What is the best way to know you have enough bass-treble balance?

[Nick Marcelo]

I produce on Fl Studio 12.2.2 and I use really ordinary speakers(no fancy monitors).
In my room it seems like my mix has sufficient bass and even on my earphones but when I play the same track in my car it seems low on bass what can I do to avoid this? Is it a mix issue or a master issue? What is the best way I can achieve a balance between my lows and highs in my room itself.

[DJ Warmonger]

Spectrum analyser and reference tracks.

Also correctly mixed track shouldn't fall apart no matter where or how do you play it.

[phreaque]

There's no one way to solve this issue. Better to calibrate your hearing with your monitors or better to say with your environment, have a listen to some of your fav tracks with your monitors to know how the sound.
Some people would advice to use a subwoofer.. That really depends on your need. For me I don't use as my monitors handles the low frequencies well.

Bring your friends to have a listen to what you're making, they will tell you if the track sounds good or lacks something.

Earphones, especially, they throw the max sound energy directly into your ear, so you surely hear the sound very energetic and full. The sound here is not traveling for a long distance, so it doesn't get acoustically changed.

In case of listening the same track in your car, this is a very special case, as the car sound system is designed in specific way to deliver the sound with regard to the engine noise, so the low frequency will be prominent much.

I'd advice you to get yourself a decent pair of monitors, they are not so pricey nowadays.
For the mix itself, try to follow this golden rule: less is more.
So put fewer elements to get wide dynamics.
Also learn how to layer the sounds to get articulated detailed basslines and leads.

And mix using ears, not eyes..

[zenophilix]

Personally, I've found that the majority of consumer speakers/headphones tend to exaggerate the bass, as increased bass tends to lead to a more pleasing/warm sound to most(Resulting in higher sales.). Beats By Dre is one such example, though personally I hate the sound of Beats. I doubt I'm alone in this.

For example, the Bose QC15 Noise Cancelling headphones are designed for casual listening, and also have an exaggerated low end:



If you're looking at studio monitors, the Mackie CR3 monitors have recieved high praise, and only cost $100.

http://www.amazon.com/Mackie-Series-CR3 ... B00KVEIY4E

In terms of headphones, I can't reccomend the Audio Technica M40xs enough. They produce spectacularly clear/uncolored sound for such a low pricepoint, though the soundstage leaves a bit to be desired. Audio Technica also has a full line of M-series headphones, each at a different pricepoint, ranging from the M20x to the M50x. I've also tried the M50xs, and from what I could tell from my brief test at the local music shop, the soundstage was improved, yet the bass was more exaggerated, though far from Beats-level of bass.

http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AT ... B00HVLUR54

Looking at that link, however, it seems that they've gone down from $99.99, which is what I paid for them.

Hopefully some of this was helpful.

[spacekid]

Personally, I've found that the majority of consumer speakers/headphones tend to exaggerate the bass, as increased bass tends to lead to a more pleasing/warm sound to most(Resulting in higher sales.). Beats By Dre is one such example, though personally I hate the sound of Beats. I doubt I'm alone in this.

For example, the Bose QC15 Noise Cancelling headphones are designed for casual listening, and also have an exaggerated low end:



If you're looking at studio monitors, the Mackie CR3 monitors have recieved high praise, and only cost $100.

http://www.amazon.com/Mackie-Series-CR3 ... B00KVEIY4E

In terms of headphones, I can't reccomend the Audio Technica M40xs enough. They produce spectacularly clear/uncolored sound for such a low pricepoint, though the soundstage leaves a bit to be desired. Audio Technica also has a full line of M-series headphones, each at a different pricepoint, ranging from the M20x to the M50x. I've also tried the M50xs, and from what I could tell from my brief test at the local music shop, the soundstage was improved, yet the bass was more exaggerated, though far from Beats-level of bass.

http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AT ... B00HVLUR54

Looking at that link, however, it seems that they've gone down from $99.99, which is what I paid for them.

Hopefully some of this was helpful.

