My mixes sound different on different stereos

[KaosTheory]

Is there a rule of thumb or is it just trial and error? The mix sounds great on my Behringers and my home stereo and in headphones but it sounds different in car stereo systems.

So far, I am just tweaking the mix and burning it to a CD and testing it again. This takes way too long though.

Is there an easier way to go about it?

 

[detuned6]

on my bands last cd, we had about 7 test cds before we were happy. There is a big differense between car and home stereo sound. trial & error till happy.

 

[Buck62]

Yeah.... and you didn't even try out the mix on a boom box!

Back to the old drawing board, eh?

 

[Roel]

All mixes sound different on different stereo's... My last demo had 9 different versions. The vocals still didn't fit in, but it was a demo, they are recording a cd now, so I just stopped when I got enough of mixing it.

In a studio you'll also see different monitors to check the mix on. And buttons that allow to play left only, right only, mono, phase reversed, on all the monitor systems...

Mix untill you're happy, listen on every system you can get your hands on and take notes, go mixing again on your own system, and start all over, untill you're happy or tired of mixing... Than do the same with the next demo...

 

[KaosTheory]

Hmmm looks like I'm not alone here. Thanks for the help.

Oh well, the mix is getting closer at least.

Would digital mastering help this situation? Maybe I could just get it close enough and then have it digitally mastered.

 

[gnarled]

Yeah, the idea of listening to your mix on different systems isn't to try and get it to sound the SAME on each setup, but instead to make sure it sounds GOOD on them all. The whole point of mixing (with good monitors in a good environment, etc) is to make a mix that translates well to all stereos/listening environments.

And, Yes, having your mix mastered by a good engineer will help it translate better to different systems.