If a record sounds good in my room...does it mean it is good to mix in?

[studiogear]

Your views pls

[studiogear]

[okydoky]

Originally Posted by studiogear

Your views pls

hi,

interesting question. maybe its a good room to mix that record in.


right.

[magibatalla]

If you reference those good sounding records often while mixing your stuff, it will probably be. We must compensate for our monitoring response, anyway...

On the opposite, the fact that good recordings sound good in a given room, it doesn't mean you will be able to hear in a clear way all those subtle things which make those recordings great (reverb tails and that kind of things) and they will be hard to replicate by you in your own mixes.

If you have a nice sounding room, I'd say start mixing and see what you get. Then adjust from there.

[kafka]

Originally Posted by studiogear

If a record sounds good in my room...does it mean it is good to mix in?

I suppose I could be a snarky jerk and ask if this is really a "High end" question, but I'm not what one would consider "high end" myself, so that would be pretty disingenuous. I think maybe I'll just answer it "no", and let it go at that.

[studiogear]

So why do my mixes have a dip at around 4-5Khz....but when I try to compensate for that.. it always sounds harsh compared to records...and obviously they don't have a dip in that area

[Ethan Winer]

If a record sounds good in my room...does it mean it is good to mix in?

Short answer - No. Rooms have peaks and nulls at different bass frequencies. So that specific response may flatter one recording, but sound terrible on another tune that's in a different musical key.

--Ethan

[Clive Banks]

Short answer - No. Rooms have peaks and nulls at different bass frequencies. So that specific response may flatter one recording, but sound terrible on another tune that's in a different musical key.

whatt??
different musical key??
that's rubbish.

what if the song has a key change in it , does that mean one part will sound better than the other??



i would say if many records sound good in your room then it could be an appropriate room to mix in , keeping in mind mastered records are usually compressed alot or a little.

[preben]

Different key = different wavelengths = different peaks and nulls

Makes perfect sense really.

[rockstar_josh]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think a large part of mixing (and mastering) a song/record is so that it translates evenly and sounds balanced on all types of listening systems. In a perfect world, of course, but the point is that albums are supposed to sound more or less the same no matter where you listen to them. From experience, I have things to improve in my room. I've tested, I know it, it's a fact.... but I can listen to my CDs and think "Man that sounds great!" The effects come alive, the depth and space is incredible - because it's designed to sound that way.

The details and subtle effects that are part of the quality of the album won't be as apparent from room to room, so I guess you will be able to judge improvements in your room by listening to albums you're familiar with, but I don't think it's a benchmark to base the quality of your room for mixing by the sound of mastered professional products.

[Big_Bang]

Originally Posted by Clive Banks

whatt??
different musical key??
that's rubbish.

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA !!!!!


tutt - listen to the man...

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by rockstar_josh

I think a large part of mixing (and mastering) a song/record is so that it translates evenly and sounds balanced on all types of listening systems.

Exactly, and the best way to do that is to mix in a room that's perfectly flat. Most of us don't have anything even close to that, but it's still what we need to aim for. The quote below is from my Acoustics FAQ.

--Ethan

All rooms sound differently, both in their amount of liveness and their frequency response. If you create a mix that sounds good in your room, which has its own particular frequency response, it is likely to sound very different in other rooms. For example, if your room has a severe lack of deep bass, your mixes will probably contain too much bass as you incorrectly compensate based on what you are hearing. And if someone else plays your music in a room that has too much deep bass, the error will be exaggerated, and they will hear way too much deep bass. Therefore, the only practical solution is to make your room as accurate as possible so any variation others experience is due solely to the response of their room.

[narcoman]

Originally Posted by Clive Banks

whatt??
different musical key??
that's rubbish.

what if the song has a key change in it , does that mean one part will sound better than the other??



.

yes is certainly does...... Read up on modes and standing waves.....tutt

[greatgreatriver]

tutt Got to love this smiley

[Jack Ruston]

Yeah...It MIGHT mean that your room is good to mix in, provided that the song sounds good in a wide variety of other environments, and that the song is representative of a full range of frequencies. In other words, if the song is well mixed and sounds good, and it sounds good in a similar way in your room, chances are that your room is a good mix room. BUT it IS key dependant. It may be that your room is relatively flat around the fundamental of that song, but it doesn't mean that it's flat across the board.

J

[Eganmedia]

It means you're used to the way your room sounds. Enjoying someone else's mix in your room doesn't necessarily mean you can create a good one from scratch, but you'll never know 'til you try.

Whenever I get a rental car I *Hate* the way the stereo sounds. Every time. Usually after a few days I acclimate to it and stuff starts sounding tolerable.