How loud are you mixing? Loud vs quiet?

[kev]

Just read an article with CLA who reckons he mixes so quiet that he can hear his computer fans! Any obvious pros and cons for loud vs quiet?

 

[abyssofdreams]

the perception of the lowend/highend is quite different depending on the volume but I usually mix more on the quiet side so my ears don't get hammered all the time. when I'm like 80% finished with mixing I raise the volume to see if there are any areas overpowering when made louder.
I "master" pretty loud though.

 

[Torniojaws]

At normal listening volume, except when I adjust the bass levels I turn the volume down quite a lot.

 

[Katau]

High, Med and Low.

High = Let's me hear what things start to get muddy or bassy.
Med = Normal mixing
Low = Let's me hear things that stick out too much...levels.

 

[Sloan]

I live in a house with 5 other people so I mix pretty low and do a lot of headphone checking.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

High, Med and Low.

High = Let's me hear what things start to get muddy or bassy.
Med = Normal mixing
Low = Let's me hear things that stick out too much...levels.

Same here. Most of the time it's at medium though.

 

[smy1]

I mix at very low volume most of the time. I can definitely hear the fan of my PC every now and then.

No matter which studio I go to, I always turn the volume way down from what they usually listen to there. Just can't take the loud shit (yea, yea, wimps and posers ...)!

 

[garry666]

I think i read somewhere that the ideal volume level for mixing is arround 80dB so i usually keep it arround there but i like to crank it everyonce in a while.

 

[Metaltastic]

I try to keep it at a comfortable level, but also am very conscious to resist the urge to crank it, cuz let's face it, things always sound better the louder they are, but at a low volume, you might end up boosting stuff too much - in general, I always check at different volumes, but normally just mix at the level I'd wanna listen to it at.

 

[PostMortem1666]

the standard mixing level is 85 to 95 db. this is where there is the least amount of bass boost/reduction and the least amount of highend boost/reduction is.

 

[Polpotkin]

ideal is 85db acording to the "Fletcher/Munson" curve

 

[greyskull]

moderate.
things dont translate otherwise.
sometimes crank it at the very end;
but when tracking... REALLY quiet

 

[evolutions_end]

ideal is 85db acording to the "Fletcher/Munson" curve

Someone studied hard! Ive been told that the bosy starts making adrelaline flow at around 90db, so i always cracnk it up a little louder when the client comes to get the mix

but as for mixing, i tend to have it louder than normal. mabye ill try the quieter approach!

 

[colonel kurtz]

i usually mix a bit on the quieter end of things. i find that if you can hear everything clearly and well-definied in a quiet mix, it will usually sound pretty good when turned up as well.

 

[elmuchoescadawg]

I normally start off pretty quitely to make sure everythings there but it gets louder as the day goes on

 

[jesterroot4]

i'm always changing volume, mainly for bottem end reasons

when checking the bottem end on my track (kick vs bass)
i crank it pretty loud, this helps me also feel whats going on in the bottem end and if its tight and punchy enough, it will also give you an idea into how it will sound and feel and clubs etc. i like my track to have ALOT of feel to them, they realy have to groove in the chest and fit perfectly.

for me, sound has alot to do with feeling and impact etc

Chris T was sometimes mixing to a point his genelics were clipping (little red light flashing on them) just to feel that bottem end.

i've always thought that was a natural thing to check for

 

[beyond dead]

if you monitor too quiet, mice will distract you while your trying to mix!!!

 

[ryanojohn]

I tend to monitor at the level I normally listen to music... since I'm used to perceiving it with that fletcher/munsen attribute... Crank it once in a while to hear the clarity, and listen from other rooms, or through doors, turn it down to hear what sticks out...