ido1957
9K Gold Member
My truck stereo has no equalizer but it does have 4 eq "settings" Flat/Vocal/Rock/Talk.... How do you mix for that? My mixes are all out of wack - especially on the Rock setting. I always play it on Flat....
R
RAMI
Guest
That's probably a good idea, Ido.
All the other "settings" are just different pre-set EQ curves. You can't mix for that crap. You should just mix your stuff as good as it can sound in your mixing room.
leddy
Well-known member
You can't mix for one certain playback environment. You just make it as good as possible.
A lot of things can screw up a mix. Can you post a sample?
A lot of things can screw up a mix. Can you post a sample?
Chili
Site Moderator
A lot of CDR's and a lot of trips from the studio to the truck. That's my method!!! 
Sorry, i know that's not what you were looking for. I'll be quiet now.
Sorry, i know that's not what you were looking for. I'll be quiet now.
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
With great frustration!
I just haven't found a vehicle where anyting sounds really good and well balanced.
Yeah...I've tried that approach, but it's not always valid.
I mean...how do you know if "flat" in your vehicle is really *flat*.
Just 'cuz all the EQs are set neutral, it may still not be neutral.
In my car...I have horribly harsh highs...and TONS of bass (that's on the "flat" setting).
Just to get even some semblance of "flat"...I go -2 clicks on the bass and -3 clicks on the Treble...in the hopes of bringing up the mids somewhat...but it still sounds like crap.
That's not just on my mixes...but even when listening to stuff on the radio and other CDs.
LeeRosario
New member
How do you mix for that?
you don't...not in specific.
and honestly, you can't. It's impossible to get a mix sit perfectly in every car stereo out there. However, I'll tell you what you can do to get it to sit better on a greater average of systems: Compression and correlation (stay within 0 and +1 on the phase scope when possible).
Commercial mixing usually involves heavy compression, and I don't mean the stereo track. I mean the individual tracks themselves. There's a reason for this. First, I have to debunk the myth that "heavy compression is bad". Not true. Heavy compression done poorly *is* bad. Two major differences. In other words, you might not be compressing enough.
You factor that you only have so much dynamic range to work with and that alot of the commercial mixes you're used to listening to are more than likely heavily compressed. The problem is that you might not notice just how much because the engineers did their jobs right.
Good and proper heavy compression is a transparent process. Invisible. So how does that help you? Easy, try harder compression. Not only do you tame the dynamics in a track, but it actually starts making sense on a greater number of systems. Our ears work on averages, not peaks.
Therefore, we respond better (and so do the speaker systems) to leveled out tracks. I'm not saying to limit the shit out of everything blindly. Try this:
1) Pick a CD of your favorite band that is close to what you like in your car stereo. This is going to be your reference. Go back and forth on this often in the mixing session. Really try hard to listen to what's happening (EQ's, compression, general balances, tones, etc).
2) Try compressing harder. This means you're gonna have to spend more time tweaking each track. Try all different compressors and/or limiters on all types of settings. You might have to compensate with some EQ depending on the compressor.
You'll know you did this right if you can bypass the processor and hear little change between the two. For example, it's not uncommon to hear about a vocal track that sits well at a 10:1 ratio with a fast attack and slow release, reducing at 10db (or greater). In fact, this would be considered a limiter at that point.
It sounds stupid, but it does work. And I'm willing to believe you're gonna hear the difference in your car.
ps.
If you come to a point in the mix where you have a solo instrument that you can either pan left or right (example, a solo acoustic guitar riff), opt for the driver's side, since a moving vehicle is always gonna have at least a driver (I would hope), just a random thought
.Let me know if it worked.
D
dintymoore
Guest
My truck stereo has no equalizer but it does have 4 eq "settings" Flat/Vocal/Rock/Talk.... How do you mix for that? My mixes are all out of wack - especially on the Rock setting. I always play it on Flat....
My answer to your question is you don't and you adjust the stereo. That's why I use NS10M's and not some off the wall monitors from Musician's Fiend, so I'm using something the rest of the world does... an agreed standard.
Car stereos are a challenge - you're in a tiny metal box with tons of glass, you can't aim the speakers at your ears right and the bottom 50 to 80 dB is masked by noise. Pretty bad environment to say the least.
If you play a well recorded big name group CD on your truck's stereo how does it sound?
And how does that CD sound on the Rock setting?
It would stand to reason that if that CD sounds good, then your mixes are in need of something, but if it sounds bad then you're stereo is wacky.
philbagg
Just Killing Time
I would pretty much agree with what most people say here.
