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Gear / Technical Help => Playback Forum => Topic started by: jerryfreak on March 31, 2019, 06:34:55 AM
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i eqd some recent samples on my 8" KRK rokits and brought it home played them for my wife on our 10" dynaudios and she frowned at almost every one, said they were too bassy. both are near field monitors but the response on the dynaudios digs way deeper
maybe shes just crazy and likes her sound thin? the 4099s un-eq'd were her favorite, which is certainly not mine, i liked the 4061+4099 mix the best (see this as well as subsequent posts: http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=181868.msg2295287#msg2295287)
wondering if i need to change up my game and start mixing on the dynaudios, but wonder if what sounds good on those will sound too thin on smaller systems and headphones. what do you guys do?
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what do you guys do?
I don't have a wife.
;)
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listen to the wife. the gals have better hearing than we do.
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This will sound whack, but I do the final check in the driver's seat of my 2013 Grand Caravan (with the standard edition sound system, bass at -3).
I found that I couldn't rely on any one of the several sets of speakers that I have in my house. If the 100 Hz bass is not adjusted spot-on, it will sound very thin or way too boomy in the car, while it might sound fine on other speakers.
In the past year or so, I've started to rely more on visually EQing shows using the Voxengo SPAN spectrum analyzer plug-in. Once you get a feel for what a properly EQ'ed show looks like, you can dial it in without even listening to it. With tinnitus and old age, it's nice to not have to rely on tired ears!
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I mix on Acoustic Research M2 bookshelf two ways + Polk 8 inch powered sub. Juice supplied to the speakers by a Hafler power amp and DA conversion by a Focusrite Scarlett. Pretty clean but the ARs are a tad bright.
I usually test out the mix on my soundbar with sub in the living room and my Sennheiser HD280 cans before letting it go out.
I don't worry about the car stereo or ear bud test.
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This is the single biggest challenge in the post production of taper recordings IMO. It's why mastering guys are valuable experts use dedicated rooms to do what they do.
I've still not figured out a good answer other than to listen on different systems, try to figure out what translates best across them in general, and learning to mix toward that. Takes iterative trial and error, and you need to readdress the process again once you change your monitoring.
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I used to do almost all my post work in headphones. I have since moved to
C-Note Bookshelf
https://www.parts-express.com/c-note-mt-bookshelf-speaker-kit-pair-with-knock-down-cabinets--300-7140
I feed these from an Adcom Pre and 2 channel Amp combo with a Grace SDAC from the PC
they bookshelves sit on my desk split about 6feet toed in towards my chair
I think it gives me a little more to work with. much easier than with headphones
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Listening on a bunch of different systems and looking for uniformity, such as it can be had. Make note of your room modes, while they are a problem, they can also give perspective. Figure out where your biggest bass is, your weakest bass, etc, and always listen from those spots as well as your sweet spot.
I've got JBL 705P's and Alesis Monitor One's in my studio space, Klipsch La Scala and Advent 2002's at home. Oh, and a pair of different sized Wohler broadcast monitors, really tiny speakers in 1RU and 2RU boxes, meant for broadcast facility signal path cueing and checks. If it sounds right on those, it probably sounds right just about anywhere.
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The space is way more important than the speaker you use.
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Nah. Crappy speakers will still be crappy in a great room. Conversely, you can do a lot to mitigate room problems by appropriate positioning of good speakers in a less than good room. Primarily that means sitting close enough to them so that you are monitoring in the nearfield, with walls and other reflecting stuff farther away than your are from the speakers.
It's no substitute for good speakers setup properly in a good room, but nearfield monitoring helps overcome many room issues.
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This is why I basically do no eqing when "mastering" my tapes, EQ is so playback dependent that it's almost not worth it, I suppose the exception is to do provide some eq to counteract the non linear known aspect of any given microphone (schoeps mk4v comes to mind).
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This is why I basically do no eqing when "mastering" my tapes, EQ is so playback dependent that it's almost not worth it, I suppose the exception is to do provide some eq to counteract the non linear known aspect of any given microphone (schoeps mk4v comes to mind).
I find myself approaching EQ from the perspective of correcting issues that were in the venue and/or mix, rather than trying to EQ for playback, if that makes sense.
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Front-loaded sealed boxes with soft dome tweeters. (Dual 8", 5" and a 1" dome)
From up close, so close that I'm way off axis unless I scoot back.
I mix pretty soft. Comfortable volume, not loud.
Sometimes I check my work in headphones if I am not certain or need to tell a couple similar mixes apart and choose one.
10" woofers are gonna be way boomy. I wonder if your mixes sound thin on everything else?
This is why I basically do no eqing when "mastering" my tapes, EQ is so playback dependent that it's almost not worth it, I suppose the exception is to do provide some eq to counteract the non linear known aspect of any given microphone (schoeps mk4v comes to mind).
Good point. Traditional EQ also causes phase shift. Do you really need to do that?
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^ It's not really the size of the woofers but flatness in the bass response that matters, and bass range is more speaker/room-interaction dependant than mids/highs. Using speakers with a rolled-off bass response may avoid a speaker or room-related problem in that range, but "flies blind" with regards to balancing the mix down there.
This is why I basically do no eqing when "mastering" my tapes, EQ is so playback dependent that it's almost not worth it, I suppose the exception is to do provide some eq to counteract the non linear known aspect of any given microphone (schoeps mk4v comes to mind).
Good point. Traditional EQ also causes phase shift. Do you really need to do that?
You might. Phase shift isn't necessarily wrong in itself, and may well be corrective.
But in general, unless one becomes really comfortable with how mixes translate elsewhere, Noah's approach is the safe route and has much merit. Also helps other tapers comparing gear, which is nice if not the primary intent of most of our recordings.
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EQ is also, to a large extent, a matter of personal preference. I like quite a bit more low-end than my wife, for example. I EQ towards my tastes and playback gear, figuring that someone else can always re-EQ my recording to suit their gear/taste later. I also try to buy mics that fit well with what I like and apply a light touch in post.
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Mix/master to taste on quality speakers or headphones that you are really familiar with, and have listened to hundreds of hours of music on, obviously including well recorded studio stuff, live stuff, etc. That familiarity is key and provides perspective with which you make decisions for where to cut/boost EQ appropriately. I think that’s much more important than mastering on the “best” or fanciest gear.
It’s kind of like cooking food on the grill. Gotta know where the hot/cool spots are in order for the food to come out consistenly the way you want it to.
From there listen on some other systems like the car or whatever to make tweaks, again on speaker systems you know well.
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Use a variety of speakers/playback devices. Neumann KH120 and NHTPro A10 monitors. Avantone Cubes. Assorted headphones. Paradigm Active 40s in the living room. And ultimately the car stereo in whatever car I am driving that week. Bass is the trickiest part for me to get right. I am usually mixing a board feed with a pair or two of Mics, so the “blend” matters as well. I use the car stereo as the lowest common denominator. Needs to sound good there.
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Tannoy System 800's typically...Pelonis PSS110 occasionally. Either with a Parasound Halo amp. Big 15" Custom Tannoys with an MC2 amp for shits and giggles...Usually at least a check on headphones or in the car.