KVR Audio

P.T. · Post by **P.T.** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 6:01 am

I have a problem where I can get the bass (usually bass guitar multi-samples) sounding good in a mix, but if I turn the bass control on my stereo all the way up the bass is over-powering to the point that it distorts the speaker.

I have tried this with commercial recordings and while the bass gets very strong it doesn't overpower or distort the speakers.
The bass in the commercial recordings also sounds fuller and deeper at normal (flat) eq setting.

So, the commercial recordings have better bass at regular eq settings and not so overpowering sound at boosted settings on the stereo.

My bass is overpowering at boosted eq levels, and if I reduce the level or EQ out some of the lower frequencies it starts to sound weak at normal listening (flat EQ) levels.

I can't figure out what to do.

Do people EQ out some of the low frequencies and boost others, or is it a matter of compression?

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 6:08 am

Turn OFF any EQ's or bass boost/controls on your hi-fi when you compose and mix tracks. It will not help you get a fuller sound, it will just colour your tracks and make them sound better than they are.

What monitoring setup are you using?

brianbrian · Post by **brianbrian** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 6:14 am

You might be eating up headroom with subsonic frequencies. Try using a high-pass filter at 30-40hz and notching out some mud in the lower mids (200-300hz?). Is it just some notes that distort the speakers? If some notes are much louder than others, you should compress the bass to even it out. Also, harmonic distortion can make basses sound louder and more powerful without increasing their level much. A lot of commercial recordings probably have the bass tracked to tape or recorded through tube pres or compressors. Have you tried any kind of saturation plugins on your bass tracks?

P.T. · Post by **P.T.** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 7:05 am

Acolmiztli wrote:Turn OFF any EQ's or bass boost/controls on your hi-fi when you compose and mix tracks. It will not help you get a fuller sound, it will just colour your tracks and make them sound better than they are.

What monitoring setup are you using?

I'm not using any boosting on my monitoring system as I work on the music.

I mean that when I play back the track on my stereo I noticed this problem with the bass.
I test tracks on my stereo with different control settings to see how they sound, and to compare with commercial tracks.

Brianbrian, I have a high-pass filter in there and have notched out at 250hz already.

I'll try the saturation idea.

Maybe I just need different samples.

dx-9 · Post by **dx-9** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 7:38 am

yeah comparing is really good:

i must confess that even I listen to productions on every system possible even discman.

but i think you have to do some eq-ing to your tracks. http://www.acquitrecords.com/50699.html
read the first article... it may help....

Andywanders · Post by **Andywanders** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 8:52 am

Acolmiztli wrote:What monitoring setup are you using?

Ditto...

Good monitors is what you need.

JeffSanders · Post by **JeffSanders** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 11:33 am

I was having that problem a while back. My problem was my mixing level. And overcompression on the bass.
You need to mix the bass while listening at a wider range of different volumes. At low volume, it's possible to have a bass that's barely heard - and by nature it will just sound louder and louder as volume increases.
On lower volume, it's easy to mix a bass to -6db and it will sound right. Turn it up, and you find that even -15 is gonna be ballsy if you use the right EQ/Compressor.

Bass problems.