Making it sound good on everything?

How do you make your mix sound good in someone's car, a boombox, headphones etc. My mixes sound good on my studio monitors but then when I take to my boom box it sounds horridble. (I got a pretty good boom box to its not one of those crappy ones) How do I make my music sound good on everything?

...off top what type of sound you goin for, what's your preference?? That would give heads a better idea of how to advise you.

One thing I can say for sure is EQ all your elements meticulously. Crispy hats, snappy snare, punchy kick, thick bass...that's more or less what I go for in a mix usually. And it makes my sounds pull apart so they don't clash. IMO separation contributes greatly to a universally clean mix. By giving each sound its own characteristic, it makes them more audible in various systems...BUT before I go on..what are you going for sonically with your tracks??...

grimaybeats555 wrote: How do I make my music sound good on everything?

As far as I know, there's no magic way to just make this happen. Just keep burning CDs of your mix and play them on different systems, then go back and adjust your mix.
You could also buy a small cheap shttty pair of Radio Shack speakers to sit beside your studio monitors for another frame of reference.

I just did a remix for a friend's band....and I was testing the mix on two different boom boxes and my car stereo. I would bounce my mix, burn a CD, listen on all systems, then come back and adjust my mix and EQ.
I ended up burning 13 different CDs. After adjusting the mix 13 different times, it finally sounded good on all systems.
I'm not an expert at this yet, so maybe that's just my learning curve.

http://www.digido.com/portal/pmodule_id ... page_id=59

One of the best places for info on levels and mastering....pretty heavy on the tech side of things but worthwhile reading. Improved my mixes 100%

1st understand what mixed and mastered music sounds like thru ur monitors....Not how u like your stuff to come out sounding. Do lots of A/B test with original cds of similar character to the stuff your making (as part of ur mixing process.)

EQ....Understand how to manipulate sounds using it. By doing what, will cause what? Do you know about that kinda stuff.? Its more than twist this knob, twist that knob

Thats for starters

itchyvinyl wrote:

grimaybeats555 wrote: How do I make my music sound good on everything?

As far as I know, there's no magic way to just make this happen. Just keep burning CDs of your mix and play them on different systems, then go back and adjust your mix.
You could also buy a small cheap shttty pair of Radio Shack speakers to sit beside your studio monitors for another frame of reference.

I just did a remix for a friend's band....and I was testing the mix on two different boom boxes and my car stereo. I would bounce my mix, burn a CD, listen on all systems, then come back and adjust my mix and EQ.
I ended up burning 13 different CDs. After adjusting the mix 13 different times, it finally sounded good on all systems.
I'm not an expert at this yet, so maybe that's just my learning curve.

Ever try ReWritable Cds, it wud save u some money

I am using some behringer 2301a's or something.

grimaybeats555 wrote:How do you make your mix sound good in someone's car, a boombox, headphones etc. My mixes sound good on my studio monitors but then when I take to my boom box it sounds horridble. (I got a pretty good boom box to its not one of those crappy ones) How do I make my music sound good on everything?

Yamaha NS10s

eq is used to correct problems that arise from poor tracking and mic placement. get it right going in and a lot of eq won't be neccessary. also u should use sounds that occupy different frequencies from the gate. another problem with a lot of eq is that most suck and will be exposed if u start doing a lot of boosting. the key is to learn how to use eq then learn how to avoid using it

reference mix - find a track that is similar in style to the track u r mixing, that u know sounds good on a variety of systems and mix ur track so it is similar and chances r that u'll get a portable mix.

i dont even bother with expensive monitors just use my regular speakers and reference mixing

I'm gonna try that reference mixing technique. Also I will try to look online for info on eq. Does anybody know of a good site that tells what frequencies do what? I know you can find this out by testing it out your self (which I will do!) but I just want a general idea. Thanks to all that responded.

there has been a few posts on this before- the general gist was when a/bing against a commercial track tryand match three elements in level for a rough guide and start mixing from there-

therefore see where the bass drum is peaking on your ref track- mark the db...

do the same for the snare

and look at the ave volume of the vocals....

you should now have three numers

perhaps:

bd- peaks at -5db
sn- peaks at -3db
vox ave over -2db

(dont use those settings im just giving an example)

get your elements to peaks ta the same level and then start mixing....

it just gives you a ref point if you try and build the mix round those elements- you'll need to go back and twaek every element at some point but this gives you a base...

you will also find with your tunes coming out at roughly the same volume if you have too much high or not enough low in your own mix- i can bet now it will be other way round (you'll have too much low and not enough high- i always do!!)

greg

record what you think is a good mix in your home speakers. burn it to cd and listen on other radios. like the boombox and car stereo and see how it sounds there. then take it back, put another mix on it then try again. do it until you find what works for you

Ok. I am going to try and find a boom box that plays CD R/W cd's. Cause it sounds like I am going to be doing alot of burning.

U still need to understand the way your monitors translates music...If u dont know your monitors ur stuffed...The boom box cant help you cos u still need to get use to how that plays too.

A/B it all on ur system - Learn thy monitor