Mpc one mixing issues

Sup y'all? So I've been mixing in the MPC one for my last several tracks, via Audio-Technica ATH-M40x headphones. They are supposedly okay to mix with and are relatively flat. At the time of export everything sounds great, bass is banging, levels are good, everything sounds balanced.

Once I put it on Soundcloud, it's all flat, bass is damn near not there at all. What's worse is that when I play it back in the car it's really bad, but everything else I listen to in the car sounds great.

Has anyone else experienced this? For MPC One users, what do you have your volume knob on the back set to when creating/mixing? Lastly, are there any good resources on how to get a mix that works well for both headphones and a car system?

Sounds like its being Compressed for SoundCloud. You may have to make Two Different mixes like we did back in the day, One For CD and One for Radio.

I use Wavelab's L3 Limiter and the LinMB Multiband Compressor to squeeze the Sh*t out of it.

Make a few Mixes to see what mix sounds good for soundcloud

QuentinB wrote:Sup y'all? So I've been mixing in the MPC one for my last several tracks, via Audio-Technica ATH-M40x headphones. They are supposedly okay to mix with and are relatively flat. At the time of export everything sounds great, bass is banging, levels are good, everything sounds balanced.

Once I put it on Soundcloud, it's all flat, bass is damn near not there at all. What's worse is that when I play it back in the car it's really bad, but everything else I listen to in the car sounds great.

Has anyone else experienced this? For MPC One users, what do you have your volume knob on the back set to when creating/mixing? Lastly, are there any good resources on how to get a mix that works well for both headphones and a car system?

Reference your mix to another commercial song that you like in your headphones. Figure out the difference and then mix your song until it close to the reference song. Listen at a comfortable, low to moderate level.

If you don't get it, take a 15 minute ear break and come back to it. It's also good to listen to the mix and reference song over different speakers. There is no exact science behind it, lots of trail and error and knowing your playback system.

It also helps to have a pair of unbiased ears to listen.

You should never mix with ATH-M40X, they are not flat and concentrate a lot on the low end. You should never mix in CLOSED BACKED HEAD PHONES! Sennheiser 600 HD are flat they are OPEN BACK HEADPHONES , and what you should mix with. They are very balanced with the low, mid and high frequencies.

Everything is preceived to sound good but when you play it on another system it won't sound rught. Sound like you had a bit of ear fatigue also.

QuentinB wrote:Sup y'all? So I've been mixing in the MPC one for my last several tracks, via Audio-Technica ATH-M40x headphones. They are supposedly okay to mix with and are relatively flat. At the time of export everything sounds great, bass is banging, levels are good, everything sounds balanced.

Once I put it on Soundcloud, it's all flat, bass is damn near not there at all. What's worse is that when I play it back in the car it's really bad, but everything else I listen to in the car sounds great.

Has anyone else experienced this? For MPC One users, what do you have your volume knob on the back set to when creating/mixing? Lastly, are there any good resources on how to get a mix that works well for both headphones and a car system?

This is all very helpful! I'm gonna get those Sennheiser 600 HD and see if that helps some of my issues. That loudness / lufs chart is also quite useful! reading that article now. Might have to revisit some of my tracks once the Sennheisers get in.

From Audio Technica:





It looks like there is a definite bass boost. Without knowing the frequency response of the other devices you played off of, it'd be super hard to paint a full picture, but I imagine they have a dip in the bass response, which would result in mixing bass lower than intended on the headphones, and then when playing it on your devices the bass may be even lower, making it nearly non existent.

You can definitely mix in the headphones, but you need to know where you have frequency response changes/issues, and then mix accordingly. The biggest problem with that is ear fatigue because in your case, you likely need to blast the bass and it will sound way too loud on the headphones, and to mix it properly will require multiple listens, which will just get your ears even more tired.

It's a trick to be sure, but you can definitely work with it.

Danoc wrote:You should never mix with ATH-M40X, they are not flat and concentrate a lot on the low end. You should never mix in CLOSED BACKED HEAD PHONES! Sennheiser 600 HD are flat they are OPEN BACK HEADPHONES , and what you should mix with. They are very balanced with the low, mid and high frequencies.

Everything is preceived to sound good but when you play it on another system it won't sound rught. Sound like you had a bit of ear fatigue also.

