DO IT! DO IT! :-) Seriously, I would encourage you to try any of them. I really love to get them into the hands of people. They really do change lives, approaches and outcomes. They are the most useful things I have ever done. Moneyback guarantee too. If you think I’m over selling it, just ask for a refund and you’ll get it. I’ll never even find out about it either. Best wishes, Justin Ps: Thanks so much for the kind words!
I've been struggling with mixing for maybe 8 years. in the middle of 2022 I decided I either had to upgrade monitors and get room treatment or buy decent headphones. I'm glad I bought a pair of headphones (AT r70x) and since that day I've used them for everything, tv shows, music, mixing, sfx, gaming. They sounded SO weird at first but now I feel like I understand them and my mixes are starting to translate with the help of focusing on 150hz to 8khz. I literally have been sticking a Q2 with a hpf and lpf on the master track for the first half of mixing a song. That combined with using a frequency analyser to confirm or deny my hunches on what frequencies I am hearing has changed everything. I feel like I'm finally getting consistent outcomes. I only use my monitors as a reference to check what it sounds like in open air and the dynamics of instruments but rarely trust the EQ balance from my monitors any more.
@@SonicScoop ditto the guy. I've had to use Verum One for everything. It turned out that my main income is mastering now :D Had to relocate because of war in Ukraine to someplace less dangerous for couple months. Left my studio with all the stuff. Was heartbreaking at the time. But it turned out, that good HPs and newer MacBook do wonders to productivity. I went back home to my studio later. And I do like options now. Good headphones revealed stereo image to me, I never understood how it works, until I've spent enough time with these HPs. EQing now isn't wild guess, its really precise. Even with stock M1 MBA headphone socket, its crazy! The only thing I missed was subwoofer
actually headphone frequency response is usually pretty wacky or, odd like your first impression. why not still use both that and some monitors too? i bought kali audio bc erin’s audio corned reviewed them, a person that tests speakers w sophisticated instruments and reveals data. they aren’t perfect but we’ll do you know the fr graph of those headphones?
Thank you for making and posting this. I’m a novice mixer with only a couple of sporadic years of experience trying to improve our church service audio on TouTube. I’ve been using a $99 pair of Presonus monitors in a room about 14’ x14’. There’s office equipment and a table in the room, concrete floor and bare walls. I’ve had terrible translation problems where the result isn’t even close. Yesterday I moved my setup to the garage with the speakers just inside the open garage door and pointing out. The mix didn’t sound that different but I was able to hear several issues I couldn’t before. It translates SO much better now. It stilll doesn’t work in all devices but this experiment taught me that the idea of the good space is much more important than I believed.
What helped me was the part where you talk about the importance of low midrange as part of the bass signal. Terming it as helping carry the weight of the bass tone, not just low frequencies, hit home and made sense. That’s it’s not just about bass translating to small speakers, but also overall bass tone, and better overall tonal balance.
I was one of those that resisted using references for a long time. When I started doing it it really trained my ears for the mid-range and was the best thing I did. I often use CLA mixes of American Rejects songs. Fantastic video! I watched the entire thing.
So great to hear Mike! CLA himself references. Heard him talk about it in a interview once. Surprising similar thoughts on it! You’ve got to tune your ears, body and mind every day. -Justin
Great video Justin - I will watch this again. Translation of mixes to multiple systems has always been my number 1 challenge. As you point out at the end, a lot of these core ideas I have heard before but over many years from many sources - but you brought it all together in such a cohesive, structured and logical way that it has really sunk in now. Thanks for reminding me of the reasons to focus on the mids - like many producers I get too fixated on the top and bottom end. You also brought back memories of me being reluctant to use referencing - years ago my attitude was "What's the point of comparing my mix to a commercial release? I won't know how to fix it anyway!" Now my attitude is "Let me check it against these 3 or 4 commercial tracks so I can go back and forth over and over, making adjustments until I get my mix sounding better!"
I'm bummed out that I missed it live this time. I decided to check out your full length courses again after quite awhile. I took advantage of an offer to get discounted price, for the mixing breakthroughs course, and then it offered another discount to add on the mastering demystified course. I went ahead and purchased both, and I have zero doubts about the effectiveness they will have based on all the great info I've always gathered from your UA-cam content. I figured it's time to stop investing in software and gear, and finally invest in the proper knowhow. Wish me luck, though I doubt I will need it.
These are really good podcasts! Wish I'd watched when they came out😆✌️. I'm into hard rock with natural sounding drums, guitars etc, and often use the "isolated" drums and guitar parts for songs on UA-cam, such as Foo Fighter "Monkey Wrench". I "volume match" and simulate the tones quite easily and then the mix comes together swiftly. It's interesting as the stereo isolated guitars don't often sound the same as in the final master, but by matching them, you can get much closer! All the best🤠🚀
Cant wait to hear about the Neumann and all the headphone shootouts! almost impossible for the common man to check out all these awesome options. Keep us posted! Great video Justin, thank you!!!
Great podcast and experienced advice. 'FEAR' of listening to your mix in the outside world and the 'FEAR' of listening to reference tracks. We have ALL been there and the reason we FEAR is because it immediately sucks out all your creativity and desire when the ref tracks are just wayyyy beyond what you are working on, or you listen to your own mix in the outside world and it sounds so cheap and amateur, or WORSE, at first you think it sounds pretty good in the outside world, then you play a label released track, and suddenly you think, "WHAT'S THE POINT! WHY BOTHER! ETC ETC In my experience, the trick is DONT WAIT! Listen to ref tracks BEFORE you start a mix and frequently throughout the process. Also, listen to early stages of your mix in the outside world - DONE WAIT and keep the shock level to an absolute minimum, and also, it will give you a ayy better end result.
I’m so excited about finding my new room! I’ve already invested in true to transducer monitoring components! Sonar, treatment, software… Etc. carpentry ✅check! Where is that magical room? Most of my gear now is in storage… Waiting to be unboxed and treat/tested! How exciting is this! Wish me luck guys I need to find a room!
I’m trying my brother! All the building I’ve been doing lately has been in the studio… Which is where I need to be! But it was a means to an end! I grabbed those Audezee MM 500s.. and I’m using the auratones as well. I have another pair.. but I need my room! At least I’m able to track most parts! Vocals are kind of difficult… Which sucks because I’m a singer! But I’m also a guitar player! So I’m getting a lot of that done, alongside practice! Once I get done tracking, brother, I’m taking your classes, which will be very soon! TANNER10, I’m in!
Great advice when it comes to focusing on the mid-range so that we don't have to guess if our low's are being heard on different size speakers or as small as a phone. Thank you!
You also need to make sure you buy monitors or speakers with the lows, mids and high ranges included. Some people think that their getting a deal but they don't realize one of the ranges are not included.
Thanks Justin! Midrange advice is golden, as is learning whatever environment you are in. For folks: Metric A / B plugin is a great way to compare apples and apples, level matched, same environment 👍
After 20 years of producing digitally, I still sometimes get a panic attack before checking it in the car. Though I started the whole rabbit hole of actual engineering audio in 2019; my mixes are finally getting there. Still have a lot of room to improve. btw, great video! Real talk here.
“When to go left of a reference, when to steer towards a reference” really resonated with me. Some stuff I really like catching on the radio is is: 1. Shania Twain. 2. Common Go. 3. Metallica black album (can’t get away from that) 4. Some new stuff like the new Ghost songs have a really interesting snare punch and/or splat. Basically listening for what’s trending on the radio in the brand new age, if I really like, I’ll Shazam it on my phone, then take a quick screen shot and check it out on my monitors later
Listen! I got the mixing breakthroughs. I don't know how to say thank you, except I've recommended it to all my friends. Thank you, thank you, thank you.! It's amazing.
