This is a post of mine from another recent thread. Here is an example of HarBals use:
The controversy about HarBal, especially here at GS, is hilarious to me. Theres really no other way that better ensures that your mix will sound good, balanced, and as spacious as a similiar recordings in the genre your trying to produce. To anyone who says, "Oh, just use your ears" theres this simple fact: Every listening environment is different. Wouldnt you like to use a filter on your music that has been
proven to succeed in multiple environments and on multiple speakers?
I could repeat that.
It simply lets you align frequencies to songs from genres and songs similiar to what your trying to create. And theres nothing in the world wrong with that.
After I heard the results first hand, it was an instant sale for me. And to ZERO surprise, now all my music sounds a lot better when played over loud sound systems and I thank HarBal for that.
Also, Im not the guy to attribute any "lack of talent" reasons for liking HarBal, so please...dont.
My comments are left for and meant for anyone considering using HarBal. Its a thumbs up from me. Maybe theres something I simply dont know about it, but when my productions as well as another guy that I produce sound better over large sound systems, I know something is going right
USAGE: We play Reggae music through very large sound systems ~ being able to visually see the bass frequency response to songs similar to ours, we can very easily predict and control the bass frequencies of our own tracks so they sound just as full as other commercial productions also played through the same system. And thats just matching the low end. Being able to visually see how other songs peak in the high range, also lets someone better control their own high end. Every "mix" is of course different and rarely, if ever, do you match your own song
exactly to the Source file.
But it sure tells you "Look, dude. Here's the High Freq. response for this song youve heard for years through many different speakers. Going much higher or much lower than this would be a dumb move." I personally like the things HarBal says to me in that regard, lol. I certainly feel better prepared and confident knowing I can, once I have a good mix, have a great shot at getting my frequencies in at least a very similar ballpark to other successful songs in that genre.
EDIT: Its very much worth adding this: My listening environment and overall monitoring is not....good. Indeed, I can make mixes that people marvel at on my current speakers/setup. However, I think HarBal may very well be a more functional tool for people in my situation, with less than perfect monitoring capabilities. It certainly gives me a great shot at balancing and controlling frequencies I simply CANT control due to my current setup. Hope that makes sense and is seen as valid to any skeptics.