Does it happen to anyone that they’re working on their headphones and it sounds super dope, they record a live session on your DAW of choice, hear it through some random speakers and it sounds way different??
Yesterday after working on a beat on the 404 I’m ready to pass it to the DAW and listen it in my portable speaker (i know its not studio quality but im travelling in India so, hard to find and hear it through studio quality monitors, where i am).
And as soon as i start playing I’m like: wthell is this? It seems like the chorus is everywhere, sound is super spread, no center on the drums…
But I’m fine with that. Before publishing any music i hear it through all kinds of different sounds system from phone, to car speakers, laptop, studio monitors, portable speakers but it still baffles me how this first take sometimes has some notorious differences between systems.
Yeah, totally. The room you’re in can make a really big difference too – maybe even more than the speakers. I used to have a sound treated room to work in and now I don’t. Everything I made in the good room seems to sound like shit in this one. My mixes aren’t great, but I was appalled when I heard stuff in the bad room.
I’m far from an expert at mixing, but this is my take: using a reference is key. If my room acoustics suck or my monitors/headphones suck, the sound should suck equally for a the track I’m mixing and for my reference track. If there’s some weird bass pocket in my room or the highs bounce off the wall behind me, that will also happen to my reference track. I imagine this would apply to your portable speaker too – you could volume-match a reference track and A/B with your track while you’re mixing and hear what needs to change on yours.
Headphones can be v deceiving. I’ve had couple of these instances and it’s such a bummer. The emotional downhill when the excitement turns into disbelief and eventually horror is rough.
I depend on switching between my phones and monitors and referencing other people’s and my own tracks to make sure what I’m doing doesn’t sound like poo
It’s still kinda annoying that it can’t be like visual art - ears are way more deceiving.
Try to get some bass traps in the room. As much as possible mix with monitors in that room in a near field scenario. You will understand what the room does eventually. Then listen on headphones. If you get used to the room’s flaws your ears will adapt and know what to do in the headphone mix. In a bad room scenario it gives you the big picture. Things that pop out in contact can be heard with headphones.
Yeah this is the problem with mixing on headphones. You tend to either push sub or bass too loud depending on the headphones frequency response. Bass is also perceived different as its pressure rather than real vibrations.
And then there’s the stereo image problem which is most notable on closed back headphones. It’s hard to create a meaningful spacious mix without overdoing stuff. On a good pair of open backed headphones this is a bit easier to determine.
The solution is to listen carefully to which problems you have every time you listen back on speakers. And then being very conscious about these the next time you mix on headphones. After some time you will have trained your ears and learn how to get closer to a good mix on headphones.
As has noted, listening back in a properly treated room is helpful but since you are traveling around this is no option. Try to get more reference systems to listen to so you get multiple different pictures
He is right though. Our brains are very deceiving. A mix will sound different when you are tired. It will be different in the morning and evening. When you’ve listen to a mix for an hour you’ll already be influenced by many factors that can mess with your ability to be objective. So taking breaks is a necessity.
Your ears ( your brain rather) is messing with you depending on many factors. To be conscious of this is very important
I do not claim such a thing. Though I do think ( opinion) for hearing this effect is bigger as it’s more abstract and the way our hearing works when it comes to things like how loudness can change the way we perceive frequency response and how rooms can influence how we perceive a sound.
But yeah of course visually you can be messed with as well obviously. Especially when it comes to color and light
I think it might be because music must be experienced linearly over a specific amount of time whereas a painting allows for more random access so it is easier to “see” all parts at once. A song can drill itself into your head and start to sound good in and of itself more easily than a painting. Not to mention, lighting is much simpler than sound reproduction and room treatment. Basically just get a diffusing lamp with a neutral temperature bulb and you’re done.
some speakers and amps will subtly change the sound too as they warm up over an extended period of use.
and not to mention how room acoustics can vary dramatically depending on where you are, who else is in the room, temperature.
it’s one of the most interesting elements of recorded music that wherever a piece is played and through whatever audio system becomes part of the track (imo). sometimes to its detriment or enhancement. dependent on how “good” “flat” “transparent” your mix is.
Good points. Although paintings and photos (still pictures) are just one type of visual art and your field of vision and focus are never fully static and stationary, unless something is wrong.
yeah this is very interesting to me. Almost considering the audio system on which the music is being played as a part of the music itself.
But then it becomes harder to think on what you would like your mix to sound:
“flat” so that the sound system characteristics like everyone said, enhancement of certain frequencies etc becomes more evident or;
“warm” opt to enhance directly the warmer tones more mids and enchance even more this part in every sound system…
Well, I guess we do it automatically because something sounds different to everyones ear and what we consider good is going to be a part of this “flat”, “transparent” or “warm” mix…
But since I am thinking out loud, its still interesting to think that sounds or music will always vary sometimes drastically or sometimes subtly on different sound system.
Which makes me think what should a mix aim for? (I guess it has already been thoroughly discussed before in many many books and courses, etc)
Should it be “neutral” as in “transparent” and/or “flat”?
Or does the majority of artists assume a certain kind of tone as their sound signature anyway and work around that?
Or do some artists work specifically with certain sound system because its part of their sound design process?
I might be crazy but I think some people overthink this stuff.
Worrying about whether it sounds the same in your £600 headphones as it does on your £600 speakers won’t make any difference to the people actually listening to it.
Either that or all my stuff sounds like ass and no one tells me.
