monitors/speakers/headphones

  • Thread starter Thread starter hux
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hux

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somebody splain somethin to me, and I'm sincerely not tryin to be a smartass...I hear over and over about how even the high dollar studios will keep a set of low-fi speakers layin around to check the mix...I also hear about em goin back to fix things they heard that didn't sound right on the lo-fi's...my question is this - why mix on the reference monitors at all? Why not just mix on the lo-fi's, or a reasonable set of home speakers, etc...to start with?

I mean I can understand if you want to hear exactly what the music sounds like as recorded....but most of us don't drag our intended audiences back into the control room to hear the stuff...there must be something I'm missing here...

*edit*
I shouldn't have mentioned headphones in the topic, I actually do understand the reason for using openh air speakers when mixing as opposed to headphones...sorry.
*/edit*
 
Hux,
Because not all lo-fi's are the same...

(Think graphic EQ here..._

Think of your control room good mix as a flat line (hopefully). Each sound system out there probably has peaks and valleys somewhere. The topography of each sound system is very different (some peak where others valley, etc.). If you were to mix on a system with boosted lows and highs, and scooped mids, you'd probably compensate by cutting the lows and highs, producing something with way too much mids. If someone else's system's response curve is exactly the same as yours, then it will sound good, but imagine what would happen if just the opposite were true. Say someone has a setup with boosted mids. Your already mid-heavy mix would be out of control.

If you make it sound good on the flat line, then it will translate across more systems than if you made it sound good on something that wasn't flat.

Queue
 
also, lots of music is listened to on a small cheap radio system in the car or through the tv's small mono speaker, so big studio's will check the final mix to ensure it can be heard with clarity on a small mono speaker for this reason.
 
This kind of relates to the issues that came up in the "Awash in reverb" posts, that when your mix gets to a different sounding system, it still needs to sound 'ok'. You get to hear it with the mids or bass or what ever, sticking way out of whack. A 'neutral' or at least 'known' monitoring invironment is just an attempt at having a good reference point.
 
also, lots of music is listened to on a small cheap radio system in the car or through the tv's small mono speaker, so big studio's will check the final mix to ensure it can be heard with clarity on a small mono speaker for this reason.
Click to expand...

Which sometimes means you have to downgrade the mix. What sounds great on your fancy studiomonitors might not on the average.

Why not just mix on the lo-fi's, or a reasonable set of home speakers,
Click to expand...
That like testing the topspeed of a Ferrari on a real curved mountainroad. You'll always have to be able to check the extremes, no matter what the real life situation will be.
 
MONITORS

I'VE GOT A SET OF EVENT PS8'S AND MY BEST TOOL FOR MY MIX IS MY 1989 FISHER BOOMBOX (IT WOULD'NT EVEN GO FOR 5 BUCKS AT A YARD SALE). WHEN IT SOUNDS PERFECT ON MY FISHER,IT SOUNDS PERFECT EVERYWHERE ELSE.
 
Ken1, one of the disadvantages of mixing on loud volumes is that your hearing becomes damaged.

THEN YOU ARE GOING TO SHOUT.
 
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