Help me find the blindspots in my mixes

[Dans]

Hey guys, recently I'm gathering my best works, building a website, and trying to start a career in audio production. Personally I'm 90% confident about my current mixing skills, but sometimes I can still have a little doubt in my monitoring setup (JBL LSR305 + Beyerdynamic DT 770, with a lot of referencing).

Most of the time my mixes sound just fine and exactly the way I want them to, except when I listen back to my soundcloud on my phone (with some regular hi-fi earphones), my mixes can sound a bit dark and muddy at times (comparing to other professional mixes). I'm not sure if I should trust this source since my mixes sounds fine on my monitors and studio headphones. So I can really use some help.

Attached are some of my works which I considered pretty solid, but it'd be great if you guys can check them out for me (you may just scroll through the first few mixes) and see if there's any coherent problem through out different songs, which may be a blindspot in my monitoring setup that I should pay extra attention to.

Thanks a ton!

 

[RaivioSound]

The vocalist is a bit sibilant on the first sample, makes it sound like she has a lisp. Cymbals have a bit too much >10kHz, makes them sound thin.
Bass guitar maybe could use more low mids to make it audible better.

These are all for the Actions song.

 

[Dans]

The vocalist is a bit sibilant on the first sample, makes it sound like she has a lisp. Cymbals have a bit too much >10kHz, makes them sound thin.
Bass guitar maybe could use more low mids to make it audible better.

These are all for the Actions song.

Appreciate the advice, though I'm looking for feedback on the potential problems across different mixes, not something related to one particular mix. Still, thanks for checking out!

 

[QuantumSound]

This might just be me, but the mixes sound rather flat to me. Nothing really pops out and grabs my attention. It could be that your monitors/room setup are adding all of the little extra flavors for you (the extra-sizzly highs of the guitars, the subtle deep punch of the kick, the parallel compression that smashes everything together that you think you hear could essentially just be it bouncing around your room or just your speakers).

Listen to the album "Void" by Within Destruction, then listen to "The Royal Thousand" by Glass Cloud. With the former, I feel that the mastering work is phenomenal. There's so much going on that the mix has to make room for, but it does so by giving every little thing attitude, then EQing it as a whole. With the latter, I feel like every instrument has been brought down to an even playing field in terms of dynamics and feel. Nothing reaches out and catches your attention because it's not supposed to. Sure it's articulate and easy to listen to, but it's boring.

That's how I feel, but don't take my criticism to harshly. You've got some skills that I would sacrifice children to have.

 

[DIYistkrieg]

Mixes are very good IMO, the only "issue" I can tell is they all sound pretty "static", I mean, the dynamics are there, but still as QuantumSound wrote "nothing really pops out", they lack "emotions". I think some parallel compression could help, try adding some distortion as well, especially on vocals it could help things get interesting, side chaining kick and bass (on pop-like songs, don't know if it works on rock/metal tracks) could help giving some groove and life to songs. Still they're all pretty impressive IMO, This forum has quite a few good mixers I see!

 

[Dans]

Many thanks for the comment guys! Really appreciate it!

Now as you guys point it out, I feel like my mixes do lack some vibe and dynamics. I do use quite some saturation in my mixes and also do the kick-bass side-chain trick, but I guess I'm just too conservative with my moves, especially on automation. Maybe should try bolder moves to make thing jump out even more.

Anyway, thanks a lot for pointing out the direction!

 

[DIYistkrieg]

Many thanks for the comment guys! Really appreciate it!

Now as you guys point it out, I feel like my mixes do lack some vibe and dynamics. I do use quite some saturation in my mixes and also do the kick-bass side-chain trick, but I guess I'm just too conservative with my moves, especially on automation. Maybe should try bolder moves to make thing jump out even more.

Anyway, thanks a lot for pointing out the direction!

There's also a technic used by Andrew Scheps I've heard about but never tried (yet), which is creating a second master buss and sending all but the drums, then compress it like a classic parallel and add it to the mix adjusting volume fader to your likes, or even by making an automation to bring up just certain parts of the song like the chorus, it should bring some more life and presence especially on guitars, you could give it a try maybe.

 

[Dans]

There's also a technic used by Andrew Scheps I've heard about but never tried (yet), which is creating a second master buss and sending all but the drums, then compress it like a classic parallel and add it to the mix adjusting volume fader to your likes, or even by making an automation to bring up just certain parts of the song like the chorus, it should bring some more life and presence especially on guitars, you could give it a try maybe.

Very cool! I've heard a similar trick (probably from Joey Sturgis or one of his fellows) by using a parallel master bus with heavy brickwall limiting, and automate this so-called "fat fader" for certain passages. I don't think I actually see a lot of people using much parallel processing on the master bus but I guess it's worth trying. Many thanks!

 

[RaivioSound]

If you're in need of getting something special done with saturation check out Fabfilter Saturn. One of my favorite plugins, and great for creating sheen, pop whathaveyou.