Setting up my room with self build room treatment (based on measurements and calculations) plus setting up my main monitors properly and adding Auratone copies as a reference changed my mixing extremely. And I am still going on doing analytics and critical listing for reference more and more and I am improving further, I just notice myself getting more dialed in.
Purchasing studio equipment is like building show quality vintage motorcycles. For hobbyists, you can spend 50% of the money to get 80-85% of the way to an acceptable, DIY sound. Where it will really cost you is TIME. You’ll spend way more time getting good results with a setup that’s “pretty good” instead of ideal. For example, it takes a LOT of time to learn how to get a good mix in an untreated room. Tons of time can be spent making test mixes that sound way off on other sources because of this one factor. Some of us at the hobby level don’t have a ton of money to spend on stuff just to record our own band. So if you have the extra time to burn, you can get by If you’re doing this as a professional, you don’t have the time to spend dealing with lower cost equipment.
I use cla 10s and agree that they make U focus on the mids. Cant afford the major treatment and stuff but my mixes have alway traveled pretty well. Used to have ns 10s(3 pair over a lifetime) and now have cla10s. same difference, haha! BTW Justin, I just became a member. Just because you deserve it. Peace
Question: you explained why NS10s and Aurotones work. It's because they make you focus on the midrange. But why isn't the same thing true of Sennheiser headphones? You said you wouldn't want them as your primary mixing headphones because of the lack of low end. But if they have a very balanced and clear midrange, wouldn't that be a great argument for using them as your primary headphones? I ask because I use Sennheiser HD650 headphones as my main mixing headphones. I then check my mix and adjust the low end with a pair of Avantree Audition Bluetooth headphones. They're really cheap and have a dull high end, but they have great low end and I've listened to thousands of hours of music on them. Isn't what I'm doing exactly the process people who use NS10s are doing, just in headphones instead of speakers? By the way, it's working for me so far. My mixes are translating well. They still suck...but in predictable ways. Anyway, love the new format. Keep them coming, please!
Thanks for the kind words Rome! I actually wondered the same thing about what I said after I said it 😅 I could have said it more clearly, but what I mean is this: If I were using headphones as a *primary* reference (especially in my context of mastering) the HD600s would be too light in the lows for me to rely on. For my work, I could’t take them on the road and make final decisions about lows on them. This would be much less of a problem if they were meant to serve as a secondary reference to complement a system that already gave you some useful information about lows, and it would be less of a problem in mixing than in mastering. That said, yes! Using bass light headphones and just focusing on the midrange would be preferable to horrible lows on speakers in an untreated room that you haven’t figured out. So that is also true at the same time. I don’t think they are mutually exclusive. But IMHO, one potential benefit of headphones over speakers-at lower price points in particular-is that they can potentially offer more reliable low end for a lower investment, if you choose appropriately. But if you can’t get low end you trust, stressing about it less for the moment and just focusing more on the midrange until your listening situation improves is a great call. So I believe both those things at once: Strive to get the best low end you can for the long run, but if bad lows are hurting more then helping, filtering them out can be helpful for now. Hope that makes sense! -Justin
I copied Sonarworks EQ curve (for HD650s) to ProQ3 (using the Match-EQ function) and it sounded pretty much identical, in fact I'd say it sounded a little 'smoother' (for want of a better term), either way it seems you can replicate the correction curves fairly easily, I still use Sonarworks (only because I bought and paid for it), but if you're on a budget I'd be tempted to home-brew your own correction curve for your particular headphones.
See, I was wondering if that was something that can be done, just reverse engineering or matching the curve in that instance to help balance out headphones. Glad to see somebody do it and seem to have success with it.
Yes, applying the EQ curve yourself with any EQ shouldn’t be a problem. It’s *figuring out what the EQ curve should be* that’s the issue. That’s where solutions like Sonarworks and others are so helpful. Especially for rooms or custom headphone correction. (Where they measure the exact frequency response of your exact pair of headphones). Hope that helps! -Justin
For me, it was mixing on the system I listen to most. Meaning, I listen to bt headphones 8 hours per day at work, then go home and mix on my monitors. Nope, I realized, I’ve been listening to these headphones all day, I know what stuff is supposed to sound like. Put my mixes through them and Bingo! Sort of the opposite tip to listening to references on your monitors
Thanks for the simple common sense Justin! That way of thinking is always my M.O. Tom Vasilarakos at Northern Sound on the southern tip of Lake Michigan!
I bought the whole thing. Didn't like it at first. Then thought I liked it and that my mixes had really improved. Then realised that my mixes hadn't really improved. I'm going to give it a 3rd crack soon. But I dunno about VSX. The fans love it. For them it's incredible. For me, I admit I am not an experienced mixer anyway and I'm trying very hard to get good. But I dunno about VSX. It's kind of claustrophobic maybe. You're in those closed headphones all the time. You change rooms and the tonal characteristics of a source can change pretty dramatically. To the extent that you wonder if you're still listening to the same source you were just listening to in another of the VSX rooms. Like this kick drum in this VSX room will sound tubby...but in this VSX room it will sound kind of sharp and clicky. So which damn room do I trust? When you're mixing surely you want a reproduction of the sound that is flat right? Or that is representative of how that source should kind of sound on the widest amount of playback types. But what the hell do I know. All I know is I am bad at mixing.
My methodology is a hybrid system for mixing,, i use cans to monitor the lows to mids and my speaker monitors exclusively for the mids to highs. As you rightly mentioned most headphones are a rollercoaster in those areas but my speakers are flat as a board there. Additionally, To treat my space for those freq is CHEAP ! Its the low freqs that are always the most expensive and difficult to treat. hence the headphones. So all stereo panning decisions are made referencing the monitors and since low end energy like kick and bass is always center using cans are ideal for this. Treatement wise,,, Basically i surround my mix desk with portable accoustic foam panels which can then be moved for accoustic guitar and vocal tracking setups all within the same room. It's the most cost effective solution Ive ever found. Something im about to experiment and test soon is mixing with the cans on and my monitors on simultaneously using a frequency crossover. Since the cans i use are open back I can hear my speakers pretty well. I just have to calibrate the whole system using pink noise like I do with live sound PA. We'll see how it goes.
I love love love my headphone collection, but I have the technically opposite philosophy of you: I prefer the HD650 as a primary reference for it's balance and detail, and I use DT1770 as a secondary reference cause it has WAY more info in the sub range.
This is great.Thanks so much for addressing this issue. 2 questions.1- I want to diy an Auratone, what lo end cut off point would you suggest? 85hz too low? would 120hz be good? 2 - Safe use of headphones, I have tinnitus and don't want to damage my ears further. Is there an accurate way to know the actual spl hitting your ears when using headphones? Any other safety suggestions? Thanks.
I basically mix on SoundID HD600s, Goodhertz CanOpener, a mono Avantone Mixcube, some big speakers in a bad room. I can get mixes to sound good on all those and on a phone playback, a laptop playback and even bluetooth earbuds it all sounds ok. But the car listen sees the mixes often a bit dull and very kick drum intense. Meanwhile if I check on Sony MDR7506 headphones the treble/ high end often sounds shrill and way out front with the midrange a bit missing. So, I find it extremely hard to navigate this.On the one hand its dull in the car and massively kick drummy...yet in the 7506's it's shrill. So it's dull.........AND shrill. All at the same time, depending on how you listen. But the pro mixes...they navigate this treacherous phenomenon. Of course the wild card is my own ears. If I "THINK" something sounds fine or good....who's to say it does? I listen to pro stuff and it's effortless...some stuff is full of reverb and delay yet clear and defined...full of distortion and crunch...yet also clear and not cluttered. I'm afraid I'm a garden variety weekend hack who will never, ever get it. Just like the tragic golfer who plays every week and loves the game...but never breaks 100. Many such cases.
