How do you make sure that your mix sounds good on all kinds of audio devices?

Discussion in 'Mixing and Mastering' started by 洋鬼子, Sep 6, 2022.

  1. 洋鬼子

    洋鬼子 Producer

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2021
    Messages:
    168
    Likes Received:
    85
    Location:
    Germany Dortmund
    Im mainly mixing with Headphones (Sennheiser 650 HD ) and often have the feeling that my Monitors fool me due to the fact that my boxes (KRK Rokit 5 ) seem to vary the sound strongly(Room not treated ).

    I try to get the basic mix/master done with Headphones then use some cheap earplugs to backcheck.
    As final process I tend to listen in cars since it is a good way of making sure that everything works well.

    Do you guys have any kind of tricks to make sure that your mix sounds good on all kinds of devices ?
    This is something that often feels very hard to get right.
     
    • Interesting Interesting x 1
    • List
  2.  
  3. Baxter

    Baxter Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2011
    Messages:
    3,828
    Likes Received:
    2,657
    Location:
    Sweden
    Best Answer
    I master songs professionally. I think you answered you own question when saying "room not treated". Besides 1) tuning and treating your room acoustically you also need 2) correct speaker placement, 3) correct listening placement, 4) full-range system (do you have sub/subs?) and 5) you need to learn your speakers and room. Biggest (five) tricks ever!
    Edit: If you fix these and build up the confidence over a few years you won't have to run to your car/soundcloud/shit speakers/smartphone/whatever. Running around playing the track on various systems is more a sign of insecurity about your main setup, IMO.
     
    Last edited: Sep 18, 2022
    • Agree Agree x 2
    • Useful Useful x 2
    • Like Like x 1
    • Winner Winner x 1
    • List
  4. tzzsmk

    tzzsmk Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2016
    Messages:
    3,173
    Likes Received:
    1,942
    Location:
    Heart of Europe
    the mindset is, don't bother with your own songs sounding good everywhere, without proper monitoring, you just waste time,
    instead, find songs which already sound great (they're most likely done to sound good everywhere) and mix/compare your tracks along them,
    if you're just starting, without ears being really used to critical hearing, don't hesitate to compare/balance certain frequency areas, not whole mix
     
  5. BEAT16

    BEAT16 Audiosexual

    Joined:
    May 24, 2012
    Messages:
    9,082
    Likes Received:
    6,990
    Listen in the car, listen on a kitchen radio - tape recorder. Upload to YouTube, upload to Soundcloud and listen.
    Listen from far away hallway or kitchen. Send this to someone and ask for judgment.
     
  6. fuad

    fuad Producer

    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2012
    Messages:
    435
    Likes Received:
    100
    My favourite approach is to put a filter on the master channel of the song I'm working on. I'll then remove the lower frequencies and check that it still sounds good and that I can still hear all the important parts.

    Then I'll remove some of the high frequencies and check.

    Then I'll put the whole track in mono and check.

    Also, use a reference track, it's the best way to make sure your track sounds good. Compare it to something that is professionally produced and try to make yours sound similar in terms of the frequencies and balance of the instruments.
     
  7. Trurl

    Trurl Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2019
    Messages:
    2,480
    Likes Received:
    1,453
    Yeah, everything above is good, advice- it's really really hard to make good mixes under rough conditions and without a decently treated room. But in my opinion the best way to see if mixes translate is to take them around and play them on stuff.

    But, not just randomly. Make sure you have some understanding of how other good mixes sound on those systems. Don't judge on something that makes everything sound like garbage. Hopefully eventually you'll know your own setup enough that when you feel you've made a good mix there playing it around will just be a formality; a final quality check.
     
  8. Trurl

    Trurl Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2019
    Messages:
    2,480
    Likes Received:
    1,453
    If you do that one just be REALLY sure they have a valid opinion :wink:
     
  9. AKAIBOY

    AKAIBOY Member

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2022
    Messages:
    88
    Likes Received:
    14
    Play it on ya nans stereo! or a walkman & if it sounds shit! then it sounds shit! :bleh:
     
Loading...
Loading...