Last week, for a single, I had the option to choose (with the artist) from 4 mixes: main mix, vocal up 1dB, vocal down 1dB and vocal down 2dB.
Purely for temporary monitoring I ran it via a quick analogue EQ set up and a stupid amount of limiting. After careful comparisons it was clear the main mix was the one to run with, as the vocal on the other mixes either felt too "on top" or too distant.
Backed right off on the loudness side of things, fine tuned the EQ and the result sounds huge, 'in your face' yet nicely 'tied in'. It's a rare thing to have to do but if vocal balance is really in question it's a key issue and a fine line.
In the end, put more emphasis (no pun intended) on making it sound
right, and let radio (a vastly moving target anyway) make it sound like radio. Plug-in, shmug-in.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by mhartung I do understand that radio stations all try to have their own sound so there is no one size fits all. |
Exactly (and worth repeating).