Getting a good mix for ALL playback Equipment?

[G-Pop]

THIS IS THE CHALLENGE!!!



...and this is just SMALL equipment!
I read. I have three books on Mix/Mastering, and TWO things are common,
almost to the point of being "Dogma" (and they're both frequently mentioned here,
also, considering there are some great talents on this board with Audio Engineering)

1) The "reference Song" Which you try and attain the "mix" with. Theoretically "Banging"
2) Play your tracks on as many other playback devices as possible. Also a "Banging"

#1 I understand this about; I'll rarely if ever find a song that "sounds like"
one of mine. It's the MIX I'm after there. OK!

#2 is giving me night-sweats! I'm in Audio Engineering HELL!

I don't have ANY problem getting a great mix on my studio playback equipment, of course.
It's seriously high quality and "tuned" per one of the most successful authors (great)
I've read, and his suggestions. I spent $$$ and took time on this!

MY problem is that image above and EQ presets. Somewhere in my mind I know that
what someone on this board told me about FINAL OUTPUT VOLUME is true;
You can't control everything any user owns. A "Mix Tape" is a nightmare...
Not to mention that PLAYERS (apps) are yet another nightmare on S.E.!
It's an "onion." Many MANY layers, and tears between each one!

But I wonder if there isn't some way of assuring that at least Bass, Middle and Treble
are CLOSE, so as to assure I won't sound HORRIBLE on some set of junk.

SO THEN... there's the EQ PRESSETS! Good example;
My Truck system with my PHONE in the AUX input? 2 EQ presets!(one each!)

I can get the mix to transfer great from my studio, to the home theater system,
to the truck by using a "flat" EQ preset in the truck. I'm not likely to get any user to
do that though because we all have different tastes.

SO MY QUESTION IS;
Does anyone have any, sort of, general guidelines they follow to help reduce the
potentially wildly different Bass, Middle and Treble output on SMALL equipment?


G Pops

[Tarekith]

Referencing on a flat as system is the easiest way, it also tends to be the most expensive way too unfortunately. That one reasons most mastering engineers have better monitors and room acoustics than your average musician.

If you can’t go that route, then I’m afraid referencing on as many systems as possible and comparing notes from each is the only other way. I don’t know of any short cuts or guidelines that will magically make your music work on all playback systems. It’s mainly a lot of trial and error if your own studio isn’t telling you exactly how things should sound.

[fishmonkey]

SO MY QUESTION IS;
Does anyone have any, sort of, general guidelines they follow to help reduce the
potentially wildly different Bass, Middle and Treble output on SMALL equipment?

since you can't control the playback system being used, the best you can do is produce a well-balanced mix.

in a highly-translatable, well-balanced mix, all the essential elements are present, even when the playback system is bonkers.

[G-Pop]

I gotta chase the grandkids around and plug in their pads and phones
and gagets and try to balance what I hear in the studio with a DECENT
mix... at their eq presets (Challenge!)

I just tried kicking in some presets in my audio players in the workstation,
and notied HOW LOUD it makes them (nobody backs anything DOWN!) when the
EQ's are set to TOO MUCH levels, i.e., BASS & Treble...

Disgusted me!
ROFLMAO!

G Pops

[doghouse]

I do the tried and true method: I have three sets of monitors.

1. M-Audio BX5...typical mid-range powered near field monitor. Not flat but "flattish", unhyped bass and the most open highs of the three. I use these for tracking unless wearing headphones for isolation (vocals, miked instruments, recording late at night).

2. A typical 70s-era home stereo receiver driving two 8" speakers. Compared to #1 the lows are hyped and the top end has less "air".

3. A 70s era Sony stereo portable cassette deck with a 3" inch mono monitoring speaker.

I have all three wired to a selector box and level balanced so I can switch between them during playback. I spend most of my time mixing on #1, until it sounds good there I don't even listen to the other two.

I will sometimes listen to a mix over headphones just as another reference. I own a couple of sets and each sounds very different. I never bother to listen over earbuds.

[jlgrimes]

A few common listening sources to try.

1. Your normal studio monitors.
2. A decent pair of headphones.
3. A cheap pair of earbuds.
4. Laptop and/or TV speakers.
5. Your normal monitors at a very low volume.
6. Factory car stereo.
7. Normal monitors at loud volume (for just a minute or so)
8. Normal monitors in mono.

If your mix sounds good in these situations, you are probably fine.


It's always good to find a hi fi setup as well and a club pa, as well as a tweaked out car especially if you do dance but usually if your stuff sounds good in the former areas, it probably will sound good on big systems.

[G-Pop]

Thank you jlgrimes & doghouse...

Very wise and W I D E array of conditions should get me to a
"Best overall" mix... Hey nobody told me this stuff was going
to be like Rocket Science. Then again there isn't a single one
of us here that gets excited about doing "easy" things I'd bet...

Hey this is as challenging as becoming a musician,
or learning to play Golf (well)
or "Catching." (as opposed to "Fishing.")

G Pop

[jestermgee]

The obvious thing to keep in mind is your own experience, equipment, environment and training compared to those that have invested to be able to tame audio for a wide audience.

Gone are the days most people had a multi-stack hifi system with earth shattering bass and decent mids and highs. Now it's all tinny phone speakers and overpriced consumer headphones.

It will take a LOT of time and as mentioned, trial and error and many different playback systems (or expensive software to emulate different conditions). Maybe after 5 or 10 years of testing things and honing your ear you will start to recognise that a certain level of Bass on your system environment will be too much on a bass heavy system, or that too much stereo spread will sound like shit on a mono iPhone speaker.

So throw salt in your wounds tho, it's much easier to get this understood when you have young ears that can grow with you. As you get older your ears start to lose their response so you may not hear the highs that hurt other people's ears and if you have not trained yourself and watched the spectrographs along the way you will be basically flying mostly blind

[fishmonkey]

there are some good tips about this topic here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c84zU-K ... FxxvysAoCu