Fixing bass discrepancies between phone and PC?

[irpacynot]

I thought I'd knocked this out. Hadn't really had an issues with it in the past year, but with this current remix I'm working on, the bass is just way too heavy when listening back on my iPhone earbuds. I always email a mix to myself to confirm balance between what I'm hearing on my PC studio headphones and my iPhone, and it's never this badly out of whack.

Any things to examine first? Ideas please.

[legendCNCD]

VSX helps with these, but how about drop the bass with shelf around -4dB. Is it still too heavy, is it still working in the studio?

[irpacynot]

VSX helps with these, but how about drop the bass with shelf around -4dB. Is it still too heavy, is it still working in the studio?

You mean the bass frequency for the entire mix, or just for the specific instrument?

[legendCNCD]

I'd start personally with the specific instrument

[irpacynot]

I'd start personally with the specific instrument

Actually, the actual bass doesn't come in until late in the song, but from the start there's a kind of "whoofle" (low-mid) quality to the overall song. I can't afford Mixchecker, but was able to get Beyer Dynamic plugin to check. And the "car" setting is pretty close to what I would say it sounds like. The other settings sound fine, even great on the studio-monitors setting.

Not sure how to unify the sound of the mix amongst the different audio output devices.

[legendCNCD]

You could try muting one by one. If the one you muted took the low-mid away, thats the channel or group.

No need to unify the sound of the mix in my opinion, it is more of a "is everything at their place, nothing poking out too much, no rumbles" at least for us when doing car check in the car. This is of course, you must know how the references sound in the car eg. you know how a good mix should sound.

[irpacynot]

You could try muting one by one. If the one you muted took the low-mid away, thats the channel or group.

No need to unify the sound of the mix in my opinion, it is more of a "is everything at their place, nothing poking out too much, no rumbles" at least for us when doing car check in the car. This is of course, you must know how the references sound in the car eg. you know how a good mix should sound.

Many thanks for your help.

Let me ask you about your last comment: is the mix from a car stereo your main concern?

[legendCNCD]

You could try muting one by one. If the one you muted took the low-mid away, thats the channel or group.

No need to unify the sound of the mix in my opinion, it is more of a "is everything at their place, nothing poking out too much, no rumbles" at least for us when doing car check in the car. This is of course, you must know how the references sound in the car eg. you know how a good mix should sound.

Many thanks for your help.

Let me ask you about your last comment: is the mix from a car stereo your main concern?

No, it is just another place to check the mix out for certain things. In the car we use (and VSX car(s) + spaces) we know there is some things getting muddier or too sizzly in this space, so we check those for example. Or if there is too much bass in the subs, the doors will start to move at higher volume

[irpacynot]

No, it is just another place to check the mix out for certain things. In the car we use (and VSX car(s) + spaces) we know there is some things getting muddier or too sizzly in this space, so we check those for example. Or if there is too much bass in the subs, the doors will start to move at higher volume

Ah, I see. Again, many thanks.

I'd like to go back in time and give our soundman a big hug and apology for taking him for granted all those many years ago. This truly is an art form of its own.

[legendCNCD]

No, it is just another place to check the mix out for certain things. In the car we use (and VSX car(s) + spaces) we know there is some things getting muddier or too sizzly in this space, so we check those for example. Or if there is too much bass in the subs, the doors will start to move at higher volume

Ah, I see. Again, many thanks.

I'd like to go back in time and give our soundman a big hug and apology for taking him for granted all those many years ago. This truly is an art form of its own.

It is and almost every time you learn something new, which is why I really love it. Gotta catch 'em all so to say.

[Flowstatemusic]

I find using the eq helps

[irpacynot]

...Gotta catch 'em all so to say.

[sheaf]

This happens to me sometimes too. Particular bass patches can simply sound good on my studio monitors and headphones, but way too heavy in my iPhone earbuds. It can depend on the actual notes played too. Basslines with a fundamental at a low E (41.2Hz) are more difficult to get right than a G for me, for some reason.

If this happens I usually cut off the low end in the bass and then resynthesize it in Vital where you can have complete control over the level and envelope of the first 3 harmonics. I then tweak those while I alternate listening over headphones and earbuds, to make sure it sounds good on both. This works well enough for synth basses, but maybe not for real bass instruments.

[irpacynot]

This happens to me sometimes too. Particular bass patches can simply sound good on my studio monitors and headphones, but way too heavy in my iPhone earbuds. It can depend on the actual notes played too. Basslines with a fundamental at a low E (41.2Hz) are more difficult to get right than a G for me, for some reason.

If this happens I usually cut off the low end in the bass and then resynthesize it in Vital where you can have complete control over the level and envelope of the first 3 harmonics. I then tweak those while I alternate listening over headphones and earbuds, to make sure it sounds good on both. This works well enough for synth basses, but maybe not for real bass instruments.

Ahh...hadn't really considered that. Typically, I've been merely cutting the bass out of the sides, and cutting the bass frequencies a little out of the guitars in the sum (middle of the spectrum). But I hadn't really considered just cutting the bass frequencies from the bass itself. And that could possibly work, since most of the basses in my mix are either upright basses, or fretless.