All of this makes sense and is relatable. Mixes SHOULD sound shrill on 7506s. If you have a car with lots of subs, and you’re listening in headphones that are not revealing in the subs, such as the 600s and 7506, you SHOULD be surprised by the low end you’re finally hearing in the car. Assuming you don’t want to sound thousands on accurate monitoring and room treatment, I’d recommend headphones that go deeper. I really like the Audeze stuff. Slate VSX can also be a good choice. The Sennheiser 490 have a little more low than the 600 while still sounding similar. Frequency analyzers can also help you learn the lows. You need monitoring you can really trust, and to get to know how great material sounds on it deeply. After that, you need Mixing Breakthroughs :-) Your mixes CAN improve dramatically from where they are now. Many such cases :-)
@@SonicScoop Yes. Thanks. I do use SoundID with the 600's. Plus a mono Mixcube and HS8's. But I guess either these or my own ears do not get me accurate mixes. I bet there's many such cases! I just want to get out of this nightmare of basically mixing in the dark.
Thank you so much Kyle! You've found the Super Thanks button! It is super appreciated. Unfortunately. I've just been informed that the "Join" button does not appear on the Apple iOS app for iPhone or Android. Maybe that's the issue for you? To see the Join button, you'll have to visit any SonicScoop video from your phone's browser app or from your desktop. My apologies for the inconvenience! This is new for us and I did'n' know about it until just now. I'll be sure to mention it to people in future episodes. Thanks again for your support and interest! -Justin
Hi Kyle, in case it helps, I've JUST been informed where the link is that you can hit to go directly to the JOIN section. (You may still need to do it outside of an iOS app the first time though.) Here it is: ua-cam.com/channels/qEKv3KIZoZrjv2LymD3iMg.htmljoin Very best, Justin
Def do headphones review. I need some for low end reference for reggae. Which raises question for DIY home studio treatment. Low end is always the issue so would you just use the headphones for the low end in this case?
Just click here to become a member: ua-cam.com/channels/qEKv3KIZoZrjv2LymD3iMg.htmljoin Members get guaranteed replies to their comments, access to exclusive Q&As with guaranteed answers, mix feedback sessions and more. Hope to see you there! -Justin
Great video as always! Appreciate you always having great content 🙏 Would love to see Slate VSX included in your headphone comparison video. Very curious to see your take on the Slate VSX headphones system. Been using them since they came out and with the newest update they are absolutely game changers for mixing & mastering on headphones.
!00% agree. I've mixed in acoustically treated rooms with great monitors. But the thing about Slate VSX that brought it all together for me was trusting them completely because they're sampled from properly treated rooms. But also, checking them on many different setups. I've even spent some time mixing in the Mastering Room because each room has a different focus on the frequency range.
@@soundeducation5554 they’re not meant to replace a proper setup 🤦♂️🤦♂️ try bringing your ‘proper setup’ somewhere else and see how that works out. Can you bring your proper setup while traveling? Can you bring your proper setup in an airport? 🤦♂️
Hey-Would love to help! Check out JustinColletti.com or the JLM website: joelambertmastering.com/get-a-quote-with-justin-colletti/ Hope to talk soon, Justin
Thoughts on the waves Abby road plug-in with the feature that transform your headphones to have a flat response? You can select your model (if listed) and it converts it to a flat response. You can even enter in your head measurements from ear to ear and around the middle of your head in a circle with a tape measure and it makes it even more ideal. I’ve noticed a huge difference in frequency when I turn the plug-in off and on again.
The part that stood out to me was to do a mix minus the low end. I use Studio One 6 Pro and have a Multiband Dynamics plugin that allows me to solo/mute/tweak different band widths. Would you recommend using that to mute the low end to try mixing without lows?
You'd be better off just using an eq to filter out the freq you don't want to hear. Say you don't want to hear anything below 150hz...just use a high pass filter. That is...roll off the bass frequencies. A multiband dynamics thing is different.
That is an original vintage Auratone from the 1970s. You can find my roundup and review of all the new recreations of them here: sonicscoop.com/the-great-auratone-roundup-with-reviews-of-the-avantone-and-behritone-studio-monitors/ Hope that helps! -Justin
When you think about it though it seems like we must be mixing and mastering always to translates to phones cars and other small devices that can't really handle a healthy amount of bass. My biggest issue has been bass and treble balance but what I am begining to learn from recording is that there is a golden eq curve in respect of balanced frequencies ( I'm not talking about surgical resonances here or imperfections from performance). I would love to see a video where you talk about going for the eq curves in terms of sound pressure that is too much for smaller devices in terms of treble and bass balance. For example What volume or should I say sound pressure is too much for an I phone at 250 hz?
This is why a lot of older music I reckon just sounds good. It didn't have super low and high. It was all midrange. Whatever those mixing guys were doing back in the day they knew how to listen and they must have had nice flat honest ways to hear what they were doing. Their stuff sounds good to this day. I've got gear coming out of my gear...but lack the skill to make a simple balanced song that sounds pretty normal wherever you listen to it. I've tried....A LOT of things to improve. But success hasn't come yet.
I have an old car so I hook my phone up to an FM transmitter via Bluetooth to play music. Sucks. I know. Buy this got me thinking... does this mean that whatever I play via Bluetooth has gone through FM processing since I'm tuning into the Bluetooth station setting??
Fortunately not! FM radio processing is done at the radio station itself. You may lose some bandwidth and stereo width due to transmitting FM though. -Justin
i always mix using my AKG K52 headphones, my music room is not treated cause i can't afford to do it. I am a Pro-ish producer and making enough money to give up my day job, not rich but with producing local bands i'm able to pay the bills.
Hi William, if you don't see the Join button it's likely because you are on an iOS app. Please try again from a mobile or desktop browser and you should see it! Hope that helps, Justin
Hi William, in case it helps, I've JUST been informed where the link is that you can hit to go directly to the JOIN section. (You may still need to do it outside of an iOS app the first time though.) Here it is: ua-cam.com/channels/qEKv3KIZoZrjv2LymD3iMg.htmljoin
Having multiple reference options to listen two. Beyern Dynamics headphone, whatever monitor speakers as long as they are not to big and loud and good liivingroom speakers that is all. Mixing right comes rrom knowledge, not materials
Just came here after listening to my first "good" mix on other devices and I almost broke down thinking of how much work I've put in yet my mix and reference seem completely different when I move to another device!
Can be demoralizing. I record stuff and the song is full of emotionality and impact or whatever...then you mix it and listen in a car or some other way to listen and it sounds profoundly lame. Very disappointing stuff.
I got the sennheiser 490 pros and after the honeymoon period realised there was zero bass and when eq it raises a bed of low end without punch so I had to send them back. I've used Sony mdr xb450 now upgraded to thee 550 model cheap and I know the sound very well keep in mind I produce edm styles so the sennheiser would be great for classical,instrumental,rock,pop tracks not edm where you need to gauge low end critically.
The 490 have more low end if you use the black producer pads that come with them. They do add substantially more and better low end than some prior Sennheisers that are very popular for mixing, but don't have the most low end on the market. I don't think it's fair to say they have "no" low end. But if you need a metric ton of bass, there are other options that are tilted to put out even more. -Justin
Hey! Is there any point in using rack EQ with auto-correction like 2496 with measurement mic or it's make things worse? Assuming I'm not ready to commit to better speakers and want 'some' upgrade to the room. Let's say more treatment and EQ. I'd hate software solution as sonarworks because I use at least 3 different computers / devices in the studio. I'd rather work rather than troubleshoot software
The big benefit of something like Sonarworks is in helping you figure out exactly what EQ to apply. Applying or yourself, using practically anything, isn’t the hard part. There are also higher end hardware solutions like the one made by Trinnov. Hope that helps! Justin
One of my monitors picks up interference from the local radio station... just the one, not the other. I don't get it... I plug both of them into a power conditioner. Any thoughts?
