Mixing to 5.1 Home Systems

dhughes · 23rd January 2006

Hello,

I'm mixiing a "New Age" album that's final production will be a 5.1 DTS CD. I've heard about 6 or 7 home surround systems before (all in the modest range <$900) and they all seem to be bass enhanced.

Is this consist with your experience and do higher end home theatre systems also have this bias?

Legacy · 23rd January 2006

Hi Darin,

I know what you mean. The bass can really be exaggerated on a lot of the sub+ satellite systems. I'm not sure if they are made this way or ifit is just poor calibration (or owners preference...) although I did notice that one system still sounded bass enhanced with the sub set at one click above off.

I think the only thing you can do to maximise consistency is to put little to nothing in the actual .1 channel of your mix. Mix for 5 full range speakers and make sure that the bass sounds tight and controlled on them. Then of course check it on sub+satellite systems as well.

I definitely don't like the idea of mixing bass-shy to accomodate the crap 5.1 systems.

Best,
Silas

BruceTheProduce · 23rd January 2006

As far as I know ( for movies at least) 5.1 home systems lack of bass response on the 5 satellites. At at theatre each speaker can handle enough bass and the sub is dedicated to be for low freq sound FX ( big crashes, explotions ,etc ) at home the sub reproduces the bass of the satellites and the low freq sounds as well. For this, waves has a bass management plugin that you put on the master fader ( never to bounce with ) but to reference with until you mix it and then to take out. maybe here its where the bass freqs for all the speakers are summed and the bass response for home systems becomes a bit exagerated. ( that's my assumption)

I hope this helps

Bruce

jhg · 23rd January 2006

Some good information here:

http://www.dolby.com/assets/pdf/tech_library/38_LFE.pdf

Home setups can be easily (mis)configured with bass managment and the +10 boost combined. When the LFE is all explosions it's not as noticable as with music.

dhughes · 23rd January 2006

Thanks, all.

What a B. I should probably just leave the LFE send alone then.

23rd January 2006	#1
dhughes Gear addict Joined: Dec 2003 Location: Orlando Posts: 345 Thread Starter	Mixing to 5.1 Home Systems Hello, I'm mixiing a "New Age" album that's final production will be a 5.1 DTS CD. I've heard about 6 or 7 home surround systems before (all in the modest range <$900) and they all seem to be bass enhanced. Is this consist with your experience and do higher end home theatre systems also have this bias? __________________ Thanks! Darin My work: http://www.mcl.ucf.edu/people/dhughes.html My crappy band: http://www.myspace.com/happyvalleyband My crappy myspace: http://www.myspace.com/darinhughes

23rd January 2006	#2
Legacy Lives for gear Joined: Jan 2005 Location: NYC Posts: 635	Hi Darin, I know what you mean. The bass can really be exaggerated on a lot of the sub+ satellite systems. I'm not sure if they are made this way or ifit is just poor calibration (or owners preference...) although I did notice that one system still sounded bass enhanced with the sub set at one click above off. I think the only thing you can do to maximise consistency is to put little to nothing in the actual .1 channel of your mix. Mix for 5 full range speakers and make sure that the bass sounds tight and controlled on them. Then of course check it on sub+satellite systems as well. I definitely don't like the idea of mixing bass-shy to accomodate the crap 5.1 systems. Best, Silas __________________ Silas Brown Legacy Sound High-End Location Recording Legacy Mastering Mastering for classical, jazz, and acoustic music

23rd January 2006	#4
jhg Gear addict Joined: Aug 2005 Location: nyc Posts: 479	+10db boost Some good information here: http://www.dolby.com/assets/pdf/tech_library/38_LFE.pdf Home setups can be easily (mis)configured with bass managment and the +10 boost combined. When the LFE is all explosions it's not as noticable as with music.

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23rd January 2006	#3
BruceTheProduce Gear maniac Joined: Apr 2005 Location: Toronto Canada Posts: 184	As far as I know ( for movies at least) 5.1 home systems lack of bass response on the 5 satellites. At at theatre each speaker can handle enough bass and the sub is dedicated to be for low freq sound FX ( big crashes, explotions ,etc ) at home the sub reproduces the bass of the satellites and the low freq sounds as well. For this, waves has a bass management plugin that you put on the master fader ( never to bounce with ) but to reference with until you mix it and then to take out. maybe here its where the bass freqs for all the speakers are summed and the bass response for home systems becomes a bit exagerated. ( that's my assumption) I hope this helps Bruce