of my question. In the few cases where I get somewhat close to where I think I may have matched my commercial reference, it still sounds like garbage when played on a different system…yet my commercial reference will sound reasonably, or relatively, good on that system. Its especially bad when played on a system that is inferior to the one I used for mixing. Which brings me to the next question. I’m using a budget-priced consumer receiver and inexpensive Infinity bookshelf speakers for mixing. My theory was that if I made my track sound like the commercial track through this system it would also sound like it when played on another system. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. Obviously there is something I am missing about what you get out of studio monitors…apparently my track sounds even less like the commercial track than the limitations of my speakers will allow me to hear. So the idea that just knowing your speakers is sufficient is flawed. Not that I ever really doubted that, just trying to understand why it is. Do cheaper speakers just lump the frequencies together more and then it becomes apparent that you really weren’t hearing what was actually there when you move it to another system that lumps it together wrong in a different way? Does this make any sense? I’m more or less ready to make the investment in monitors but I like to try to get as good as I can with what I’ve got so when I get something new I can really take off…plus understanding this better should really help me decide what to buy. So any help will be greatly appreciated. Again, my questions are:

1) recommended technique for eq’ing a signal to match a reference recording
2) more insight into resolving the “amateur sound / mix doesn’t translate” problem and how quality studio monitors help you get there versus matching a reference on regular hi-fi speakers

 

[freeztar]

That's a lot of questions!!

First of all, if your tone does not sound like your reference tone when it is recorded, then EQ will not get you there. EQ should be applied subtly, if you find yourself tweaking the EQ a whole bunch then it's probably safe to assume that you got a bad recording in the first place. I mainly use EQ to separate the frequencies of different instruments to make the mix sound more spacious (especially with a lot of tracks). BTW, what are you recording into/with?

Also, monitors are great. I'm getting some as soon as I get the money. I mix on PC speakers right now, so I feel your pain. I just try to burn a copy of my mix and play it through different systems and note what I would change to make it sound better. I just trry for an average between systems. Probably not ideal, but in our situations, ideal is far away.

Good luck!

 

[kingsooper]

i have the same problem, all sounds well in the headphones, but if you play it on the computer speakers.....crap. I have read all of Manning's articles and info, and he references that you should listen to the recording on different systems, but I am amazed at how different of a sound (less quality) comes out of the computer speakers....and would love some advice on that as well.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

There are a number of "traps" you've gotten yourself caught into..

1) EQ..... sounds to me like you're relying on it WAY too much. The sounds comes from the source, and in the case of guitar your fingers and the source! Get the sound YOU want (rather than trying to compare your sound to someone else's that was not captured using the same gear, signal chain, or artist!)

2) Monitoring.... there's no way around this one, how can you adjust tonal balance or mix levels if you can't properly hear the tracks??? You need a reasonably balanced listening enovironment and a pair of speakers that provide you a good auditory window to hear properly with... hyped cheap home speakers or computer speakers are NOT up to the task.

3) Comparison to other CDs.... this is a good idea but you have to realize the limitations.

First of all, make sure you compare apples to apples. You will gain little comparing songs done with acoustic drums to drum machines, because it will be an exercise in frustration.

Second, don't forget that much like Hollywood movies, one of the goals for a recording is to make it sound bigger and better than in real-life. So that big-sounding guitar part was a lot smaller sounding in its raw form than the post-production that occurred made it sound like in the end. So you can only compare raw tracks to processed so far.... the trick is learning where the raw sound started and the post-production ended!

There are several articles at my site that may be of further help to you - here....