Is good gear really going to make my mixes sound better?

B

ballstix

Member
Jul 5, 2009
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Portland, OR
I've been relying on my 30 dollar computer speakers, a mid-range audio interface and ampsims / drum machines for all of my recording. I've heard some damn good mixes from people with similar gear on here, but I can't for the life of me achieve what I want; basically, I'm a beginner. I have problems identifying what is wrong with a mix and what to do about those issues; would reference monitors, for instance really illuminate inconsistencies/bad sounds/what have you, or is quality gear more for going from good mixes to great mixes? I feel like it might, but I also feel that I should warrant expensive purchases with something to show for myself first

Obviously there is a place for high-end gear, but will it be beneficial to a novice?
 
I would say get some experience to begin with. Work the shit out of your equipment and when it starts to sound good you can benefit from upgrading speakers, preamps, mircophones etc.

Or at least your first buy should be a decent set of headphones. Not to expensive piece of equipment and you will probably use them more than you think.
 
those might be some shitty 30 dollar speakers you are working with, but if you KNOW those speakers and what they sound like, then you can probably get a mix to sound good. You could also achieve some great sounds with drum machines and amp sims. There is a ceiling you are going to hit with this gear eventually, but since you say you are a beginner, it might be best to learn with what you got.

on the other hand.... if you got some money you want to spend.... why not
 
i wouldn't blame it on the ampsims since alot of people here are using the free ones and manage to make them sound pretty damn good, if I were you the best thing to do is learn as much as you can from youtube videos/here/fellow AE's. I've only recently started hearing things I didn't use to, I usually get better in leaps and some leaps are within a matter of days and some can take months ,you just have to wait it out. Also for things like compression I'd play your guitar or whatever you play and monitor the compression with everything on it set to full so you can really 'feel' what its doing to your playing, like no matter how hard or soft all notes come out the same volume...thats compression done wrong, alot of it is just from fucking around and fiddling, i recommend you do that aswell.
 
Well, pretty much first part in the chain I would change is the monitoring, after that it's mostly about the skills. Makes things a lot easier when you have a fullrange studio monitors. Even the 200€ Behringer Thruth monitors would be a big upgrade.
 
ahjteam said:
Well, pretty much first part in the chain I would change is the monitoring, after that it's mostly about the skills. Makes things a lot easier when you have a fullrange studio monitors. Even the 200€ Behringer Thruth monitors would be a big upgrade.
Click to expand...

This. Although I'm an advocate of what Ola said I think you really need some entry level monitors to get going.
 
I agree, you need some decent monitors. Crappy monitoring (even if you're familiar with the speakers) will only make it more difficult to judge sounds and identify problems. Not having to fight your monitors or guess how the low end sounds will make your life MUCH easier in the long run.
 
Switch your cheap speakers for decent monitors. It doesn´t matter if you´re a begginer, if you can´t even listen to what you´re doing there´s no way you will be able to know if what you did sounds good.
 
I don't know if you play guitar, but I'm gonna use a guitar analogy anyways.
Are a good amp and a good guitar gonna do anything for you if you suck at playing? Nope. If you are good at playing though, you can still get some sweet sounds out a fairly crappy set up, the more expensive stuff is just gonna enhance the sound you already got comin from your playin.

In the same way, unless you know how to use em, Waves plugins, neumannmics, and genelec monitors ain't gonna do you any good. Get yourself some monitors and then just learn with stock and free plugins. Soak up information from wherever you can. Really get to know the frequency spectrum.
A good audio engineer should be able to make a pretty decent sounding mix with even just some pretty basic tools
 
When I was just getting into recording and shit all the experienced guys back then were saying gear won't make you better, etc. But I find, as time goes on, as I get more experience and along the way pick up nicer gear here and there - having better equipment DOES make you better. Think about it. Better monitors, better interface (and with that better conversion and preamps), better mics, better cables... if they are better, you are getting a better sound right off the bat, within reason of course. You still have to learn how to get the most out of it BUT I strongly believe that having better equipment to work with can probably exponentially decrease the amount of time it takes to get "good" at this.
 
Where's a good place to start with active monitors? I need something affordable but reliable.

Also, I noticed that there's at least one Swede responding to this: anything you can give tips about as far as buying equipment in Sweden would be great, 'cause I know nothing about who's trustworthy, who's overpriced, etc. I've discovered a local Musikbörsen, but their prices seem kinda steep...
 
I just bought a pair of KRK Rokit 5 Gen2s and I like them so far. Originally I was mixing on a pair of AudioTechnica MH50s, but having actual reference monitors is definitely my preference.
 
Hah, well I am a guitar player for those that made the assumption. I think I'll go ahead and look for some monitors as suggested; I have a lot of trouble hearing things that, according to forums/videos/etc, should be there, and bass is basically just a clusterfuck.

Thanks guys.
 
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