Mix so that everything is sounding right/good/great and sounds balanced
on your monitors. Mastering is what helps with this kind of thing.
When the stuff gets mastered it helps flatten out a songs EQ itself (like if it's
a little bass heavy, it can be reduced etc.) and that all of the audio spectrum
is properly represented "equally" (very rough term, can vary). Not to mention
levelling out a lot of the dynamics. And one of the reasons for this is so that
when you go and play it through a hi-fi, car stereo etc. and apply "user eq",
it will do what its supposed to.
If your stuff isn't mastered (pro, or even a little rough job yourself), you could
have a track thats already a bit bass heavy and treble heavy (less mids). THEN
you could put it into the stereo and select "rock eq" which is generally a slight
boost in lows and highs and a slight reduction in mids, it doubles the effect
and sounds awful. Just boomy and tinny.
I'm not sure if this is exactly your problem but it could help
Cheers,
Phil
Mix so that everything is sounding right/good/great and sounds balanced
on your monitors. Mastering is what helps with this kind of thing.
When the stuff gets mastered it helps flatten out a songs EQ itself (like if it's
a little bass heavy, it can be reduced etc.) and that all of the audio spectrum
is properly represented "equally" (very rough term, can vary). Not to mention
levelling out a lot of the dynamics. And one of the reasons for this is so that
when you go and play it through a hi-fi, car stereo etc. and apply "user eq",
it will do what its supposed to.
If your stuff isn't mastered (pro, or even a little rough job yourself), you could
have a track thats already a bit bass heavy and treble heavy (less mids). THEN
you could put it into the stereo and select "rock eq" which is generally a slight
boost in lows and highs and a slight reduction in mids, it doubles the effect
and sounds awful. Just boomy and tinny.
I'm not sure if this is exactly your problem but it could help
Cheers,
Phil
WhiteStrat
Don't stare at the eye.
A lot of CDR's and a lot of trips from the studio to the truck. That's my method!!!
Sorry, i know that's not what you were looking for. I'll be quiet now.
Same here. A car stereo may not be optimal, but I like mine, and I have found that when I get something to really rock in my little deathbox on wheels, it invariably translates well to everything else. So while my goal is to have it sound good everywhere--my car is the go to bench test.
BTW--I've got a 1/8" aux in for an iPod, and I'm seriously thinking of running an out from my studio to the garage. Then just plug the studio into the car. I'd have to set the song to loop--don't think my bluetooth keyboard goes that far--though it'd be worth checking out.
So I just loop the song, walk to the garage, and take some notes. I'd save CDs, save time, and probably learn a lot more about what I should be getting out of my monitors.
(Or maybe I need new monitors??>)
leddy
Well-known member
As an option to harder compression, you could look at more surgical EQ. Big spikes of narrow bands, usually in the low end can really screw up the sound in the car. Yes, you can compress them down - but you can also notch them out. I'm not ashamed to say that I use spectral displays for this type of thing. It helps me avoid compression.
These big spikes can come from phase problems and recording in bad rooms, both of which are common in non-professional studios. Trying to fix that by squashing it with compression may work - but you gotta really have some good ears, good compression and the experience to make sure you're not making things worse.
nickg
Lets.hit.record!
A lot of CDR's and a lot of trips from the studio to the truck. That's my method!!!
Sorry, i know that's not what you were looking for. I'll be quiet now.
+1 Gotta buy em by the hundreds!
DrewPeterson7
Sage of the Order
+1 Gotta buy em by the hundreds!
An iPod, assuming you have a big enough drive for .wavs, is pretty good for this too.
LeeRosario
New member
Also very true.
I guess always kind of opt for the chris lord alge "extreme dynamic processing" style of things. I suppose it's not the easiest method if someone's not used to doing it.
Hopefully good ears make the final judgments.
X
XLR
______
Same here. Very handy.
And speaking of car interiors, I've been thinking of running mic cables down to my garage and recording inside my SUV. Great iso booth. No parallel surfaces, lots of diffusion, built-in gobos front and back. Maybe even better if I pull out the seats and stuff them down in the corners for some bass trapping...
nickg
Lets.hit.record!
iPods work good too, just make sure you have the EQ setting on "flat" so you get an accurate representation of your work. I was told that even with a flat EQ on the iPod, they still color the sound a bit. That was my only concern. I definitely put completed mixes on my iphone & ipod.