@@SonicScoop Thanks, for the reply, that was it! :) Yeah, they were both plugged into my Furman, but the ultimate cause of the interference came down to the cables being different.
This video should be great for you! If you prefer the audio only version, it will be up on Apple Podcasts tomorrow. Hope it proves useful to you :-) Tips numbers 6 and 7 are especially essential here. Very best, Justin
My 2 cents: On vocal buss try a 3 db cut at 2-4k, dynamic if you have fab filter type eq.....had lots of problems with that.....Soothe is a nice plug in for harshness too...also use 3 levels of compression, at least.
On the topic of mixing with headphones - how would folks here rate the Slate VSX headphones? I've seen a lot of glowing reviews on them, but are they headphones that you could "take on the road"? Does anyone know if the low frequency response is trustworthy on them?
Hey Nicolas....im pretty satisfied...I do a master on VSX and one in the room on my Adam A7's.....I also check things on Shure 1840s.....but the Vsx's are pretty impressive. I think the theme is to learn whatever environment you are in and compare, level matched, to commercial releases....you can hone your mix to those frequencies. (Plugin Alliance Metric A/ B is my favorite plug in for creating apples to apples comparisons) My mixes are at my channel. Maybe the last 5 or so are with VSX adding data...See what you think.....and regarding low end, they sound as low as I need...I often high pass mixes at 50Hz or so these days (average slope)....cleans things up regardless.
Hi Kyle, in case it helps, I've JUST been informed where the link is that you can hit to go directly to the JOIN section. (You may still need to do it outside of an iOS app the first time though.) Here it is: ua-cam.com/channels/qEKv3KIZoZrjv2LymD3iMg.htmljoin Very best, Justin
I would die without my Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pros: they are dead neutral, and I have done many a mix with them as my primary mix monitor. The DT 990 Pros are better for mastering. CHALLANGE Have a "mixoff" where everyone can mix only on headphones and a single Auratone-type monitor.
It’s hard to do those on livestreams. I don’t know how long each section is going to be til I’m done with it :-) Maybe I can go back and add them in the future sometime, but I’ve been using that time and energy to excerpt shorter videos instead. -Justin
If only egg cartons would actually function properly as acoustic treatment-the world would be much simpler and less expensive! Unfortunately, they will do practically nothing to help with mix translation to other environments-especially not in the low end. -Justin
Apparently many thousands of people disagree with that take 🤷🏻♂️ Read the comments, look at the likes count and percentage, and you’ll quickly recognize that most people watching this don’t seem to feel that way at all. Why are they getting something out of it that you are not? How are they approaching it differently or listening to it differently to get so much more out of it than you seem to be? Objectively speaking, there are tons of actionable tips and insights in here that don’t require buying anything. Why are others able to notice them, while you are finding it hard to do so? Perhaps it’s just a personality mismatch and that’s ok. But objectively speaking, the answers here are not “just buy the courses”. If that was the case, the video would likely have far fewer likes and views and positive comments, and far more comments like yours, instead of just the one. Food for thought! -Justin
I am thankful for all your content, but please, please, please... consider not drinking in the mic. It does not add anything to the value of the content... and is a major trigger for misophonia.
Short excerpts from the livestreams can be found in the Shorts section and the main Videos tab. Look for a whole bunch of 1 minute and 5 minute clips from this one in the coming week. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss them! If you can’t wait, get on one of the podcasting platforms and listen to while you’re driving or doing chores. (Maybe at double speed if you can handle it.) That’s how I get through all the podcasts I listen to anyway :-) Hope that helps, Justin
Can you give real examples of what you talk about I know you know what your talking about but some people are visual learners let's see some mixing videos
We’ve got a ton of videos like that! Linked in every video description too :-) Try here: ua-cam.com/play/PL3yghKGBjggTkBYyc-1_larMT6K4rGwmr.html This particular video is a podcast episode, which is a talking format. Hope that helps, Justin
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I love your honesty with your viewers as well as yourself. Never have I been so tempted to purchase an online course lol thanks for the videos.
DO IT! DO IT! :-)
Seriously, I would encourage you to try any of them. I really love to get them into the hands of people.
They really do change lives, approaches and outcomes. They are the most useful things I have ever done.
Moneyback guarantee too. If you think I’m over selling it, just ask for a refund and you’ll get it. I’ll never even find out about it either.
Best wishes,
Justin
Ps: Thanks so much for the kind words!
I've been struggling with mixing for maybe 8 years. in the middle of 2022 I decided I either had to upgrade monitors and get room treatment or buy decent headphones. I'm glad I bought a pair of headphones (AT r70x) and since that day I've used them for everything, tv shows, music, mixing, sfx, gaming. They sounded SO weird at first but now I feel like I understand them and my mixes are starting to translate with the help of focusing on 150hz to 8khz. I literally have been sticking a Q2 with a hpf and lpf on the master track for the first half of mixing a song. That combined with using a frequency analyser to confirm or deny my hunches on what frequencies I am hearing has changed everything. I feel like I'm finally getting consistent outcomes. I only use my monitors as a reference to check what it sounds like in open air and the dynamics of instruments but rarely trust the EQ balance from my monitors any more.
Very interesting! Glad to hear you found an approach that works for you.
-Justin
@@SonicScoop ditto the guy. I've had to use Verum One for everything. It turned out that my main income is mastering now :D
Had to relocate because of war in Ukraine to someplace less dangerous for couple months. Left my studio with all the stuff. Was heartbreaking at the time. But it turned out, that good HPs and newer MacBook do wonders to productivity. I went back home to my studio later. And I do like options now. Good headphones revealed stereo image to me, I never understood how it works, until I've spent enough time with these HPs. EQing now isn't wild guess, its really precise. Even with stock M1 MBA headphone socket, its crazy! The only thing I missed was subwoofer
I found this issue with monitors, too, so I opted for Sony cans and iems
actually headphone frequency response is usually pretty wacky or, odd like your first impression. why not still use both that and some monitors too? i bought kali audio bc erin’s audio corned reviewed them, a person that tests speakers w sophisticated instruments and reveals data.
they aren’t perfect but we’ll do you know the fr graph of those headphones?
Interesting man. Do you come in for unpleasant surpises once you remove that HPF LPF eq?
“Too scared, too foolishly independent” would be my rap mixtape, if I was a rapper.
Great vid - muchas gracias!
Thank you for making and posting this.
I’m a novice mixer with only a couple of sporadic years of experience trying to improve our church service audio on TouTube. I’ve been using a $99 pair of Presonus monitors in a room about 14’ x14’. There’s office equipment and a table in the room, concrete floor and bare walls. I’ve had terrible translation problems where the result isn’t even close. Yesterday I moved my setup to the garage with the speakers just inside the open garage door and pointing out. The mix didn’t sound that different but I was able to hear several issues I couldn’t before. It translates SO much better now. It stilll doesn’t work in all devices but this experiment taught me that the idea of the good space is much more important than I believed.
What helped me was the part where you talk about the importance of low midrange as part of the bass signal. Terming it as helping carry the weight of the bass tone, not just low frequencies, hit home and made sense. That’s it’s not just about bass translating to small speakers, but also overall bass tone, and better overall tonal balance.
I was one of those that resisted using references for a long time. When I started doing it it really trained my ears for the mid-range and was the best thing I did. I often use CLA mixes of American Rejects songs. Fantastic video! I watched the entire thing.
