Mix sounds good on headphones but horrible on speakers

BRBeatz

Music Producer
Hi, I've been using Audio Technicha ATH-M50 Monitor Headphones to make and mix my beats. They sound great until I play them on my Bose Companion 2 Series Multimedia speakers, which makes the mix sound bad and some instruments just sound horrible. Should I be mixing with different equipment (KRK Rokit 5 etc.) I am also a FL Studio user. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.
 
The DAW that you use won't make a difference in the sound on different systems. I don't know the frequency response of your headphones or your monitors, but your final decision on whether or not the mix sounds great should be focused on whatever system has the most transparent representation of your sound.

With your monitors, you should do a real-time analysis using pink noise to see how your room is affecting the music. I rely headphones frequently and faced similar problems in the past. An easy solution would be to use a professionally mixed reference track. The reference will probably sound good on multiple systems, so you can adjust your track to sound somewhat similar to it.
 
As far as I know the ATH-m50's are more for recording than monitoring. They're not neutral headphones, and that makes it harder to get a final mix sounding good on monitors when done. I'm also trying to mix on my headphones (Shure SRH440), but it doesn't sound that great on speakers.

I've come across lots of people recommending using a reference track, as suggested by Adrian-Marq. Also, I would suggest to read yourself up on your headphones. Are they bass heavy? how are the mids? is the treble pronounced or cut short? This could help you in the process of making it sound better on other systems.
 
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the m50 has a V shape curve, not flat.
srh440 is one of the flattest headphones beside grado for price.
But monitors are not as flat as headphones in general. Even the flat monitors can push a lot of low end.

I do not recommend bose, my dad had those once and he went right to klipsch lol. You have to get used to the differences between each headphone/speaker though.
Mix relatively flat.Basically try to keep all the levels somewhat around eachother in terms of loudness unless you're going for something else in the moment.
 
You'll always have issues mixing just on headphones. If you absolutely must use headphones just make sure you're referencing your mix on various speakers to hear how it translates.
 
Are u compressing too hard on the masterbuss? jus curious...i notice that its hard to hear subtle compression changes in headphones for me..would u like me to take a stab at it for you?
 
i use the same thing.. but they don't sound as bad as you make them on speakers.. maybe it's your speakers but i usually try to find a medium range where i'm happy with the mix between the speakers and headphones..
 
ur using them to mix and master thats not good , reference inn ur headphones and back and forth with the bose till u get studio monitors trust u need them ''
 
BRBeatz that's just something you're going to have to get used to, I use meh Logitech speakers, my studio headphones, and some iPod ear buds to test the mix and see how it sounds. I recommend exporting your song and listening to it in your car too, even if your car speakers are factory crap ones like mine. You get used to how tracks sound through one set of speakers so mix it up
 
I'd say the same as EricBS. I use Beyerdynamics DT990 to mix and Sennheiser HD8 as reference while still mixing. I then export the track, and convert it to MP3, and listen to the mix on my Adam x5 monitors, the computer speakers, in the car and on my fathers stereo.

Whenever I notice something on one of the speakers, I try to change it and go through it all once again untill I'm stuck and my ears are bleeding.

I usually bounce 10-20 mixes before thinking I can't do more with that particular mix :)
 
My experience is kind of different. I use the ath-m50x and I can get my mixes how I want them. I have two pair of monitors krk rp8’s and krk vtx6’s. The vtx are the better monitors by a long shot.

Even still when using my atx-m50 headphones for mixing then taking them off and turning up the rokits I'm not having a night and day mixing experience. The headphone mixes and rokits sound like they both have the same mother lol. The rokits sound like what I was mixing in the headphones the imaging, balance, eq, panning etc. Only thing I would need to do is cut the bass slightly due to the rokit 8’s having the large cabinets and being bassy and also its not the easiest thing to get really deep lows with headphones when it comes to hearing vs feeling.

Most ppl will give the rokits shit because they aren't as accurate as others, but I say really learn what you have and learn its strengths and weaknesses. I been using the ath-m50x for a few months and I could pull it off. What I had difficulty doing was using the Presonus HD7 headphones that come bundled with their interfaces. They sounded good as far as imaging and mid and high, I couldn't get the bass frequencies right though. That's only using the headphones. When I pull them off and turn up the monitor gain on my interface... Its depression lol. Nothing was how I laid it out...panning was way off, lacked bass, imaging was too far back, sloppiness. I've tried several times. I'm only saying this because people have one messed up experience and make it their rule overall to say you shouldn't, it won't sound this way, etc based off their bad experience and you do need to try before taking someone's opinion and making it your own.
 
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Lol welcome to the world of production. Any producer that takes their craft seriously will always switch to different set ups to see the difference in sound, it comes with the territory. It doesn't sound like you're having much of a problem with your daw or headphones, unless there's been color added to it, like beats/SMS/any headphone you'll get at walmart, like me, half the time I mix with my iphone headphones just because they're on me at all times, and just because I've been doing it long enough I'm able to put out a pretty clean mix with them. Are you cutting frequencies that aren't needed in your mix? Cutting all highs out of bass track, most of the highs and anything below 40hz on your kicks, all lows from hats and cymbals, etc. turn off all limiters and cut frequencies that aren't needed or used to free up sound then things won't sound muddy. Compression can give a muddy sound also. Send me a message and I can help you out.
 
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