Adjusting a mixing between different monitors

[Dpleasure]

Hey Everyone,

I couldn't find any links through a quick search so I'm hoping for any advice. I'm mixing my own hip hop album and am doing this on the road. I'm travelling in Spain, coming from Canada. I have a nice sounding mix on all the tracks, yet I've just listened to them in a new set of headphones and eeee! it sounds different (in a not nice way). What do some of you do when adjusting a mix between different monitors? Adjusting eq's and compression? That is what I come up with. Any other ideas or techniques?

Any and all help is appreciated.

[albee1952]

The best advice I would offer is; never use headphones to judge a mix. The thing to do with those phones is to compare your mix to a commercial release that is a similar style, AND that you think sounds good. Headphones can help as a comparison, but as a listening device, they really are inaccurate on several levels.

[obiwan177]

It's true, headphones are inaccurate. When I do my final mix though, I listen through whatever my end users will be using most, which is usually crappy earbuds. So I pop them in and tweak them so that the mix sounds not amazing in the monitors and crappy in the earbuds, but so it's more balanced out. I try to make the earbuds sound the best, and if I listen to it on my really nice home stereo system and it seems a little off, it doesn't matter that much, not many people will be listening to it with really nice stereos. Of course, I mostly do rock, alt rock etc. If you were to do electronica you'd want to reference on a system that has a sub, because that audience tends to have headphones with deep bass, and they're played on systems at clubs with huge subs.

It sort of depends on the style, but headphones are always the worst for determining levels and EQ etc, but they are the best for figuring out panning and stereo effects and things like that.

That's just my two cents, there probably is a better way.

[Dpleasure]

Thank you both for the input. It has eased my tension some Let me ask you both this... if you were in my shoes, travelling with only a backpack and a laptop with an mbox mini, what avenue would you take to get your music to sound as best as possible before posting it on the web? Today I have access to some speakers ([bleep][bleep][bleep][bleep]ty home stereo pair) that I will use to break free from the headphones. After today I don't know when the next time will be that I will get to a pair of speakers. If only I could carry around two pairs of great studio monitors on my back with me :) Should I invest in some good mixing/mastering plugins and follow some of the other posts on the forum about getting a good final master on my own? I still then have the headphone only problem, ah what to do.

[Bob Olhsson]

Every speaker and headphone is different. On top of that our hearing changes at different levels. A mix needs to be a compromise that presents a great musical balance everywhere and at every listening level.

A mix isn't really "done" until you've checked it out in a wide variety of listening environments and made the appropriate adjustments. A great trick I was taught at Motown is to fade your mix up very slowly and listen to how the various elements support each other. Comparing your mix to something you know to be a great mix in this same way can be very instructional about what to adjust that can improve the translation of your mix.

[1ace1]

+1 to Bob and Albee

Both great techniques

A:)

[daeron80]

I think if a mix sounds good on a good system, it will have the best chance of sounding good on poorer systems. "Good" here meaning as accurate and unflattering as possible. Maybe along the way, try to meet studio owners. If you can talk somebody with a decent studio into letting you spend just a few minutes listening in their control room (a mastering room would be even better!) for free while their paying customers are at lunch or in bed or whatever, listen to one or two rap songs in your style that you really like the sound of, then to your own. Write down what you need to change, or record yourself a voice memo on your phone or whatever. If you can do that at three or more studios, you'll have a much better idea of what your mix really sounds like.

[Bob Olhsson]

A real problem with high resolution systems is that you can hear so deeply into a mix that you will find balances between instruments acceptable that simply don't work on lower resolution monitors. Popular low res monitors like the NS-10 are relatively immune from creating other problems when used in combination with full range high res monitors. Just any cheap speaker is not necessarily a solution.

[Dpleasure]

Many thanks for the tips and suggestions! i will try to get into a few studios as I go along. I will also try to adjust levels, while referencing a song I know to be ´good´. Lol, anyone want to do a mix for me? Many thanks to all. Anymore inputs is always appreciated as well!

[daeron80]

You don't want me to mix rap. It'll come out sounding more like Barry White.