Mix sounds fine on monitors?bad on ipod headphones.

[vivalastblues]

I'm having a weird problem with a mix that someone else did for me, where it sounds fine on monitors, but as soon as I put it on an iPhone and listen through those great-sounding *cough* Apple earpods, it sounds super bright and lacks all low end and low mids.

The solution to this should be obvious except that other similar-sounding records sound fine, and still have bass and no crazy top end. What is going on here? I'm stumped. Would prefer not to post samples of this stuff publicly unless necessary.

Thanks!

[A.David.MacKinnon]

My first guess would be phase issues but that would be way more evident on speakers than headphones. Have you tried listening in mono to see if anything weird happens?

[vivalastblues]

Mono on the speakers? I'll give it a go.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

Also, check it with phase scope or meter (on the console or as a plug) if you've got one.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

if you wanna pm me the mix i'll check it in the studio here.

[JWL]

I run into this a lot, with mixes that were done in untreated rooms. It has to do with the balance of the bass and the midbass, and more specifically the balance between the fundamentals (of, say, the kick drum and the bass) as well as the overtones.

If the mix engineer can't hear bass accurately (which is the case in untreated rooms) it's really hard to get this balance right.

More here: http://realtraps.com/art_basics.htm

[Nick Sevilla]

Yep.

Mixing ain't for p%^&sies.

This problem is typical of amateur mixes, or mixes with problems in the low end area.

Without really listening to the mix itself, I would guess like JWL, that inaccurate room was at fault.

Cheers

[vivalastblues]

if you wanna pm me the mix i'll check it in the studio here.

Ill send you a track

[JWL]

Mixing ain't for p%^&sies.

Nick, I hope this will be the title of your book on mixing....?

[drumsound]

Mixing ain't for p%^&sies.

Nick, I hope this will be the title of your book on mixing....?

I'd buy it!

[drumsound]

I'm having a weird problem with a mix that someone else did for me, where it sounds fine on monitors, but as soon as I put it on an iPhone and listen through those great-sounding *cough* Apple earpods, it sounds super bright and lacks all low end and low mids.

The solution to this should be obvious except that other similar-sounding records sound fine, and still have bass and no crazy top end. What is going on here? I'm stumped. Would prefer not to post samples of this stuff publicly unless necessary.

Thanks!

You say other things (I assume commercial releases) sound fine on your earbuds. How do those same mixes sound on your monitors? That can, hopefully, help you determine what is going down in your room.

[vivalastblues]

I'm having a weird problem with a mix that someone else did for me, where it sounds fine on monitors, but as soon as I put it on an iPhone and listen through those great-sounding *cough* Apple earpods, it sounds super bright and lacks all low end and low mids.

The solution to this should be obvious except that other similar-sounding records sound fine, and still have bass and no crazy top end. What is going on here? I'm stumped. Would prefer not to post samples of this stuff publicly unless necessary.

Thanks!

You say other things (I assume commercial releases) sound fine on your earbuds. How do those same mixes sound on your monitors? That can, hopefully, help you determine what is going down in your room.

The difference in the monitors should be the same as the difference on the ipod, right? But it's not, I can't reconcile the two. There might be other factors at play like listening at different volumes etc. It's hard to A/B that stuff I find.

[boid]

if you're comparing different tracks for sound you sure want to match the levels first.
esp. when listening to mastered vs unmastered songs.

what's weird is that you say it sounds too bright.
usually it would sound too dull if you're listen to it quietly imo...

[JWL]

The difference in the monitors should be the same as the difference on the ipod, right? But it's not, I can't reconcile the two. There might be other factors at play like listening at different volumes etc. It's hard to A/B that stuff I find.

The monitors will be colored by the room they are in, both when you listen to the tracks, and also for the mix engineer in his/her room. If I had to guess it was probably the mix engineer's room giving him fits, but again that's just an educated guess.