My ears are being tricked

[Signal 9 Studio]

to Blue Bear

What line in should I be using? I have the Behringer MX-9000. I know its low end but so is my wallet. I have a lot of ins to choose from. I am aware that I need a descent sound card but I would like to get some guitar stuff first. I knew the lines in to the mic pres were wrong....Also I am listening to the wave files in vegas. Then to two tracks and the using Sound Forge. The pres Are my big problem in this case. Any other info needed?

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

I would be putting the soundcard output into something like the 2-track input - which is a line-input with a very minimal routing path (no EQ, gain stages, etc...)

 

[kylen]

It sounds great in my studio...take it to the jam box or car. It sounds like shit. Hollow...distant.

Import and Play a favorite commercial recording (aka reference track) using the same DAW mix application (Vegas ?) - how does it sound ?...then play it thru your mastering application (Sound Forge ?) how does it sound ?...

If it sounds wrong in either the mixing or 'mastering' application then your mixes won't sound right either of course. In other words if your monitoring system 'hypes' the mids (Alesis active M1s MK2 can do this) then when you mix & master on the same system you will end up with scooped mids - one recipe for hollow & distant sounding stuff.

Also remember when setting up your listening room and adjusting balance...your ears can get adjusted to some pretty off-balance stuff within 10-15 minutes so you have to take lots of breaks till you find the 'sweet' spot of your system where everything is a balanced as it's going to get.

Once the system and room is balanced then it's time to mix !

 

[BennisHahn]

Not to be a smart ass but isn't this what being an engineer all about? I mean, the whole point of mixing is to get something to sound "good" everywhere.