mixing with/out subwoofers

[dcb]

hey there,

i'm thinking about getting the yamaha hs 10W in addition to my hs 80m.

what do you guys think about mixing with or without subs?

i feel that without a sub you focus a lot more on the mids/lowmids
to get the music going. while mixing with a sub you rely on the sub lows
to "carry the music"... a fat kickdrum always pushes a mix forward.

but what if consumers listen to your song through small speakers...
then a 50 Hz kick will not help the song at all...

not quiet sure yet which way to go as most cheap hifi systems (just bought one for 20 Euro, 2.1. which sounds fairly good for that price..) now all have subwoofers.

maybe mix without sub, master with sub.

anyone know andys preferences for metal?

 

[scorpio01169]

great idea...just make sure you test mixes over and over till you get set up right

 

[Ermz]

I don't particularly like mixing with a sub. Though at the end of the day the sub will make your speakers more efficient as your midbass drivers won't be trying to reproduce the sub-lows. You will find an increase in speaker clarity if you put some of the load on the sub,

My own preference is a 3-way speaker that essentially has the sub built in. This way you don't have to deal with the time alignment and positioning issues of a sub. To me a sub disconnects the bass frequencies from the rest of the mix and you get a surreal representation of what a non-sub set-up would be hearing. If you want to mix with a sub I'd make sure to have a 2nd, smaller pair of monitors alongside to check how punchy your mix is on cheaper systems.

 

[ze kink]

I've been completely happy with checking the low end with headphones (along with stereo image etc.). I don't really see the point honestly, but then again I've never used a sub so...

 

[greyskull]

never got on with a sub.
always over/under compensated

 

[Joshua Wickman]

I got a sub with my hs80m its the rokit 10" one. Took me a bit to get used to it (my room size sucks) but I would not mix without it now. It has helped me a lot with my low end on mixes, I'm finally hearing things and what they are doing down below 80hz. So I would say go for it dude....

 

[Keessi]

+1 for using a sub! me likes!

 

[DestroyTheColossus]

another +1 for sub. It takes a little to get used to if you're coming from mixing without a sub. You have to make sure that you set up the sub properly too, especially the volume. I had it up to loud at first and my mixes came out thin. If you get a CD you love the mix of, and set up the sub so that the balance sounds perfect to you, its like second nature to mix on. I always check the mix on earbuds though. If the mix translates well from sub to earbuds i find it tends to sound good in the middle ground as well.