Good sound thru monitors...bad in car?

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Popnfrsh24
Posts: 78
Joined: 02 Feb 2019
Location: Indianapolis, IN

17 Mar 2019

Hey there,

Still a n00b here with Reason. I have been farting around just getting familiar with Reason, and I made a quick little song to see how it sounds overall. I put something together real quick...played it thru the monitors and it sounded mixed together pretty well. It sounded pretty even thru my Rokit Monitors. I bounced it and played it on my computer, and it sounded fine. I've played it thru my janky ass speakers on my phone, and seems good.

But when I got into my car, it just sounds wayyy out of whack! Everything seems out of order. I played it thru my girlfriends car and it sounded even worse! I sent it thru my friend and he said the same thing...sounds fine when he plays it thru his speakers but sounds thin when in his car.

Does anybody have any suggestions on what to do? Is there some certain "method" to go about making sure the mix will sound good thru all mediums?

I just have a simple beat through Kong, and a few instruments and a few vox tracks. When played in the car...it seems like the Kong seems really thin and not cutting well thru the mix. All I've done is just EQ'd all tracks to what I think sounds good, and slapped on a few compressors. Do I need to add something more to the Kong?

If needed, I can upload my track in a bit when I am back at home.

Thanks,

Pop

PhillipOrdonez
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17 Mar 2019

Learn how to mix and master.

Improve your studio acoustics and or double check on headphones.

Radical idea: try to mix it in the car so it sounds good there and see how that translates to other places?

Test it on as many sound systems you can and try different settings until you find one that sounds good in all speakers.

You can try to upload it to SoundCloud and we can give you some pointers as well

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guitfnky
Posts: 4408
Joined: 19 Jan 2015

17 Mar 2019

probably the biggest issue most new mixers will encounter is fighting the sound of a bad room. listening is a physical experience. the sounds that come from your speakers bounce off surfaces before they reach your ears, and often that clouds what you’re hearing, and makes proper mix decisions difficult.

I’d suggest getting a copy if Mike Senior’s excellent book on mixing, called Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio. it covers pretty much everything you’ll need to get started in mixing, and has some great info on how to properly set up and treat a room for mixing.

if you’ve got budgetary constraints, the cheapest solution will be to continue as you are, making sure to listen to your mixes on many different sets of speakers in different scenarios, and go back and tweak your mixes accordingly. obviously this can get much more time consuming, since you’re not making mix choices on the fly—you’re listening in the car, for example, then saying “oh, that low end sounds way too weak”, then going back into the studio, making your tweaks, then having to check again in the car to see if the change did what you wanted.

a bit of money invested in proper room setup and treatment will go a huge distance for you. it’s not as sexy as buying a nice set of professional monitors or a new microphone, but it’s way more important. I like to think of the room as the foundation of a mix. if you’re in a bad room, your foundation will be very shaky, and you’ll have to do a lot of work to make the mix stable.
I write good music for good people

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NekujaK
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Joined: 09 Oct 2016
Location: USA

17 Mar 2019

Getting mixes to translate from your studio to other environments is one of the most challenging aspects of mixing (and mastering). I struggled with it for years, as have many others.

In addition to all the good advice mentioned already, I suggest you compare your track to one or more reference tracks as you mix. Just take some songs from your favorite artists that are in a similar musical style to yours, and flip back and forth between your track and those songs as you mix. Try to match the overall sonic profile of the reference tracks. Not only will this help you to zero in on the sound you want, but it will also train your ears to listen critically a mix.
wreaking havoc with :reason: since 2.5
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Boombastix
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17 Mar 2019

Learn how the speaker translate to different environments. Find a drum loop that sounds good in the car and on monitors. Make a REX out of it and dissect each element until you get it...
It is usually problem with the bass. It has to be very precise to work inside a box (car). The overall mid-range is typically a problem too, a fix is just a wide band EQ and a 3dB change.
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nscerri
Posts: 116
Joined: 01 Apr 2015
Location: Malta

18 Mar 2019

Hi,

One very important trick that helps you with this problem is to mix in mono, and confirm if all the sounds are still audible and with the expected intensity.

Props have shared a tutorial and it has really help me alot in making better mix decisions.



Hope this helps you as well.

Noel

Popnfrsh24
Posts: 78
Joined: 02 Feb 2019
Location: Indianapolis, IN

18 Mar 2019

Thanks for all the pointers! Ill def check out that video i love the videos he posts!

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guitfnky
Posts: 4408
Joined: 19 Jan 2015

18 Mar 2019

mixing in mono is a really great tool, but it's not going to help you fix the problems caused by mixing in an improperly-treated room. weird room resonances, etc. will cloud mix decisions regardless of whether you're mixing in mono or stereo.
I write good music for good people

https://slowrobot.bandcamp.com/

danc
Posts: 1017
Joined: 14 Oct 2016

18 Mar 2019

guitfnky wrote:
18 Mar 2019
mixing in mono is a really great tool, but it's not going to help you fix the problems caused by mixing in an improperly-treated room. weird room resonances, etc. will cloud mix decisions regardless of whether you're mixing in mono or stereo.
MIXING requires 100s of hours of practice. Just like learning to play an instrument. Invest HUGE amounts of time in it. There are no short-cuts. Plus be careful what advice you listen to.