So great to hear Mike! CLA himself references. Heard him talk about it in a interview once. Surprising similar thoughts on it! You’ve got to tune your ears, body and mind every day.
-Justin
Great video Justin - I will watch this again. Translation of mixes to multiple systems has always been my number 1 challenge. As you point out at the end, a lot of these core ideas I have heard before but over many years from many sources - but you brought it all together in such a cohesive, structured and logical way that it has really sunk in now. Thanks for reminding me of the reasons to focus on the mids - like many producers I get too fixated on the top and bottom end. You also brought back memories of me being reluctant to use referencing - years ago my attitude was "What's the point of comparing my mix to a commercial release? I won't know how to fix it anyway!" Now my attitude is "Let me check it against these 3 or 4 commercial tracks so I can go back and forth over and over, making adjustments until I get my mix sounding better!"
I'm bummed out that I missed it live this time.
I decided to check out your full length courses again after quite awhile.
I took advantage of an offer to get discounted price, for the mixing breakthroughs course, and then it offered another discount to add on the mastering demystified course.
I went ahead and purchased both, and I have zero doubts about the effectiveness they will have based on all the great info I've always gathered from your UA-cam content.
I figured it's time to stop investing in software and gear, and finally invest in the proper knowhow.
Wish me luck, though I doubt I will need it.
So awesome to hear Jeremy! The best investments you can make are in yourself. Glad to hear you’re doing it. :-)
-Justin
These are really good podcasts! Wish I'd watched when they came out😆✌️. I'm into hard rock with natural sounding drums, guitars etc, and often use the "isolated" drums and guitar parts for songs on UA-cam, such as Foo Fighter "Monkey Wrench". I "volume match" and simulate the tones quite easily and then the mix comes together swiftly. It's interesting as the stereo isolated guitars don't often sound the same as in the final master, but by matching them, you can get much closer! All the best🤠🚀
Cant wait to hear about the Neumann and all the headphone shootouts! almost impossible for the common man to check out all these awesome options. Keep us posted! Great video Justin, thank you!!!
Will do Steven! Excited to report back soon.
-Justin
Headphone Roundup update 👍. I appreciate you big time, Justin.
Great podcast and experienced advice.
'FEAR' of listening to your mix in the outside world and the 'FEAR' of listening to reference tracks. We have ALL been there and the reason we FEAR is because it immediately sucks out all your creativity and desire when the ref tracks are just wayyyy beyond what you are working on, or you listen to your own mix in the outside world and it sounds so cheap and amateur, or WORSE, at first you think it sounds pretty good in the outside world, then you play a label released track, and suddenly you think, "WHAT'S THE POINT! WHY BOTHER! ETC ETC
In my experience, the trick is DONT WAIT! Listen to ref tracks BEFORE you start a mix and frequently throughout the process. Also, listen to early stages of your mix in the outside world - DONE WAIT and keep the shock level to an absolute minimum, and also, it will give you a ayy better end result.
Thanks for getting back to me. Cheers!
Justin I'm learning a great deal from your videos and is very much appreciated! my #1 go to channel. Thanks to all.
So great to hear Ace! Glad to be useful. Thanks for the comment :-)
-Justin
I’m so excited about finding my new room! I’ve already invested in true to transducer monitoring components! Sonar, treatment, software… Etc. carpentry ✅check!
Where is that magical room?
Most of my gear now is in storage… Waiting to be unboxed and treat/tested! How exciting is this! Wish me luck guys I need to find a room!
Good luck! Having a space to work in is one of the most important things.
-Justin
I’m trying my brother! All the building I’ve been doing lately has been in the studio… Which is where I need to be! But it was a means to an end! I grabbed those Audezee MM 500s.. and I’m using the auratones as well. I have another pair.. but I need my room! At least I’m able to track most parts! Vocals are kind of difficult… Which sucks because I’m a singer! But I’m also a guitar player! So I’m getting a lot of that done, alongside practice! Once I get done tracking, brother, I’m taking your classes, which will be very soon! TANNER10, I’m in!
Great advice when it comes to focusing on the mid-range so that we don't have to guess if our low's are being heard on different size speakers or as small as a phone. Thank you!
You also need to make sure you buy monitors or speakers with the lows, mids and high ranges included. Some people think that their getting a deal but they don't realize one of the ranges are not included.
Thanks Justin! Midrange advice is golden, as is learning whatever environment you are in. For folks: Metric A / B plugin is a great way to compare apples and apples, level matched, same environment 👍
Absolutely! Thanks for the great comment.
-Justin
@@SonicScoop 😎👍 Thanks for all you do....I learn so much here!
After 20 years of producing digitally, I still sometimes get a panic attack before checking it in the car. Though I started the whole rabbit hole of actual engineering audio in 2019; my mixes are finally getting there. Still have a lot of room to improve.
btw, great video! Real talk here.
“When to go left of a reference, when to steer towards a reference” really resonated with me.
Some stuff I really like catching on the radio is is: 1. Shania Twain. 2. Common Go. 3. Metallica black album (can’t get away from that) 4. Some new stuff like the new Ghost songs have a really interesting snare punch and/or splat. Basically listening for what’s trending on the radio in the brand new age, if I really like, I’ll Shazam it on my phone, then take a quick screen shot and check it out on my monitors later
Listen! I got the mixing breakthroughs. I don't know how to say thank you, except I've recommended it to all my friends. Thank you, thank you, thank you.! It's amazing.
That's so great to hear! So glad to be useful. Thanks so much for the comment. Best wishes to you,
Justin
Setting up my room with self build room treatment (based on measurements and calculations) plus setting up my main monitors properly and adding Auratone copies as a reference changed my mixing extremely. And I am still going on doing analytics and critical listing for reference more and more and I am improving further, I just notice myself getting more dialed in.
Purchasing studio equipment is like building show quality vintage motorcycles. For hobbyists, you can spend 50% of the money to get 80-85% of the way to an acceptable, DIY sound. Where it will really cost you is TIME. You’ll spend way more time getting good results with a setup that’s “pretty good” instead of ideal. For example, it takes a LOT of time to learn how to get a good mix in an untreated room. Tons of time can be spent making test mixes that sound way off on other sources because of this one factor. Some of us at the hobby level don’t have a ton of money to spend on stuff just to record our own band. So if you have the extra time to burn, you can get by If you’re doing this as a professional, you don’t have the time to spend dealing with lower cost equipment.
Thank You for all you do for us. I see & hear my Mixes getting so much better! ☺️🙏🎚🎧Thx Jason.
So great to hear George!
-Justin
@@SonicScoop I’m sorry... it was 3AM & I called you Jason 😜Sorry Justin ☺️🙏
I use cla 10s and agree that they make U focus on the mids. Cant afford the major treatment and stuff but my mixes have alway traveled pretty well. Used to have ns 10s(3 pair over a lifetime) and now have cla10s. same difference, haha! BTW Justin, I just became a member. Just because you deserve it. Peace
Awesome to hear on all counts Randy!
Glad to have you as a member.
-Justin
Question: you explained why NS10s and Aurotones work. It's because they make you focus on the midrange. But why isn't the same thing true of Sennheiser headphones? You said you wouldn't want them as your primary mixing headphones because of the lack of low end. But if they have a very balanced and clear midrange, wouldn't that be a great argument for using them as your primary headphones?
I ask because I use Sennheiser HD650 headphones as my main mixing headphones. I then check my mix and adjust the low end with a pair of Avantree Audition Bluetooth headphones. They're really cheap and have a dull high end, but they have great low end and I've listened to thousands of hours of music on them. Isn't what I'm doing exactly the process people who use NS10s are doing, just in headphones instead of speakers?
By the way, it's working for me so far. My mixes are translating well. They still suck...but in predictable ways.