I have the opposite problem. I bought a pair of Event monitors years ago, and right away noticed less bass response, which it turns means that you alway want to boost the bass frequencies, which it turn affects the final mix. I've been more motivated lately to get a new pair to add to my environment.

[zenophilix]

~snip~
I have the opposite problem. I bought a pair of Event monitors years ago, and right away noticed less bass response, which it turns means that you alway want to boost the bass frequencies, which it turn affects the final mix. I've been more motivated lately to get a new pair to add to my environment.

Ah, that sucks. Do you know what model they are by any chance?

[spacekid]

~snip~
I have the opposite problem. I bought a pair of Event monitors years ago, and right away noticed less bass response, which it turns means that you alway want to boost the bass frequencies, which it turn affects the final mix. I've been more motivated lately to get a new pair to add to my environment.

Ah, that sucks. Do you know what model they are by any chance?

They are Tuned reference 6, I believe they just went by TR6(I still have and use them as my mains). I got them around '04. It wasn't that hard to adjust to them, EQing individual instruments is a challange, but I've largely been revamping an entire analog studio and reworking my own work-flow since then. It's now time for me to go into a bigger production mode, as technology is now at a level that inspires me. So, I'll be looking into getting some Yamaha monitors. Previously I had Alesis MKII active for my analog set-up, they were great..for analog at least.

[zenophilix]

~snip~
They are Tuned reference 6, I believe they just went by TR6(I still have and use them as my mains). I got them around '04. It wasn't that hard to adjust to them, EQing individual instruments is a challange, but I've largely been revamping an entire analog studio and reworking my own work-flow since then. It's now time for me to go into a bigger production mode, as technology is now at a level that inspires me. So, I'll be looking into getting some Yamaha monitors. Previously I had Alesis MKII active for my analog set-up, they were great..for analog at least.

Very cool, good luck!
Gotta love Yamaha, I picked up my RX-V590 reciever at Goodwill, dusty and neglected, and it works brilliantly for my purposes, despite being a good 20-ish years old.

[DJ Warmonger]

I have the opposite problem. I bought a pair of Event monitors years ago, and right away noticed less bass response, which it turns means that you alway want to boost the bass frequencies

That's why I turned to graphical EQ / reference spectrum. It tells truth no matter what audio system do you have . It also helped me find out things I wouldn't came up just by listening to sound.

[Touch The Universe]

pink noise technique --> google

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsV4mGTLB8s

[willdub1]

Buy a decent interface (Focusrite is great) and some decent sounding monitors (Equator D8) spend at least $500 on acoustic treatment. And most importantly use your ears

[xoxos]

i'm surprised you all missed the old school/classic solution to this problem:

play your mix out

yes play it in the car, yes take it round to your friends system, and your other friends system.

every environment, every system is going to have some colouration. taking your mix around, and seeing how it translates, until you get a good sense of the particularities of your system in relation to others. and of course, listening to a variety of program material helps as well, as does actually using a spectral analyser



ftr on events: monitors may well have less bass compared to consumer speakers. iirc the bass on 20/20s falls off around 50Hz, which is where eg. 808/909 kicks are, and my mixes tended to translate well. if anything, hearing a lower bass response on your monitors is going to translate to louder bass on hyped systems.

[SampleScience]

It's all about ear training. Take the time to analyze the tracks of your favorite artists, layer by layer and with practice, time and patience you won't need spectrum analyzers or any visual reference. I personally try to avoid anything that gets in the way of what I hear.

Just my 2 cents.

[a_Scientist]

You need monitors, need to really hear whats going on.
The essential thing I do always (when have monitors) is turning volume really (or almost) loud (I heard this from professsional producer also), it will tell you where too much frequencies are. (you'll feel it)

[Mushy Mushy]

You need monitors, need to really hear whats going on.
The essential thing I do always (when have monitors) is turning volume really (or almost) loud (I heard this from professsional producer also), it will tell you where too much frequencies are. (you'll feel it)

Complete bollox.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour