Mixing Through TV speakers

[gsilbers]

there has been a few producers/directors that just want to monitor through TV speakers in the mix session cause "80% of the world listens TV through TV speakers. "

what your thoughts?

[JoeMilner]

"80% of the world" isn't writing you a check, so I'd say do whatever makes your producer/director happy :)
Having said that, it wouldn't hurt to pop the mix up on the larger speakers every now and again to check stuff.

[sailor]

If your producer wants to do the final approval screening on the TV speakers, that's fine. But you still need to mix on proper monitors so that you know what you're really getting. If the producer intends to sit in on the mix session for the whole duration and asks you to actually mix on the small TV speakers, then you need to stand your ground and insist on doing your critical work on the main monitors. There's too big a chance of missing something that could embarrass you later if you listen only through the small speakers.

[TVPostSound]

I mix through a set of JBL LSR6328s.
When the producers walk in to view the mix they want to hear it through Avantones.
I talked them out of mixing through the Vizio TV speakers as it has a bad 500hZ resonation.

There was one drama mixer I knew that would have a set of NS10Ms next to a TV, and would never mix through mains. They were mostly dialogue driven dramas, so that made sense.

That being said, no two TV speakers are alike, so you must find a proper reference.
I chose the Avantones.

When my shows air I have 3 TVs on in the house, 1 home theater, 1 42 inch flat panel in my office, and a 15" flat panel in the kitchen. I walk around the house to listen, drives the wife crazy!! Bu they translate.







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[TVPostSound]

Adding to sailor's comment, QC will bite you in the @$$, because TV speakers forgive a lot.








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[JoeMilner]

Everything they said ; I was just being flip :)
"TV Speakers" doesn't mean what it used to mean, some home theater setups can be extremely revealing!

[surflounge]

Triple P Designs Pyramid monitors use those "TV speakers"

95% of people listen to music in their cars or on a cheap home stereo. If your mix doesn't sound good on a pair of small speakers, what's the point? A pair of $10,000 powered monitors may sound pristine, but no one else has them, so you're more likely to have a translation problem.

[sailor]

Not saying it isn't smart to have a set of "real world" speakers to check a mix on, especially if the client asks for it. Just saying there are some things you can properly evaluate only on larger "reference" systems -- low-end problems, for one -- that should not be disregarded just because most people will *probably* not hear the difference on whatever speaker system they may have.

[emf1138]

I mix on JBL LSR 4328s in the morning and will playback on Auratones in the afternoon. Many clients want to hear on the "TV speakers" only. As I am mixing for TV, I'll push dialog and music differently than on a feature, so it may give a producer a false sense of what they're hearing on the "bigs" as it would translate to small TV speakers. I also have 15" samsung LCD flat screens that I will playback on that give a REAL crappy sense of "TV-ness". Some of the producers I work with have "trained" themselves to listen on the Mains for the 1st playback and then on the LCDs/Auratones for a final run.

[philper]

We used to mix all our Disney Channel etc shows on a pair of JBL Control Micros--basically Auratones with extended freq response. That worked fine in the late 1980s and '90s. Nowadays the same show might play on both a small "kitchen TV" AND a large home theatre system in the same home! So it is important to know what is "up" and "down" there. Anymore I like to do MY mixes on my hi-rez PMC monitors. When the director comes over we can listen to whatever they want--incl the JBLs mentioned above or a mono TV speaker. Most of them opt to stay with the PMCs.

Philip Perkins

[D'Animation]

I do my own mix on Genelecs, get everything right (and as someone above pointed out, do all the QC stuff cause you will miss it on a tv!) and then do a pass on a tv and adjust as required (usually lowend fixes and bringing up fx). Our Directors/producers always playback via the tv (Panasonic 42" plasma) and so far they translate well - even on my Samsung LCD which has appalling speakers!!
D

[ruy]

i hope they don't ask whoever does on-line or color correction for them to do the same thing for picture.

[robcap]

I mix on 4328s as well. Some producers are used to the sound and are OK with it - others prefer a final review on our LCD TV speakers. I make all content decisions on the JBLs and do most of the mixing on them. I do a 'soft level' pass sometimes in stero and/or mono on the JBLs to check general balances and also do the same on our LCDs.

I find less experienced producers will tend to ask the music levels to be undermixed when monitoring on the JBLs - I would then flip to the LCDs to alleviate their fears.

By the way - shut off all the crappy audio junk on the LCD before mixing - you know, 'surround enhancement', bass enhancement, etc. They are ineffective and are basically marketing features, in my opinion at least! With producers checking mixes at home on DVD approval copies, better get them to do the same!

Checking multiple sources as others have suggested is the best way to go. Some producers are now also concerned how the show sounds on their laptops... I once noticed some foley footsteps popping out of one of my mixes - only noticeable on the laptop at first of course...

Thumbs up to Aurotones - I have had them before and should get them again.

[RScott]

If it works for you and gets the check paid, then you're welcome to continue doing it.

I would rather mix to monitors that tell me everything and then check on a low-quality system for reference afterward. Your experience double-checking will inform you enough about how the mix is going to translate even wen you are working on your reference monitors.

But your reference monitors are going to tell you so much more about your sound than a low-quality system. If HD video is going to be played mostly on SD systems, do you presume that the shooting, editing, color correction, etc are going to be done in Standard Def to make sure that it is done right for the majority of viewers? Not knowing much about that process, I am assuming that quality is maintained throughout the pipeline and the end product is checked at a low resolution as needed for reference.

Losing out on one thing in order to check for another is not a good way to listen to your entire mix, IMO.

[Fajita]

Originally Posted by TVPostSound

Bu they translate.

I watch your shows and they sound great!


I also use the Triple P designs Pyramids at work and I love them.

[gsilbers]

"check the mix with good speakers" well duh

Of course i have to do that as well as making the producers happy.

Moving on.....

[sailor]

well, you asked....

I think we all agree (at least those of us working mainly in the TV world) that checking our work on more than one system is wise. Gotta give the client both what they want and what they need -- even if they're usually mostly interested in the former.

[Jfriah]

Questions have been answered, opinions given, but

I can only assume this is for the final approval/playback for your clients/producers, since they don't normally sit in on the entire mix of a project.

Yeah, playback on whatever 'they' want to listen to.
I've had to play stuff back at about 62dB for clients who wanted to make sure the DIA was still front and centre and got concerned when they could hear other sound elements at louder mix volumes.

[hoodwinked]

I do all dialog editing and most of the mixing through my Dynaudio BM5A pair, but I always do a pass on my cheap Vizio LCD TV speakers for reference.

Since I started doing that, I feel my mixes translate better to other televisions and on my cheapie theater system at home. As others have said, you will definitely miss things through TV speakers if thats the only way you are monitoring, but I think its a good step to ensure a better translation to consumer systems.