Anyway, love the new format. Keep them coming, please!
Thanks for the kind words Rome! I actually wondered the same thing about what I said after I said it 😅
I could have said it more clearly, but what I mean is this:
If I were using headphones as a *primary* reference (especially in my context of mastering) the HD600s would be too light in the lows for me to rely on. For my work, I could’t take them on the road and make final decisions about lows on them.
This would be much less of a problem if they were meant to serve as a secondary reference to complement a system that already gave you some useful information about lows, and it would be less of a problem in mixing than in mastering.
That said, yes! Using bass light headphones and just focusing on the midrange would be preferable to horrible lows on speakers in an untreated room that you haven’t figured out.
So that is also true at the same time. I don’t think they are mutually exclusive.
But IMHO, one potential benefit of headphones over speakers-at lower price points in particular-is that they can potentially offer more reliable low end for a lower investment, if you choose appropriately.
But if you can’t get low end you trust, stressing about it less for the moment and just focusing more on the midrange until your listening situation improves is a great call.
So I believe both those things at once: Strive to get the best low end you can for the long run, but if bad lows are hurting more then helping, filtering them out can be helpful for now.
Hope that makes sense!
-Justin
Of course it has happen quite a few times. Great topic ! Thanx
I copied Sonarworks EQ curve (for HD650s) to ProQ3 (using the Match-EQ function) and it sounded pretty much identical, in fact I'd say it sounded a little 'smoother' (for want of a better term), either way it seems you can replicate the correction curves fairly easily, I still use Sonarworks (only because I bought and paid for it), but if you're on a budget I'd be tempted to home-brew your own correction curve for your particular headphones.
See, I was wondering if that was something that can be done, just reverse engineering or matching the curve in that instance to help balance out headphones. Glad to see somebody do it and seem to have success with it.
Yes, applying the EQ curve yourself with any EQ shouldn’t be a problem. It’s *figuring out what the EQ curve should be* that’s the issue.
That’s where solutions like Sonarworks and others are so helpful. Especially for rooms or custom headphone correction. (Where they measure the exact frequency response of your exact pair of headphones).
Hope that helps!
-Justin
In demo mode, TB Morphit runs as if you bought it. So there's a free option right there - obviously buy it if you can.
LOL, if someone's on a budget, like me, they probably don't own ProQ3. ;)
For me, it was mixing on the system I listen to most. Meaning, I listen to bt headphones 8 hours per day at work, then go home and mix on my monitors. Nope, I realized, I’ve been listening to these headphones all day, I know what stuff is supposed to sound like. Put my mixes through them and Bingo! Sort of the opposite tip to listening to references on your monitors
I would do that IS listening to references on your monitors. It’s just that the headphones are your monitors :-)
-Justin
Thanks for the simple common sense Justin! That way of thinking is always my M.O. Tom Vasilarakos at Northern Sound on the southern tip of Lake Michigan!
Thanks for tuning in Tom, and for the comment!
-Justin
Your welcome!
You need to definitely make a clip of the referencing section of this video. Great stuff! And of course the headphone section
On it Mike!
-Justin
Best mixing advice I’ve got. What’s your opinion on slate VSX?
I bought the whole thing. Didn't like it at first. Then thought I liked it and that my mixes had really improved. Then realised that my mixes hadn't really improved. I'm going to give it a 3rd crack soon. But I dunno about VSX. The fans love it. For them it's incredible. For me, I admit I am not an experienced mixer anyway and I'm trying very hard to get good. But I dunno about VSX. It's kind of claustrophobic maybe. You're in those closed headphones all the time. You change rooms and the tonal characteristics of a source can change pretty dramatically. To the extent that you wonder if you're still listening to the same source you were just listening to in another of the VSX rooms. Like this kick drum in this VSX room will sound tubby...but in this VSX room it will sound kind of sharp and clicky. So which damn room do I trust? When you're mixing surely you want a reproduction of the sound that is flat right? Or that is representative of how that source should kind of sound on the widest amount of playback types. But what the hell do I know. All I know is I am bad at mixing.
My methodology is a hybrid system for mixing,, i use cans to monitor the lows to mids and my speaker monitors exclusively for the mids to highs. As you rightly mentioned most headphones are a rollercoaster in those areas but my speakers are flat as a board there. Additionally, To treat my space for those freq is CHEAP ! Its the low freqs that are always the most expensive and difficult to treat. hence the headphones. So all stereo panning decisions are made referencing the monitors and since low end energy like kick and bass is always center using cans are ideal for this.
Treatement wise,,, Basically i surround my mix desk with portable accoustic foam panels which can then be moved for accoustic guitar and vocal tracking setups all within the same room. It's the most cost effective solution Ive ever found.
Something im about to experiment and test soon is mixing with the cans on and my monitors on simultaneously using a frequency crossover. Since the cans i use are open back I can hear my speakers pretty well. I just have to calibrate the whole system using pink noise like I do with live sound PA. We'll see how it goes.
Interesting! Thanks for the comment. Let us know how that approach works out for you if you give it a try.
-Justin
All of the points were so valuable!!! Thank you sooooooo much!!!
Good to find your channel 🫡
Glad to have you here Entretenido!
-Justin
You are a fantastic instructor.
Thanks so much for the kind words Matt! Hope to see more if you around.
-Justin
This video is pure gold 🔥🙏
I love love love my headphone collection, but I have the technically opposite philosophy of you: I prefer the HD650 as a primary reference for it's balance and detail, and I use DT1770 as a secondary reference cause it has WAY more info in the sub range.
This is great.Thanks so much for addressing this issue. 2 questions.1- I want to diy an Auratone, what lo end cut off point would you suggest? 85hz too low? would 120hz be good? 2 - Safe use of headphones, I have tinnitus and don't want to damage my ears further. Is there an accurate way to know the actual spl hitting your ears when using headphones? Any other safety suggestions? Thanks.
Amazing video
So glad to be useful! Hope to see more of you around the channel.
-Justin
Great video, thank you!
I basically mix on SoundID HD600s, Goodhertz CanOpener, a mono Avantone Mixcube, some big speakers in a bad room. I can get mixes to sound good on all those and on a phone playback, a laptop playback and even bluetooth earbuds it all sounds ok. But the car listen sees the mixes often a bit dull and very kick drum intense. Meanwhile if I check on Sony MDR7506 headphones the treble/ high end often sounds shrill and way out front with the midrange a bit missing. So, I find it extremely hard to navigate this.On the one hand its dull in the car and massively kick drummy...yet in the 7506's it's shrill. So it's dull.........AND shrill. All at the same time, depending on how you listen. But the pro mixes...they navigate this treacherous phenomenon. Of course the wild card is my own ears. If I "THINK" something sounds fine or good....who's to say it does? I listen to pro stuff and it's effortless...some stuff is full of reverb and delay yet clear and defined...full of distortion and crunch...yet also clear and not cluttered. I'm afraid I'm a garden variety weekend hack who will never, ever get it. Just like the tragic golfer who plays every week and loves the game...but never breaks 100. Many such cases.
All of this makes sense and is relatable. Mixes SHOULD sound shrill on 7506s.
If you have a car with lots of subs, and you’re listening in headphones that are not revealing in the subs, such as the 600s and 7506, you SHOULD be surprised by the low end you’re finally hearing in the car.
Assuming you don’t want to sound thousands on accurate monitoring and room treatment, I’d recommend headphones that go deeper.
I really like the Audeze stuff. Slate VSX can also be a good choice. The Sennheiser 490 have a little more low than the 600 while still sounding similar.
Frequency analyzers can also help you learn the lows.
You need monitoring you can really trust, and to get to know how great material sounds on it deeply.
