Why do professional albums sound so thin to me

[XxSicRokerxX]

When i go through my music player library and listen to different albums why is it that it sounds so thin and sharp, is this this MASTERING aspect of it?

I sit here for hours and play around with drums SD 2.0 overheads and SSD samples. I'll add some guitars w/ lecto and impulses and play around, then maybe an hour later, i will open my media player and listen to BREAKING BENJAMIN, marilyn manson, linkin park maybe some DEFTONES and i hear a big difference, like.... these pro albums sound sharper i can hear the TWEETERS a lot more clearer/louder when i listen to pro mixed albums than my mixes.

I feel as if in order for me to attain this sound i have to raise the treble maybe with some exciter plugin on my mix. Is this the MASTERing aspect of it? making everything sharper?

 

[ahjteam]

This is one of the reasons:

 

[Sly]

It comes from the loud mastering but not only. I think pro albums sound thin in a great way, the low mids are carved but still there, it's just mixing. From my experience, and I heard some pro mixes before mastering, the mixes should sound like this before it goes to the mastering facility, just a tiny darker. I think those guys know what happens with their mix when the mastering engineer abuses of the compression.

 

[XxSicRokerxX]

Yea...i can definitely tell that they carved out the low mids and it sounds as if they raise the highs. Or it can be like ahj said everything becomes balanced so your forced to adjust your volume knob and then just leave it there. Still...like it just kind of sucks that when you think you have a nice mix you know that its going to get butchered when its mastered :/

 

[Morgan C]

Are you using 'thin' as a good adjective or a bad one?

 

[Line666]

I think from an amateur perspective there is a quite a misguided habit of going crazy with the bass frequencies as well - professional mixes are an altogether more balanced affair which might make them sound more "trebley" in comparison - cos no one is going "WOAAAH MOAAAH BASSSSS" and turning it to 11.

 

[Sly]

I think from an amateur perspective there is a quite a misguided habit of going crazy with the bass frequencies as well - professional mixes are an altogether more balanced affair which might make them sound more "trebley" in comparison - cos no one is going "WOAAAH MOAAAH BASSSSS" and turning it to 11.

This

 

[angryoldsoundguy]

Could be that your monitoring situation is bad.

 

[XxSicRokerxX]

i have rokit 5s i wouldnt say thats the situation it would be if everything sounded high but thats not the case. When i say thin its neither good or bad its just sharp, more treble, not piercing sharp though. And nah i dont go crazy with adding bass or eq the LOW region i just feel that in order for my mixes to sound similar to pro mixes i have to raise my treble on everything and make it sound thinner/smaller.

 

[DestroyTheColossus]

i have rokit 5s i wouldnt say thats the situation it would be if everything sounded high but thats not the case. When i say thin its neither good or bad its just sharp, more treble, not piercing sharp though. And nah i dont go crazy with adding bass or eq the LOW region i just feel that in order for my mixes to sound similar to pro mixes i have to raise my treble on everything and make it sound thinner/smaller.

I have Rokit 5s as well and for some reason those speakers make me want to mix bass heavy and dark as well. Sounds awesome on the speakers, but doesn't translate well at all like a pro mix. Tried mixing on some nicer headphones and got a much better balance (was relieved that it wasn't me just having shitty ears).

 

[Derykus]

I have similar problems with my mixes. If I don't reference anything, and go completely off into what I think sounds like a great mix, it usually ends up very low-mid heavy and dull compared to most modern professional mixes. I have tried to brighten things up and reduce my low-mids, but it ends up sounding even worse than what I would originally have ended up with.

 

[MindMunch]

Get some Rock Band (the videogame) multitracks to check how each instrumment is sitting on the mix, might give you some ideas. Just google "Rock band mogg".

 

[AntonioPetrole]

Get some Rock Band (the videogame) multitracks to check how each instrumment is sitting on the mix, might give you some ideas. Just google "Rock band mogg".

you shouldn't mention this. Its illegal. Keep anything like this in PM's if your gonna do it

 

[::XeS::]

You sais PRO mixes...that word is the key. These mixes are done by professionals that know what they do and they did it for years, everyday, using awesome gear and lot of experience.
You start the thread speaking about SD 2.0 and Lecto... I know you can get an awesome sound from these plugins but...there are so many factors in the "chain" to explain why pro mixes sound better and sharper than your Superior Drummer+Lecto mixes

 

[GarethSE]

you shouldn't mention this. Its illegal. Keep anything like this in PM's if your gonna do it

Psh, I am pretty sure most people here have checked these out.
As long as no-one's supplying links, what's the big deal?
oh no, someone heard some stems from a professionally produced album!
oh no! I could just go to youtube and look up "lamb of god wrath producer edition" !!!
I presume that isn't so morally reprehensible?

 

[Giacomo]

I remember a ME explaining that when A-Bing mastered tune with unmastered tune, or A-Bing reference mix-master with our master-mix, the level between them should be matched listening by to the low end, if not, the "pro" master will always appear to be thinner or bass-less.
So in the end that "thinner" means "brighter"

 

[Sly]

Most modern mixes have tons of instrument separation, I think the low mids are generally balanced in a very surgical way. It's juste mixing, then mastering adds a touch of it if it's done correctly. It's just learning and learning again from your "mistakes".

 

[crillemannen]

I wouldn't say thin. More like well balanced, atleast those mixes i consider to sound great

 

[Ermz]

Chances are it's as simple as your monitoring system being incorrectly set up, or simply not representative of proper frequency balance.

 

[Virgil.]

I have Rokit 5s as well and for some reason those speakers make me want to mix bass heavy and dark as well. Sounds awesome on the speakers, but doesn't translate well at all like a pro mix. Tried mixing on some nicer headphones and got a much better balance (was relieved that it wasn't me just having shitty ears).

I experience the same problems with these monitors.