I won't need an amp for the Sennheiser right? Think I'll order from Sweetwater because the Amazon is sold out.

NearTao wrote:From Audio Technica:





It looks like there is a definite bass boost. Without knowing the frequency response of the other devices you played off of, it'd be super hard to paint a full picture, but I imagine they have a dip in the bass response, which would result in mixing bass lower than intended on the headphones, and then when playing it on your devices the bass may be even lower, making it nearly non existent.

You can definitely mix in the headphones, but you need to know where you have frequency response changes/issues, and then mix accordingly. The biggest problem with that is ear fatigue because in your case, you likely need to blast the bass and it will sound way too loud on the headphones, and to mix it properly will require multiple listens, which will just get your ears even more tired.

It's a trick to be sure, but you can definitely work with it.

Agreed, definitely feel like there is some listening fatigue happening. I'm gonna get the recommended open back headphones, I swear when I first ordered the Audio Technas I thought they were open back but they aren't. Probably over looked the details at the time. Impatience is the greatest enemy.

Even if the open back phones aren't the ultimate solution, it does give you an additional reference point for mixing. Just remember, there is no such thing as a perfect final mix, only mixes that play as well as possible on the largest number of systems

The only way to get a perfect mix is to do it in person, for the actual system you are going to play out of. But even variables like temperature, humidity, ambient noise, etc... all can make a tailored mix on a system sound amazing one day, and the next be a bit off and in need of remixing to get it "just right".

So I guess my advice is to shoot for 80% or so... but don't strive for perfection unless you have full control over the end to end of the signal from instrument, mixing desk, speakers, etc... the less control you have, the harder you have to work to get even just a good mix.

QuentinB wrote: Has anyone else experienced this? For MPC One users, what do you have your volume knob on the back set to when creating/mixing? Lastly, are there any good resources on how to get a mix that works well for both headphones and a car system?

Make sure you first calibrate your MPC and since the master out and headphones are tied to each other. The picture below is the position my knob has been, since I calibrated it. Run cable from the headphone out, into a reliable piece of gear with accurate meters and keep adjusting it until it hits zero.

Set it and never touch it again.

I used this 1khz Sine Wave: http://www.contempoararyhiphop.com/mpc/1khz.wav

CharlesRandolph wrote:

QuentinB wrote: Has anyone else experienced this? For MPC One users, what do you have your volume knob on the back set to when creating/mixing? Lastly, are there any good resources on how to get a mix that works well for both headphones and a car system?

Make sure you first calibrate your MPC and since the master out and headphones are tied to each other. The picture below is the position my knob has been, since I calibrated it. Run cable from the headphone out, into a reliable piece of gear with accurate meters and keep adjusting it until it hits zero.

I used this 1khz Sine Wave: http://www.contempoararyhiphop.com/mpc/1khz.wav

Thanks for this! The wave link says it's broken but this is also a good idea, any recommendations on a device that has those types of meters? I literally only have the mpc, my lapto, and my headphones right now.

Make sure you first calibrate your MPC and since the master out and headphones are tied to each other.

Honestly hadn't heard of the MPC one or live needing calibration, which points to my freshness in the game I guess. Any one else calibrate theirs? How do I go about this? Seems like calibrating it and the open headphones will be large leaps towards better mixes for me.

QuentinB wrote:Thanks for this! The wave link says it's broken but this is also a good idea, any recommendations on a device that has those types of meters? I literally only have the mpc, my lapto, and my headphones right now.

Here you go: http://contemporaryhiphop.com/mpc/1khz.wav

Does your laptop have an audio interface? If so you can use that and any DAW on your laptop.

QuentinB wrote:
Honestly hadn't heard of the MPC one or live needing calibration, which points to my freshness in the game I guess. Any one else calibrate theirs? How do I go about this? Seems like calibrating it and the open headphones will be large leaps towards better mixes for me.

All audio recording gear should be calibrated with each other, it's called unity gain. First thing I did was calibrate the inputs gain and output gain of the MPC ONE.

Yeah Quentin, as Charles is mentioning, setting all of your gear to unity makes it less work to mix and balance your ins/outs across your gear. The idea is that if you play a tone and set it to a consistent volume across devices, that you will always know what your max output is, and then can use your mixer to change the sound. It definitely helps to keep your sanity, and more importantly will help prevent you from digital clipping.