After that, you need Mixing Breakthroughs :-)
Your mixes CAN improve dramatically from where they are now. Many such cases :-)
@@SonicScoop Yes. Thanks. I do use SoundID with the 600's. Plus a mono Mixcube and HS8's. But I guess either these or my own ears do not get me accurate mixes. I bet there's many such cases! I just want to get out of this nightmare of basically mixing in the dark.
Thanks!
Thank you so much Kyle! You've found the Super Thanks button! It is super appreciated.
Unfortunately. I've just been informed that the "Join" button does not appear on the Apple iOS app for iPhone or Android. Maybe that's the issue for you? To see the Join button, you'll have to visit any SonicScoop video from your phone's browser app or from your desktop.
My apologies for the inconvenience! This is new for us and I did'n' know about it until just now. I'll be sure to mention it to people in future episodes.
Thanks again for your support and interest!
-Justin
Hi Kyle, in case it helps, I've JUST been informed where the link is that you can hit to go directly to the JOIN section. (You may still need to do it outside of an iOS app the first time though.)
Here it is: ua-cam.com/channels/qEKv3KIZoZrjv2LymD3iMg.htmljoin
Very best,
Justin
Def do headphones review. I need some for low end reference for reggae. Which raises question for DIY home studio treatment. Low end is always the issue so would you just use the headphones for the low end in this case?
It’s coming! Got a whole bunch of headphones here I’m auditioning currently.
-Justin
@@SonicScoop how can I be a member. Love your content
Just click here to become a member: ua-cam.com/channels/qEKv3KIZoZrjv2LymD3iMg.htmljoin
Members get guaranteed replies to their comments, access to exclusive Q&As with guaranteed answers, mix feedback sessions and more.
Hope to see you there!
-Justin
Great video as always! Appreciate you always having great content 🙏 Would love to see Slate VSX included in your headphone comparison video. Very curious to see your take on the Slate VSX headphones system. Been using them since they came out and with the newest update they are absolutely game changers for mixing & mastering on headphones.
!00% agree. I've mixed in acoustically treated rooms with great monitors. But the thing about Slate VSX that brought it all together for me was trusting them completely because they're sampled from properly treated rooms. But also, checking them on many different setups. I've even spent some time mixing in the Mastering Room because each room has a different focus on the frequency range.
@@MOSMASTERING 💯💯
Gave these a try and the sucked in my opinion. No match for a proper setup.
@@soundeducation5554 they’re not meant to replace a proper setup 🤦♂️🤦♂️ try bringing your ‘proper setup’ somewhere else and see how that works out. Can you bring your proper setup while traveling? Can you bring your proper setup in an airport? 🤦♂️
@@danthegeetarman Yea if you're on the move I have to agree with you.
Justin how can I hire you? I would love to learn hands on from getting my mix mastered by you!
Hey-Would love to help! Check out JustinColletti.com or the JLM website: joelambertmastering.com/get-a-quote-with-justin-colletti/
Hope to talk soon,
Justin
so what were the other not so expensive headphones that are good to use, that you were about to mention?
Thoughts on the waves Abby road plug-in with the feature that transform your headphones to have a flat response? You can select your model (if listed) and it converts it to a flat response. You can even enter in your head measurements from ear to ear and around the middle of your head in a circle with a tape measure and it makes it even more ideal. I’ve noticed a huge difference in frequency when I turn the plug-in off and on again.
The part that stood out to me was to do a mix minus the low end. I use Studio One 6 Pro and have a Multiband Dynamics plugin that allows me to solo/mute/tweak different band widths. Would you recommend using that to mute the low end to try mixing without lows?
You'd be better off just using an eq to filter out the freq you don't want to hear. Say you don't want to hear anything below 150hz...just use a high pass filter. That is...roll off the bass frequencies. A multiband dynamics thing is different.
10:30 has me fucking screaming lmfao. Such a great example
Opinion on Grado RS-1 and PS1000 headphones for mixing?
Great video thanks. But what headphone will u recommend for me?
3:13 Start
Good Show Justin. Is the box speaker you showed the "Auratone 5C-W PAIR Passive Studio Monitor"?
That is an original vintage Auratone from the 1970s. You can find my roundup and review of all the new recreations of them here: sonicscoop.com/the-great-auratone-roundup-with-reviews-of-the-avantone-and-behritone-studio-monitors/
Hope that helps!
-Justin
What are those diffusers behind you. I would like some diffusion in the back of my studio and they look so cool. Thanks
GIK Acoustics. Tell my guy Mike Major I sent ya! :-)
-Justin
Thanks for the content a about to mix my own debut album and im scared of this the most
Yeah please review new ndh30 i actualy bought one but i like to know how you feel them
On it! Should have them here in a few days.
-Justin
When you think about it though it seems like we must be mixing and mastering always to translates to phones cars and other small devices that can't really handle a healthy amount of bass. My biggest issue has been bass and treble balance but what I am begining to learn from recording is that there is a golden eq curve in respect of balanced frequencies ( I'm not talking about surgical resonances here or imperfections from performance). I would love to see a video where you talk about going for the eq curves in terms of sound pressure that is too much for smaller devices in terms of treble and bass balance. For example What volume or should I say sound pressure is too much for an I phone at 250 hz?
This is why a lot of older music I reckon just sounds good. It didn't have super low and high. It was all midrange. Whatever those mixing guys were doing back in the day they knew how to listen and they must have had nice flat honest ways to hear what they were doing. Their stuff sounds good to this day. I've got gear coming out of my gear...but lack the skill to make a simple balanced song that sounds pretty normal wherever you listen to it. I've tried....A LOT of things to improve. But success hasn't come yet.
I have an old car so I hook my phone up to an FM transmitter via Bluetooth to play music. Sucks. I know. Buy this got me thinking... does this mean that whatever I play via Bluetooth has gone through FM processing since I'm tuning into the Bluetooth station setting??
Fortunately not! FM radio processing is done at the radio station itself. You may lose some bandwidth and stereo width due to transmitting FM though.
-Justin
@@SonicScoop very interesting. Thanks!
i always mix using my AKG K52 headphones, my music room is not treated cause i can't afford to do it. I am a Pro-ish producer and making enough money to give up my day job, not rich but with producing local bands i'm able to pay the bills.
What headphones are a step up from SennHeisser HD560s ?
How do I become a member of the SonicScoop UA-cam channel.
For some reason, I cannot locate the JOIN button.
Can someone help me?
Thanks!
Hi William, if you don't see the Join button it's likely because you are on an iOS app. Please try again from a mobile or desktop browser and you should see it! Hope that helps,
Justin
Awesome!
Thanks, Justin!
This channel is fantastic.
Hi William, in case it helps, I've JUST been informed where the link is that you can hit to go directly to the JOIN section. (You may still need to do it outside of an iOS app the first time though.) Here it is: ua-cam.com/channels/qEKv3KIZoZrjv2LymD3iMg.htmljoin
Having multiple reference options to listen two. Beyern Dynamics headphone, whatever monitor speakers as long as they are not to big and loud and good liivingroom speakers that is all. Mixing right comes rrom knowledge, not materials
I got the Dt990 pro but they sounded so weird at first now I like them though
Just came here after listening to my first "good" mix on other devices and I almost broke down thinking of how much work I've put in yet my mix and reference seem completely different when I move to another device!
Can be demoralizing. I record stuff and the song is full of emotionality and impact or whatever...then you mix it and listen in a car or some other way to listen and it sounds profoundly lame. Very disappointing stuff.
What are your thoughts on room correction software in addition to your other wonderful suggestions? I have found it personally helpful...
Absolutely. I do mention it as part of the system in this video.
-Justin
@@SonicScoopdo you feel nd30’s or hd600 would translate better/easier effort?
Beyerdynamic 1990 pro’s!
