How do you mix music for different speakers

[Narrillnezzurh]

NO headphone is suited for mixing.Never mix with headphones, they're used to check things like noises, delays, pans etc.

People love to parrot this, but most of the time it turns out they were trying to mix on M-50s or DT770s or similarly low-end headphones. Obviously your $150 budget headphones aren't gonna hold a candle to a $1000 pair of speakers in a treated room, but chances are an equally expensive pair of headphones will blow those speakers out of the water in a lot of ways. I frequently do entire mixes in headphones, and I can't think of a single time I've noticed anything out of place listening to them through my monitors afterward.

 

[col]

I'm not saying you can't mix on headphones, but the problems related to using them have nothing to do with headphone quality. It's because the left and right channel audio never mix together in space like with monitors, and you might have trouble with panning, reverb tails, depth of field etc. to translate to other systems because you can't physically hear them, or hear them too wide compared to speakers.

For example if you close your eyes and you pan a sound on speakers from 100% left to 100% right, the sound seems to travel somewhere a distance away in front of you. Do the same thing on headphones and it sounds like the sound source seems to travel from left to right through your head! Severely diminished depth of field there.

 

[Glass Cloud]

Never understood this. People always say to record music with frfr to get a "true" sound or whatever. But that's not what it's going to sound like to everyone who listens to it so why not just mix with your average speaker that everyone has?

 

[TedEH]

I do tend to think that the importance of "flatness" of a set of speakers can be a little exaggerated, especially if you're not mixing in a super professional environment to begin with, but there's definitely value in getting the "full range", since you can't mix for something you can't hear. Not being able to hear it on one set of speakers doesn't mean it's not there.

The problem with using speakers that are "cheap" or "not-flat" (aka something made for listening and not for reference/mixing) is that they're tuned to "sound good" by overcoming or hiding their shortcomings in ways that potentially mask certain parts of the mix. Smaller speakers with SUPER-SPACE-BASS-X-BOOST aren't going to give you an accurate representation of what's really happening in the low end of a mix. Speakers or headphones with ALL THE BASS might not have a clear high end. Either you end up with a lack of range, or ranges that are over-hyped and not true to the source material anymore.

The key, in my opinion, is using speakers that you trust, regardless of whether or not they're the "best". I don't trust any of the KRK Rokit speakers below 8" because they hype the low end in a weird way. The 8s however are perfectly usable once you get used to how they sound IMO. Once you've spent enough time with the same speakers you develop a feel for how what you hear on these will translate to something else.

 

[Narrillnezzurh]

I'm not saying you can't mix on headphones, but the problems related to using them have nothing to do with headphone quality.

None of those problems are actually problems if you use that particular pair of headphones regularly, you adjust to the lack off crossfeed over time. And even if you didn't, proper depth of field isn't necessary 90% of the time for panning, and the extra clarity headphones provide makes them more suited for checking reverb tails than speakers anyway.

Ideally you'd use both. Given the choice, most would be more comfortable with speakers and a treated room. But you can mix just as well on headphones if you know what you're doing.

Never understood this. People always say to record music with frfr to get a "true" sound or whatever. But that's not what it's going to sound like to everyone who listens to it so why not just mix with your average speaker that everyone has?

You have to chase the "true" sound because it's the only reference point. Every set of speakers is different, and because of that every listener is going to expect things to sound a little different, so if you want to make a mix that'll sound good to everyone you need to take the time to learn what "normal" sounds like on your set of speakers and mix to that. It doesn't really matter what your speakers sound like (within reason) as long as you're used to them, but your average speaker isn't going to have enough detail for precise mixing while monitors will.

 

[col]

Ideally you'd use both. Given the choice, most would be more comfortable with speakers and a treated room. But you can mix just as well on headphones if you know what you're doing.

Exactly. My point was just that you need to be aware of the limitations so you can adjust to them.

 

[Daniel13]

i'm really seeing the issue i'm having now, haven't listened to music on those speakers in a while and i know they do a lot to sound hopefully i have time to do some referencing this week or at least this weekend.

from what i'm hearing, it sounds like it really doesn't matter too much as long as you know what your speakers are doing to the sound, like if the speakers are adding in +8db of bass then you know to compensate for that.

that's why i was using different methods for playing back but it seems that just wasn't working out too well. definitely gonna try to learn my system and work with it for now

 

[Given To Fly]

basically i'm having trouble getting my music to sound good on everything. sometimes a mix will sound good on computer speakers with a sub and on headphones but terrible on cell phones, laptop speakers, and ear buds

i put in a few weeks and got it to also sound good on my cell phone but even worse on laptop speakers and earbuds.

You will never get your music to sound good on everything because not everything sounds good. I understand you want your music to translate to different playback systems but at some point integrity should overcome appealing to the lowest common denominator. Plus, I do not know anyone that actively listens to music on their laptop speakers or their phone's speaker.

 

[Daniel13]

You will never get your music to sound good on everything because not everything sounds good. I understand you want your music to translate to different playback systems but at some point integrity should overcome appealing to the lowest common denominator. Plus, I do not know anyone that actively listens to music on their laptop speakers or their phone's speaker.

yeah i understand that, i just feel bad sharing my music on facebook or something knowing everyone is hearing it on a laptop or cellphone. i think i only have a couple friends with something better than that.

 

[Daniel13]

ok finally had time to try mixing this again and am kinda frustrated now.
on this one i started clean, everything even db and eq. tried cutting quite a bit of low end and made minor adjustments to get it to sound similar to a rammstein song (referenced it on both headphones and my speakers) and boy did it sound lovely.

problem now is on my cell phone (sounds fantastic) except for the fact that the rhythm guitars are not there. on laptop speakers it sounds ok, a little brittle for my taste but that's probably expected.

also i doubled the drum track and panned it 25% to each side and i'm actually kinda happy with it so far, will have to listen to it in a day or two.

another issue i'm hearing is that the volumes change throughout the song, even though i minimized the amount of tracks. certain parts are noticeably louder on certain tracks. most of these issues are only after i upload to soundcloud.

https://soundcloud.com/daniel-colvin-13/72-5-14-test

 

[p0ke]

It sounds a lot better now, but you still haven't EQ'd out the frequencies that make the guitars squishy. Maybe you should try re-recording them with less gain?

 

[Duosphere]

Pick up any song you think it sounds perfect through your studio speakers.
Mix your song to match that song(through the same studio speakers).
Your song should sound close to the way that song sounds through your cell phone and laptop speakers.
That's it.

Recording engineers study/practice their entire lives to get those awesome results so what about starting studying?
Maybe some recording classes?
Recording books?
And please get a guitar teacher not only to teach you how to play guitar but to teach you how to make music.
Knowledge is the best gear you could buy.

 

[charlessalvacion]

Awesome discussion here. Learning a lot from you guys.

 

[Daniel13]

sorry i've been away for a bit. still working on trying different things. got a new eq plugin that has been helping. tried re-recording one song with less gain (used a metal zone at half gain) and layered 2 guitars but ended up a little too Mid heavy.

still haven't had a chance to really fiddle with mic'ing my amp, only get a chance to record at night on weekends

feels like i'm getting close enough to actually turn these into songs, obviously only spent like 30 seconds on the drums

@duosphere i've been checking out some videos and stuff but none of it is aimed toward low tunings which is why i asked here, and don't think a guitar teacher would really help considering the simplistic nature of the music i play/listen to. i will refrain from posting updates till i actually finish a song to avoid being judged on my unfinished projects