My latest mix was of a girl just recording piano and vocals for a "prophetic" and live feel recording. I believe i'm having problems mastering mainly the vocals. They seem to sound fine through my KRK rokit 6's as well as normal computer speakers (I have a macbook pro). But when I listen to the mix in my car (which has top notch speakers as well as subs) the mix sounds very empty as well having a lot of echo to it. Any tips on what could be causing this and or what presets/ plugs to use to obtain the same sound in any type of speakers? - Thanks
Different sound in different speakers.
- Thread starter anthonycipollamusic
- Start date
probably the room you we're listening in. if it's a dead room you will over compensate on reverb. and the car probably has some kind of rock eq on it that scoops out the mids which makes it sound hollow. if you're used to listening to everything with rock eq enabled then when you are mixing in your head your aiming for that sound, only while you are mixing it it is under flat eq. then you go play that mix somewhere and it gets rock eq'd a second time basically and sounds like balls.
Damage, Inc.
Member
Unless you're 100% confident in your monitors and environment (and I'm not crazy about the Rokit 6 to begin with), listening to your mix through different speakers will give you valuable insight as to how it sounds in the real world. I can usually get a better feel for balance in my car than through my monitors.
friendforafoe
FFaF Guitarist/Producer
I agree with Fandus as far as the state of the room you're mixing. Dead rooms tend to lead to boosting to compensate, but when listened outside of that environment, all those nuances you thought you nailed become problems. I quick way to check your levels is to balance everything in mono ... it's good way to hear if something is overbearing your mix. Also, even though it may sound fine in those Rokit 6's (I mix with RP-8s), depending on where they're located, what surface they're on, if there is any noise suppression going on (I have some Aurelex foam riser-like pads under my monitors), the angle and spacing of the monitors, the state of the room, etc etc etc ... there's TONS of factors that can be at play, but another good way is to check the mix using different headphones. I personally check with iPod earbuds, Skull Candiy earbuds, some Bose headphones just to guage how it would sound to the everyday person (still do the majority of my mixing on some Beryerdynamics DT-880 Pros).
Checking the car for reference is great though it can cloud a mix based on your speaker set-up/location, size of your subs, and if you have any onboard dash EQ applied, etc etc. I do find a car can add some additional low/lower-mid just based off it's acoustics. I would also check the mix in a car that has a stock stereo system. At the end of the day, not everyone is an audiophile and has top notch gear, so check everything! I would listen to another mix with the settings you normally listen with in your car to see how it compares to your mix. Take a look at a frequency analyzer to see problem areas and compare. The best thing to do is to honestly use your ears
Checking the car for reference is great though it can cloud a mix based on your speaker set-up/location, size of your subs, and if you have any onboard dash EQ applied, etc etc. I do find a car can add some additional low/lower-mid just based off it's acoustics. I would also check the mix in a car that has a stock stereo system. At the end of the day, not everyone is an audiophile and has top notch gear, so check everything! I would listen to another mix with the settings you normally listen with in your car to see how it compares to your mix. Take a look at a frequency analyzer to see problem areas and compare. The best thing to do is to honestly use your ears
