why do my mixes sound great here and not there?

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floppsybunny

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why is it that my mixes always sound great coming from either my headphones, my monitors or when i mixdown, my computer speakers - but when i listen to it on a regular stereo it sounds so muddled and is missing so many top and bottom ends?

i am recording and mixing on a Korg D1600mkii console and am listening through a pair of AKG k2s phones and m-audio bx5 monitors - its frustrating that my mixdowns always sound great through computer speakers and monitors but turn out completely different on my stereo - is this a mastering issue? or what am i doing wrong?
 
Sounds like you've got an build up of low-mid frequencies. Do you have any acoustic treatment in your 'control room'? If not this could be an issue worth checking out.

I had a similar problem until recently. I've been reading up on eqing and that seems to be the key. Each track needs its own space. If you take out the frequencies that aren't neccisary to the sound of the mix it frees up space for another instrument.

Do a search on this site, there is shedloads of advice!
 
Ok, if its basically an EQ problem then what can i do to transform my listening environment (when i'm mixing and recording with monitors) so it's closer to what i will get from my stereo - i.e. is there a way to check how i'm doing without constantly burning mixes and going back and forth from my stereo to my multitracker to meddle with the eq's?
 
Ahh young Jedi, you are learning the ways of the force. To acheive ultimate bliss in the mix, one must achieve oneness with the mixing enviroment. :cool:
 
floppsybunny said:
i.e. is there a way to check how i'm doing without constantly burning mixes and going back and forth from my stereo to my multitracker to meddle with the eq's?
Click to expand...

You have to get your monitors and room as close to flat as you can.
Lots of reading this young padawan has to do. :D
 
The BX5s will never reveal what you need to hear which is the low end of the mix. You need a subwoofer or large monitors to provide an image which offers you better control and translation to other speakers.
 
Acoustic treatment, that's the BIG problem, until we all have a 100 000 $
monitor system with an * mastering * room ( build for that ),just do the best you can.Listen to your songs in different system, the little one in your bedroom, your car radio, your big stereo system,your friend's radio,and hear
the difference and try to understand what's happening to the sound
when your in YOUR room mixing it.Also,listen to an original cd that you bought
at HMV,hear how it sounds and notice certain frequencies that are lost.
Finally,familiarize yourself with your environnement speakers,knowing
it sound like this in here but like that in there.Like i said listen to it in different system and maka another mix and another mix and another mix till it sounds
good in your friend's radio, in your car radio, in your little radio in your bedroom, and when its sounds good trough all these one, go back to your mixing room and hear what it sounds like ( listen carefully because that's a big guideline about your speaker monitor and room * coloration sounds *),maybe this time is in your mixing room it's gonna sounds poor or not too much bass,but by this time you know how the * acoustic * of your room.
Read articles how to placed your speaker depending of your room,
also read articles about acoustic treatment ( most of the time people
have a hard time because of frequencies under 200 hz ( most of the time the problem is the low frequences).
 
I had the same problem, until i tried an unorthodox approach.
I would pop my favorite produced cd into the cd player in the computer (right now Fear Factory Digimortal) so it plays out of the same speakers as the mixdown. I would compare the drum sound (EQ wise, cause sometimes i tend to get a little bottom heavy on the kick), and cymbal highs. As far as the mixing though, thats up to me. It especially helps because then less EQ needs to be done during mastering, and more time can be spent on compression. Comparissons are a good ear trainer to keep you on track, until you know when enough is enough. Hope it helps :)

Of course, Fear Factory is all drum triggers and Line 6 amp models, but you get the idea.
 
Getting your mixes to translate well takes practice. Listening to reference CD's you like through your setup that are similar to the sound you're trying to achieve can be a big help. In the end, a good monitoring environment that you can trust the sound in is a big plus.
 
sepsis311 said:
Of course, Fear Factory is all drum triggers and Line 6 amp models, but you get the idea.
Click to expand...

Do you know if they record direct or if the POD rack goes through an amp and cab?
 
thanks guys, the laconic jedi wisdom isn't helping me, but some good advice too - i think i need to spend some more time getting used to my bx5's and my akg phones, using them in tandem and listening to well-produced records with them as well, getting a setup where i have a better idea of my target mixdown sound. good advice, thanks.
 
I still have that problem too, but am learning to make adjustments to my mix. I always seemed to have muddy mixes too, until I realized the speakers I was using only went down to 70hz. So, I think I was over compensating in my mixes because I didn't hear it, although it was already there.

I'm also a bass player (duh), so I think I'm so used to hearing bass anyway that sometimes I don't realize how loud it is compared to other instruments.

I find that playing a professional CD in your monitors prior to mixing kinda tunes your ears. Gets them ready. So, I do that also like others mentioned.
 
I use ns10's quite often in conjunction with meyer lab's monitors and the ns10's only go down to 70hz and my mixes sound fine. I use the meyers more for clients than myself. You're stepping in the right direction. Testing mixes on multiple systems helps. Especially if you don't know your speakers/room well which is only acheived after years of experience. My monitoring environment isn't super-flat although it has been treated but I know where the problem areas are. Never rely on headphone mixes although headphones are great for checking aspects of the mix. Especially for low level noises, edits, reverb tails, etc. and of course for checking how well your mixes translate to headphones. Reference cd's are excellent and I use them often. I usually set one in a cd player and loop it (sometimes two) so i can a/b it instantly at any point while I'm mixing. Get yourself a decent pair of near feild monitors, computer speakers will not hack it. Better yet pay an engineer to mix it for you.
 
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