For example: Hugely important is the perceived volume of each part of the frequency spectrum at difference volume levels - mid to high seem to be louder than lower/higher regions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour

I recommend the video courses at Dance Music Production.

https://dancemusiccourses.com/product/d ... al-mixing/
Check my Soundcloud:

Nielsen
Posts: 100
Joined: 05 Nov 2017
Location: Denmark

18 Mar 2019

Popnfrsh24 wrote:
17 Mar 2019
Does anybody have any suggestions on what to do? Is there some certain "method" to go about making sure the mix will sound good thru all mediums?
In case it's mostly your low frequencies that translate badly to other listening systems, you may be able to minimize the problem by applying hi-pass filters on instruments that don't rely on low frequencies. For example, does your bright synth leads rumble in the low frequencies without audible purpose? Check channel EQ graphics for clues. Low frequency rumble like this can create mix mud when repeated across multiple channels that are predominantly intended for the higher frequencies. Just don't overdo the hi-passing as doing so can drain a mix of life and warmth.

Testing a mix in different environments and then tweak accordingly is all part of the process though. Even the most experienced producers and engineers do it no matter how good their studio monitoring environment is. Using reliable monitors in a properly treated room is a time saver, but not a shortcut.
Last edited by Nielsen on 18 Mar 2019, edited 1 time in total.

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aeox
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Location: Oregon

18 Mar 2019

Popnfrsh24 wrote:
17 Mar 2019

If needed, I can upload my track in a bit when I am back at home.


Pop
Do this

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MarkTarlton
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Location: Santa Rosa, CA

18 Mar 2019

in my opinion the trick is learning how to listen. speakers won't help you if you don't have a reference in your brain that you understand from years of active and critical listening. it doesn't hurt to import professional tracks into your mix session noting that they have been mastered, so the levels need to be adjusted, but this might be the best place to start. listen to tracks you love as much as possible on your mixing rig, notice how the meters move during vocals and instrumentals...what are the loudest parts....you can't have a formula on db levels and expect the music to sound good, it doesn't work that way, but it's a good idea to understand that when you are tracking and preparing your session before mixing starts, in terms of headroom

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nscerri
Posts: 116
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Location: Malta

18 Mar 2019

Popnfrsh24 wrote:Thanks for all the pointers! Ill def check out that video i love the videos he posts!
Yep it is one of the best videos that Props ever posted :)

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napynap
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Location: Palmdale, CA
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19 Mar 2019

Some CAR stereos will have separate tone settings for each input. For example, the FM radio will have a bass/mid/treble setting different than the AUX input. Also, some have built in compressor/loudness style functions to deal with road noise. Those features could possibly be contributing to a mix that sounds way different in the car than in your studio.
visit http://www.napynap.com to learn more about me. Thank you.

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boingy
Posts: 791
Joined: 01 Feb 2019

19 Mar 2019

You need to get this (free) VST plug-in:

https://www.tb-software.com/TBProAudio/ISOL8.html

It lets you solo different parts of the audio spectrum. Use it on your full mix and on individual tracks. You'll be shocked at how much sound energy is coming from, typically, the low end of tracks you consider to be mid or upper range!

Cut out all the unwanted bass sound and you are half way there (the other half of mixing I consider to be a mixture of magic, luck and voodoo - try selling your soul to a dodgy geezer down at the crossroads).

Popnfrsh24
Posts: 78
Joined: 02 Feb 2019
Location: Indianapolis, IN

22 Mar 2019

aeox wrote:
18 Mar 2019
Popnfrsh24 wrote:
17 Mar 2019

If needed, I can upload my track in a bit when I am back at home.


Pop
Do this
Here ya go...I just re-mixed it here. I thought the vocals were a bit too loud and i messed with some EQ of the tracks. I just bounced it, and I feel like maybe my pizzicato strings are getting a little muddled still? Haven't listened to this new version in my car yet...

FAIR WARNING, this isn't a real song at all. Literally just ad libbed this whole song just to get familiar with EQ and mixing. :mrgreen:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12M_seq ... sp=sharing

Thanks,

Pop

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napynap
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23 Mar 2019

I think the pizzicato strings chords are heavy in the 400hz range which is putting a blanket over the initial verse vocal. Cut that back a bit to get the vocal to pop out. You may have to turn the vocal up just a tad as well.
visit http://www.napynap.com to learn more about me. Thank you.

Popnfrsh24
Posts: 78
Joined: 02 Feb 2019
Location: Indianapolis, IN

23 Mar 2019

Also, while I'm talking about this song....the way I did the B-B-Better was to just use the NNXT sampler and sampled my own voice saying "better". I was surprised to find out that when I closed the program and re-opened it, it did not save my sample vocal. Is there a way for it to save and automatically keep it so that I open the project up it will still have it there?

Thanks

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O1B
Posts: 2037
Joined: 26 Jan 2015

23 Mar 2019



The first time that happened to me... i uploaded to youtube, then went on vacation, unpacked,
and had a listen....
;) :| :shock: :shock:
OUCH!!! That was my last upload to youtube/anywhere.

I really only started to LEARN... that day.
I've been in the dungeon tinkering ever since.

Image
Popnfrsh24 wrote:
17 Mar 2019

But when I got into my car, it just sounds wayyy out of whack! Everything seems out of order. I played it thru my girlfriends car and it sounded even worse! I sent it thru my friend and he said the same thing...sounds fine when he plays it thru his speakers but sounds thin when in his car.

Thanks,

Pop

Heinz57
Posts: 1
Joined: 12 Feb 2019

23 Mar 2019

I was researching this last week and I saw these mentioned in a thread on another forum last week. I havent bought them yet, still just thinking "maybe".

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... etro-cream

They come in black too

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