Try ‘em. You’ll love ‘em.
PS - when you said “they’ll be schpilkis all over you” I snorted tea out of my nose 😂
I have some right here that I'll be evaluating for my next big roundup.
-Justin
Merci ... ... ... ! 26:00 and ...
I got the sennheiser 490 pros and after the honeymoon period realised there was zero bass and when eq it raises a bed of low end without punch so I had to send them back. I've used Sony mdr xb450 now upgraded to thee 550 model cheap and I know the sound very well keep in mind I produce edm styles so the sennheiser would be great for classical,instrumental,rock,pop tracks not edm where you need to gauge low end critically.
The 490 have more low end if you use the black producer pads that come with them.
They do add substantially more and better low end than some prior Sennheisers that are very popular for mixing, but don't have the most low end on the market.
I don't think it's fair to say they have "no" low end. But if you need a metric ton of bass, there are other options that are tilted to put out even more.
-Justin
I’m gassed up on the gear! And I’m gassing up the piggy bank so I can join this club! I want to be one of the cool kids!
The club is just $5/month right now! It won’t always stay that low. But I am grandfathering in people who join in the early stages.
-Justin
Hey! Is there any point in using rack EQ with auto-correction like 2496 with measurement mic or it's make things worse? Assuming I'm not ready to commit to better speakers and want 'some' upgrade to the room. Let's say more treatment and EQ. I'd hate software solution as sonarworks because I use at least 3 different computers / devices in the studio. I'd rather work rather than troubleshoot software
The big benefit of something like Sonarworks is in helping you figure out exactly what EQ to apply.
Applying or yourself, using practically anything, isn’t the hard part.
There are also higher end hardware solutions like the one made by Trinnov.
Hope that helps!
Justin
One of my monitors picks up interference from the local radio station... just the one, not the other. I don't get it... I plug both of them into a power conditioner. Any thoughts?
What are your speakers plugged in to ?
Are you using unbalanced cable to connect one but not the other?
-Justin
@@SonicScoop Thanks, for the reply, that was it! :) Yeah, they were both plugged into my Furman, but the ultimate cause of the interference came down to the cables being different.
I have this issue, sounds great at low volumes but than vocals r too harsh played loud, any suggestions?
This video should be great for you! If you prefer the audio only version, it will be up on Apple Podcasts tomorrow. Hope it proves useful to you :-) Tips numbers 6 and 7 are especially essential here.
Very best,
Justin
My 2 cents: On vocal buss try a 3 db cut at 2-4k, dynamic if you have fab filter type eq.....had lots of problems with that.....Soothe is a nice plug in for harshness too...also use 3 levels of compression, at least.
oeksound soothe will solve that problem
Good morning
A $400 pair of headphones 🎧. AMAZING
i like the intro when we can all feel... ... these feelings ..." Oh my god, !!! stop the playback please ... !! it'is not my work !! "😪
On the topic of mixing with headphones - how would folks here rate the Slate VSX headphones? I've seen a lot of glowing reviews on them, but are they headphones that you could "take on the road"? Does anyone know if the low frequency response is trustworthy on them?
They're amazing really!! It is 100% accurate and trustworthy in my experience and they translate.
@@sketchmesome _"100% accurate and trustworthy"_
No such thing.
@@davelordy i mean see for yourself. It works 🤷🏽
Hey Nicolas....im pretty satisfied...I do a master on VSX and one in the room on my Adam A7's.....I also check things on Shure 1840s.....but the Vsx's are pretty impressive. I think the theme is to learn whatever environment you are in and compare, level matched, to commercial releases....you can hone your mix to those frequencies. (Plugin Alliance Metric A/ B is my favorite plug in for creating apples to apples comparisons) My mixes are at my channel. Maybe the last 5 or so are with VSX adding data...See what you think.....and regarding low end, they sound as low as I need...I often high pass mixes at 50Hz or so these days (average slope)....cleans things up regardless.
@@ThisMichaelBrown Don't you end up with a lack of low bass when you high pass at 50Hz?
good intel
Speaking of bass and “in the mix” I A/B’d real bass against a hi end sample bass .. lower mids won for the real bass
Andrew Scheps mixes in headphones, as well.
Indeed.
-Justin
Requesting permission to sample the noise you made at 36:49
Even after listening to it, I have no idea what sound it was, but permission granted 🙃
-Justin
@@SonicScoop sorry 39:49 lol love your stuff! i learn alot from your videos
How do I join?
There should be a “Join” button, right next to the “subscribe” button on every video. Have a look and let me know if you have any trouble!
-Justin
Hi Kyle, in case it helps, I've JUST been informed where the link is that you can hit to go directly to the JOIN section. (You may still need to do it outside of an iOS app the first time though.)
Here it is: ua-cam.com/channels/qEKv3KIZoZrjv2LymD3iMg.htmljoin
Very best,
Justin
"shpilkis" is a noun that means "anxious", or "nervous energy", it's not headphone ear pad sheddings, lol
You’re absolutely right! The technical term is “schmutz”. I think I’ve watched one too many episodes of Coffee Talk with Linda Richman.
-Justin
Beyerdynamic +1 for cans...
I would die without my Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pros: they are dead neutral, and I have done many a mix with them as my primary mix monitor. The DT 990 Pros are better for mastering.
CHALLANGE
Have a "mixoff" where everyone can mix only on headphones and a single Auratone-type monitor.
No timestamps
It’s hard to do those on livestreams. I don’t know how long each section is going to be til I’m done with it :-)
Maybe I can go back and add them in the future sometime, but I’ve been using that time and energy to excerpt shorter videos instead.
-Justin
Huh? Egg cartons don't cost $2000! 😂
If only egg cartons would actually function properly as acoustic treatment-the world would be much simpler and less expensive!
Unfortunately, they will do practically nothing to help with mix translation to other environments-especially not in the low end.
-Justin
So nearly an hour and no real answer except to buy his courses.
Apparently many thousands of people disagree with that take 🤷🏻♂️
Read the comments, look at the likes count and percentage, and you’ll quickly recognize that most people watching this don’t seem to feel that way at all.
Why are they getting something out of it that you are not? How are they approaching it differently or listening to it differently to get so much more out of it than you seem to be?
Objectively speaking, there are tons of actionable tips and insights in here that don’t require buying anything.
Why are others able to notice them, while you are finding it hard to do so?
Perhaps it’s just a personality mismatch and that’s ok. But objectively speaking, the answers here are not “just buy the courses”. If that was the case, the video would likely have far fewer likes and views and positive comments, and far more comments like yours, instead of just the one.
Food for thought!
-Justin
I am thankful for all your content, but please, please, please... consider not drinking in the mic. It does not add anything to the value of the content... and is a major trigger for misophonia.
Make a short video.
Short excerpts from the livestreams can be found in the Shorts section and the main Videos tab.
Look for a whole bunch of 1 minute and 5 minute clips from this one in the coming week. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss them!
If you can’t wait, get on one of the podcasting platforms and listen to while you’re driving or doing chores. (Maybe at double speed if you can handle it.) That’s how I get through all the podcasts I listen to anyway :-)
Hope that helps,
Justin
You get what you get.
If it only sounds in your studio you can't mix.. plain simple.
honestly, after a mix i did in laptop speakers translated to multiple devices i started trusting my feeling and test in crappy speakers more lol
Can you give real examples of what you talk about I know you know what your talking about but some people are visual learners let's see some mixing videos
We’ve got a ton of videos like that! Linked in every video description too :-) Try here:
ua-cam.com/play/PL3yghKGBjggTkBYyc-1_larMT6K4rGwmr.html
This particular video is a podcast episode, which is a talking format.
Hope that helps,
Justin
Sonarworks also helped out a lot for me.