SurferBill
Joined: Dec 20, 2009
Posts: 611
Jax, FL
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Posted on Dec 02 2010 01:35 PM
I recently compiled our tunes for a CD. I mixed and mastered using a combination of headphones and my small KRK5 desktop monitors. I got the tunes sounding pretty good when played back on those, or iPod headphones, or computer speakers. Then, I burnt a CD and played it back over my big Klipsch speakers. The sound was completely different. More booming bass and tin-ie highs. There was kick drum thump I had never heard before in the other environments.
Do you mix and master for both environments - iPod headphones as well as CDs? Does anybody listen through good home speakers anymore? (I know everyone here probably does). Or, do most people now just immediately import a CD into iTunes?
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psychonaut
Joined: Dec 08, 2007
Posts: 1303
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Posted on Dec 02 2010 02:26 PM
You need to mix and master on flat response speakers. Otherwise your mixes will not translate. Computer speakers and headphones are the worst to mix on - They are not flat so everything you do to the mix will be a lie. Decent near-field monitors will run you about $300 for something like Tannoy Reveal which are excellent, or you can find Yamaha NS10's for about the same price used.
You mentioned KRK desktop, so I'm assuming they aren't near field but rather computer monitors. You should mix for a sound that translates well on all systems good or bad. Easier said than done.
A good technique is to play a record you are intimately familiar with through whatever monitors you are using, and try to match it eq wise particularly in the bass.
Also in addition reference your mixes on crappy speakers for a real world perspective
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SurferBill
Joined: Dec 20, 2009
Posts: 611
Jax, FL
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Posted on Dec 02 2010 02:43 PM
psychonaut
You mentioned KRK desktop, so I'm assuming they aren't near field but rather computer monitors.
Thanks Psychonaut. The KRKs I bought at Guitar Center in the recording department. http://www.krksys.com/product_rokit.php They are monitors hooked directly to my Alesis audio monitor board. But, they're small.
— Shoot the Pier on Bandcamp
Shoot the Pier on Reverb Nation
Shoot The Pier on Facebook
We are on Instagram under "@shootthepiersurfband"
My Country EP ... Florida Dirt Fire
https://floridadirtfire.bandcamp.com/album/florida-dirt-fire
My French Love Songs ... I really needed a change...
www.lonelyrose.bandcamp.com
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psychonaut
Joined: Dec 08, 2007
Posts: 1303
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Posted on Dec 02 2010 02:59 PM
Those should work fine. You're probably going wrong on the eq department then. A good rule of thumb is that the eq knobs work better by subtracting rather than adding; need more bass? cut the highs. Never add more than 3dbs of eq as you'll just get loading and make it sound mudier.
Geof Emerick suggests that in order to judge the right amount of bass, cut out the bass guitar and if the overall level of the mix drops about 3db's then you are in the right neighbourhood.
Through trial and error you can hone in on a good mix by just cross referenceing them on all your systems and shoot for an acceptable average.
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raito
Joined: Oct 16, 2008
Posts: 550
Madison, WI
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Posted on Dec 02 2010 04:37 PM
You can master if your output devies are not flat response, but you have to EQ them first.
Of course you got too much bass -- you used headphones and small speakers.
The rule when mastering is to make it so that any EQ that needs doing by the listener is done for their own output device. Sure, they're going to boost the bass if they're using earbuds, but that's OK. It's what you want them to do. The listener sets their EQ to get a flat response out of their device. You set it flat so they can do that.
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djangodeadman
Joined: Jan 25, 2007
Posts: 1568
Brighton UK
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Posted on Dec 03 2010 02:22 AM
And until you start to address the acoustics of the room you're mixing in, you will probably not get a clear idea of what is happening at the bass end. Failing that, the advice is always to check your mixes on a range of different systems, to see how they translate.
You CAN mix on headphones, but you need to make sure that you are using headphones that give you a true picture of what is going on in the mix.
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