I have one general issue/question, and one more specific one:
Post-editing my recordings is frustrating the hell out of me.
Overall I'm very satisfied with my 4061 mics and R-09 recorder. The recordings are all clear and detailed and there is nothing major wrong with them, but they have been coming out somewhat flat and mid-range dominant. Just a little bit of EQ when playing them back in Foobar and Winamp makes them sound significantly better & damn good. So, I have spent hours EQing them Adobe Audition 1.5 or Wavelab trying to replicate that 'sweet spot sound,' to a point where they sound good on my headphones and Bose desktop speakers. Burn it to disc, and stick in a different playback system (car, etc.) and it sounds nothing like it should - too much bass and/or high end, etc.
So I'm slowly coming to the disheartening conclusion that without a high end playback or studio monitoring system to EQ with, attempts at EQing are worthless because playback systems differ so dramatically. So what sounds good with one set of speakers or headphones, will sound too bassy or trebly in another. I plan on trading and torrenting most all of my recordings, so the last thing I want to do is ruin an otherwise decent recording for someone else with EQ.
But there must be a way to subtely EQ to make a recording sound better universally. I just know that a little bit of EQ can really make the recordings significatly better.
I record mostly rock and fusion shows, and they all seem to need some high end increase, a bit of mid decrease, and sometimes small low end boost.
So, question 1 (general): what are others' thoughts about EQing recordings where there is nothing major wrong? Do you simply leave it to the listener to EQ based on his/her specific preferences and playback system? Or do you try to do something before distributing to try to give it more of a dynamic sound?
Question 2: several of my recordings have the kick drum too prominent/punchy in the sound. What are your thoughts on taming/softening its impact in the sound?
Thanks for any thoughts/advice.
Ryan A