How to make tracks sound good on everything it is played from?

J

JMolter

New member
Anybody have any tips on how to make your tracks sound good not only in your headphones, but when played through big speakers, crappy computer speakers, car speakers, phone speakers, etc. as well?

One of my biggest disappointments as a producer is making a track that sounds great through all of my high quality audio equipment, but then sounds different when played through other devices
 
JMolter said:
Anybody have any tips on how to make your tracks sound good not only in your headphones, but when played through big speakers, crappy computer speakers, car speakers, phone speakers, etc. as well?

One of my biggest disappointments as a producer is making a track that sounds great through all of my high quality audio equipment, but then sounds different when played through other devices
Click to expand...

The frequency response of your mix needs to fit within certain parameters. These parameters are found in really great sounding masters. Both A/B and frequency matching is what is raising the minimum compatibility level. With really accurate monitoring you can achieve similar results. When you normally mix against any random speakers, you do so against a certain monitoring frequency response, that gradually shifts the "weight" towards certain points across the frequency range. The issue is when you have too much weight at the wrong points and cannot hear it. The solution is always to improve your monitoring environment. Then once that is of high quality it becomes a matter of experience basically. It takes some time. With good technique you will for instance discover that if you mix against a combination of monitor sets at the same time and these work well to balance out and even out the weight points on the frequency response, you will hear more and balance better. This then sounds more beautiful and translates better, because there is basically less noise present in the audio. The noise is the small resonances present at various combinations of frequency and level. So for instance you might have harsh noise in the attack at around 2 kHz that you are totally unaware of.
 
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Using a good full range monitoring system is the only solution. Small speakers will always produce a small sound. And big sound systems will produce a big sound. Don't expect to produce good results on a club system or a large PA if you mix on your laptop speakers.
 
20$ headphones/earbuds recommended minimum requirement for music production listening sessions.
100$ minimum on the speaker side.
 
Your biggest problem is gonna be the sub bass because you can't really hear it on bigger systems therefor many producers layer their sub with a slightly distorted version. make sure if you distort it to get rid of the fundemental so you still have a clear sub...
 
I mix with dynaudios and always listen threw a very old cd player while doing that to see if its good there. just try out different players like laptop, iphone headphones, studio speakers all u can get
 
JMolter said:
Anybody have any tips on how to make your tracks sound good not only in your headphones, but when played through big speakers, crappy computer speakers, car speakers, phone speakers, etc. as well?

One of my biggest disappointments as a producer is making a track that sounds great through all of my high quality audio equipment, but then sounds different when played through other devices
Click to expand...
The easy answer is to have your mixes professionally mastered.
You can learn to master yourself, but to be proficient, it is a long learning process and can be expensive because you have to invest in the equipment and room.
Mastering is also about taking the mixing room out of the equation and having a second set of experienced ears.
It's the way successful and good sounding records have been made for a long time... gl
 
The most easiest way for me to say it is by mixing in mono, stereo separation, and listening to your mix to see if it sounds on a crappy device that doesn't put out any low end like your phone or a laptop.
 
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