Ugh... I think it's getting worse.

[ActionDeath]

I have posted a few of my video covers in here for some mixing critique and I've received some excellent advice on where my mixes need work, where my equipment is lacking, etc. I'm following advice, changing things around here and there, but I still can't seem to get a good mix that is consistant through multiple playback environments.

For instance, I used to use a set of Cambridge Soundworks computer speakers with a sub. as my monitors. Someone told me that was a huge no-no, so I picked up a set of real studio monitors and ditched the sub. This song was mixed using the new monitors at a low-ish volume and I used a combination of the monitor output and my headphones to eq. I was going back and forth between the two until I found kind of a 'sweet spot' where it sounded consistant through both. Now, the mix sounds awesome through my headphones and the monitors, but when it's played back through the car stereo it sounds like crap. The high end from the cymbals even sounds like it's clipping at times, but I can't hear that through my headphones or my monitors.

Can anyone offer any suggestions? In this example, it just happens to be the high end, but I've done others where the low end was the problem. Sounded great through the monitors, but played through other systems it was WAY over the top.

 

[Steenamaroo]

You'll get that on new monitors.
It's so hard to adjust, but there's a big difference between something sounding great on monitors and sounding as it should on them.

Listen to loads and loads of music that you know very well so you know how your monitors should sound.

OK, by the book they're all meant to be super flat, but in the real world they're not.
I had Alesis that were really muddy and bass heavy, and now I have mackies that are bass light.
Just takes some getting used to.

It's a bit like how the first time you sing through a chinese condenser you think it's amazing. Then later you realise it was just really really bright to the point of being harsh.

 

[ActionDeath]

This might be a REALLY stupid question, but...

Is there some kind of meter or analyzer that I could use to compare my audio to some other audio that I know sounds good? Or even just something to provide a visual reference so I can see what the boundries are?

 

[Steenamaroo]

You can get spectral analyser plugins but honestly, I'd just use your ears.

'Learn' the monitors as best you can.

 

[TheChikenMaster]

you should definatly have a refernce mix like I guess the song itself, in this situation... And you should get to know your monitors. KNow how they sound all around when you listen to stuff on them. That way when you mix you will get something decent

 

[joeym]

First of all, ditch this mix. Then choose a song from your favourite band, the one that comes closest to this style. Put the song on a separate stereo track in your project.
Put all the faders in your mixer at zero, all EQ dials at 12 o'clock. Remove any compressors and stuff you might have put on the separate tracks. Start off with drums, then the voice, then push the guitars up until you get a nice balance and when that's done, fill the low end by slowly pushing up the bass. Keep switching back and forth between the professional recording and yours and try to get as close to the professional one as you can. You won't get the same quality because the professional one was probably recorded in a multi-million dollar studio, but you can get close. Don't let your master faders-meter go higher than -10db (you'll need the headroom when "mastering", but that's another journey into space altogether....), EQ and compress ONLY if you need to. And yes there is a meter: YOUR EARS!
It takes time and there is NO way around that, no magic software, no miracle cure. Just keep mixing and one day you'll start liking the result.
Wish ya luck.