[Vince]

You know what I can't stand?

How different monitors, sound systems, stereos, etc, all sound so absolutely fucking different. I do a mix that sounds absolutely amazing on one kind of system, then I bring it over to another, and it sounds awful. No bass guitar, the snare is boomy, and the vocals are too loud.

FUCK!

[Rick]

It's gonna be okay.

[Mykie]

That is how you are supose to mix, you test it out in different locations to see how it sounds to get a mix that will sound good in all of them.

Some studios have all that in their mixing room, I've seen a freakin Car system on a wall in one studio, smart...

[Nic]

Yeah, its a bitch, but that's the way of things. Just take a deep breath and blame Billy Corgan. Sometimes that makes me feel better. Also remember that its part of the mastering engineers job to even out the overall sound so it is acceptable on multiple systems. They can't polish a turd, but if you have a good mix to begin with, they can make it rock on a lot of systems.

[bostjan]

Do what I do. Mix through mid-priced closed-ear headphones like Maxells, then replay the mix through the average stereo system. If you play this again (with the mix you get with my method), through an expensive system, you often notice it sounds very boomy or too present.

My logic is, that anyone who pays extra for a system to get way too much bass or presence knows they want more bass or presence than the average listener, so it's on them. If you listen through the cheapest speakers, just about everything sounds middy, so you can't worry about it. Just go for what the average joe will hear with the average sound system. Although there is a difference with a car audio system, I try not to worry about that, either.

[Vince]

Originally Posted by bostjan

Do what I do. Mix through mid-priced closed-ear headphones like Maxells, then replay the mix through the average stereo system. If you play this again (with the mix you get with my method), through an expensive system, you often notice it sounds very boomy or too present.

My logic is, that anyone who pays extra for a system to get way too much bass or presence knows they want more bass or presence than the average listener, so it's on them. If you listen through the cheapest speakers, just about everything sounds middy, so you can't worry about it. Just go for what the average joe will hear with the average sound system. Although there is a difference with a car audio system, I try not to worry about that, either.

Actually, what I'm finding out is that my main monitor system shows me too much bass and not enough in the super high 8 kHz + range. As a result, my mixes are coming out with not enough bass and the cymbals are too damn loud.

I've been going back & forth with my mastering guy the past week or so, and all the mix advice he's given me pretty much backs up what I'm thinking about my monitor system. I have a kickass Onkyo home theater system in my living room, and it's giving me a much more transparent sound.

So I'm mixing, burning to CD, running to the living room, listening, jotting down notes, then going back & re-mixing, burning to CD, etc. It's a little more work & it's wasteful of CDRs, but at this point, hey it's working

[bostjan]

Don't you have a stereo with RCA inputs or something? I've never used studio monitors for just this reason. (And by never, I mean since the first recording we did with them back in '97 sounded like ass)

[Vince]

Originally Posted by bostjan

Don't you have a stereo with RCA inputs or something? I've never used studio monitors for just this reason. (And by never, I mean since the first recording we did with them back in '97 sounded like ass)

you sound just like me

I did a recording in '98, where they had two of those yamaha monitors & a sub. The mix sucked. I did more recordings in 1999 and 2000 at the Conservatory in Tempe, great monitors, still a crappy mix. So I decided to get a basic average $250 Philips stereo at Walmart and I've been mixing on it ever since. For my solo album, it was great, & I compared it to my car stereo for reference. Now, I have a really horrible sounding car stereo, so I don't bother, but I have the nice Onkyo in my living room, and it's really a different sound from the Philips stereo I usually mix on.

I also have some $100 headphones I mix on as well, but they tend to rattle a bit on the 7-string music.

[Drew]

Originally Posted by desertdweller

Actually, what I'm finding out is that my main monitor system shows me too much bass and not enough in the super high 8 kHz + range. As a result, my mixes are coming out with not enough bass and the cymbals are too damn loud.

I've been going back & forth with my mastering guy the past week or so, and all the mix advice he's given me pretty much backs up what I'm thinking about my monitor system. I have a kickass Onkyo home theater system in my living room, and it's giving me a much more transparent sound.

So I'm mixing, burning to CD, running to the living room, listening, jotting down notes, then going back & re-mixing, burning to CD, etc. It's a little more work & it's wasteful of CDRs, but at this point, hey it's working

Vince, I've always been a proponent of having a shitty set of headphones around to find out what a mix will sound like to the average consumer, but there's no substitute to really being able to hear every aspect of your mix.

Mixing and then playing back on 15 million systems owns too, but I've found it's a lot easier to dial in EQ tweaks on even my $300 Behringer Truths than it was on the Klipsh Pro Media consumer-grade speakers I was using before. It's worth the upgrade, IMO.

[Christopher]

Unfortunately, it gets way more complex that just that. It's probably only 15-25% your monitors fault. It's probably more the room than anything. Learning the ins and outs of your monitoring system inside your room and it's characteristics is where the real battle is won.